Typical "YES MAN" Corp - Regional Employee Fastenal Employee Review

3.0
Jul 15, 2012
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

You can take it as an entry level job at $9 to $10 for a max of 30 hours (most districts) and learn a lot about day to day business. You may get stuck with a boss who doesn't want to delegate responsibilities or teach you things. If this is the case speak up and demand to learn more. Don't just be a part-timer picking orders and putting stock away. Learn something so you can move forward in this company or another one. Branches are like small teams, depending on how you get along with people and how your GM is it can be great or it can be horrible. Corporate says full-time is 50 hours, but working with a reasonable GM you can get out in 40 under the radar.

Cons

The part-timers get stuck doing all the grunt work, which can be really boring at some branches (ie putting patch on 500 screws or more everyday). The full-time jobs have low salaries compared to the industry average and you are expected to work 50 hours for it. The GM and DM are also struggling to keep costs low and keep their paychecks high so there is a lot of skimping at a branch level and sharking for low pay and high hours in this company. As outside sales or higher you'll always get reemed out in emails to do better and better and its never good enough. Its kind of a roll of the dice, but you can end up as OS or GM at a high sales branch or a low sales one. It depends on what opens and how fast you want to move up. My advice is don't get stuck in a low sales branch, you're expected to grow the business and if you cannot you will make little to no commission. With high corporate restrictions on pricing its pretty impossible to grow the business without slowly weeding your way in for years and years. Go somewhere that is somewhat established, but not saturated. You need room to grow.

Explore other reviews about Fastenal

5.0
Jun 9, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Management is good Hours are negotiable Time off is available Opportunities to move up always available

Cons

No commissions for part time

3.0
Jun 9, 2026
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

They offer training programs through their internal “Fastenal School of Business.” A few good mentors to guide you should you find one and if you’re willing.

Cons

* Work/Life Balance - No official WFH opportunities. Branch employees were told to report, even during the COVID-19 pandemic. 15 days of PTO (10 for vacation and 5 for sick). You don’t earn additional PTO until the start of the year following your 5 year anniversary. * Pay - pay is inconsistent and they find reasons to change your pay by eliminating and changing titles. Pay is below industry standard and is a base + bonus program for most roles. * Boys Club - Especially in MN/WI area. Positions created or filled for cast off tenured employees to find them another spot rather than termination. Promotions based on political moves instead of merit or opportunities for growth. Positions posted for new roles internally but sometimes not shared with teams to allow for those politically motivated decisons to fill a spot. If a role is only posted for 1-week vs 2-weeks, it usually means they have a specific candidate in mind to take that role. * Cheap & Tacky - Required to travel but not all meals are covered. Welcome to stay at hotel that offers free breakfast but no per diem for lunch or dinner. Some meetings or trainings might provide lunch. When traveling for team meetings or trainings, usually required to share rooms - sometimes with other employees you’ve never met. Encouraged to book rooms using discount codes provided by customers. There is a target room rate they’d like you to hit and sometimes it means driving out of the way. They’d rather the expense hit elsewhere such as fuel and travel versus the room rate.

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