Vantaggi
Fastenal has been a great job for me, there has been an abundance of opportunity and I benefited from having good leaders. I plan on making a career with this company, and I'm very excited about the future. The founder, Bob Kierlin's founding principles of chaotic communication and local decision making are demonstrated frequently at the company's many locations. Despite having diverse branch locations, the same web-based, self-paced training is available to employees everywhere, helping to create a unified company culture. Communication is pretty good, with weekly messages from the executives and semi-regular visits from all levels of management.
Svantaggi
Not everyone can be a good leader. I've heard, and read on glassdoor, horror stories of poor leaders at Fastenal. If you should find yourself in a position under a leader that isn't working out for you, look for opportunities outside that person's influence, such as in a new branch, district, or in a specialty.