assembler

engineer

validation engineer

operator

district manager

Cook Group

I was really excited to work for this company when I was hired! I thought it would be great but honestly it was a let down.

They waited until my second day of orientation to tell me I'd be training on first shift for several weeks instead of starting on the shift they hired me for, which would've been nice to know in advance. The workplace culture wasn't the best and I felt so unwelcomed and like I didn't belong there since week one. I got blamed for other people's mistakes a few times and really, I think most of my coworkers could've been nicer to me and everyone else. 

A typical day at work for me in the packaging department was either packing medical products, sealing the envelopes using machines, or gathering the materials needed for others to pack up the medical products. The hardest part of the job was standing on my feet for my shifts. 

The most enjoyable parts of the job were that I got to wear finger nail polish and didn't have to come into work on the weekends. They also let me switch my hours to better work with my schedule, which was nice. 

Management was actually my favorite part of the company. My manger was seriously so nice to me and made me feel welcomed! I only wish the people I saw on a daily basis would have been too. 

Overall, I had high hopes for this job but they were quickly crushed. This is a manufacturing position that requires three references in order to be hired. I feel like that's a little much for it just being a manufacturing job. If you don't have prior work experience, you won't be able to get a start with this company. 

I really liked my job at Cook. I was a PSS-QC, so my particular job was very laid back and often times even boring. However, it was probably the easiest job I ever had. Pay was reasonable, especially in this area. Many places will pay less than what Cook offers, not to mention the benefits package is top notch. You'd be hard pressed to find such a great package elsewhere. Many people I have heard complain about working for this company, but I do not share their opinions. Honestly, the majority of manufacturers often times have "mandatory over-time", where Cook does NOT. I was NEVER "forced" to work even one hour of OT. If I was available to work OT then it was MY choice to do so, provided it was available. Same for weekends. If OT was available on wkends, you signed up for it....NEVER forced to work it. How many other manufacturing companies can say that? Cook has a respect for employee personal life, they understand that people need a balanced work/home life. And every weekend off! How many other places of employment can say they offer that? Not many! The only thing I disliked was the point system. It doesn't really kick in until after you use up all of your PTO. But missed days adds up fast! This is why I lost my job....I missed too much work and pointed out. I regret this but I also acknowledge it was MY fault. I will miss working there. Hope this review helps!

Across the board, the Cook team is committed to developing and producing high quality products that truly save lives.  That may sound like a statement from the HR or marketing teams, but it is truly what I observed and experienced during my first days there.  It has been such a breath of fresh air to work in such a unique and supportive work culture
I have been aware of Cook for many years, but never guessed how much I would enjoy being part of the team there.

Admittedly, I was surprised at first to see how inconsistent and varied the office work areas are arranged.  For similar jobs, some employees have walled offices and some employees work from small tables.  However, the company is going through significant growth and will be re-arranging some facilities soon.  More importantly, the actual work is so interesting, fun, and rewarding that trivial matters such as work space have been pushed well down on my list.

I am a degreed engineer, but I have been impressed by Cook's willingness to consider experience and non-traditional education paths for many roles within the organization.  They also have a very generous program for employees to pursue additional education.  Also impressive (and important) to me is the fact that the cafeteria, custodial, and other support staff are Cook employees and have the same benefits that I do.

I wish that I would have given Cook a closer look much earlier in my career, but I am glad to be there now.  I highly recommend considering careers at Cook.

Culture is something talked about daily, most employees that have been there for under 5 years probably have no idea what the foundation of the company was. I had to deal with a lot of micro management, not having my ideas listened to in meetings where I was supposed to be giving that feedback. The pay is less than industry standard company wide and they make up job title names to try and hide that fact. One of the big company things, if you see something say something and if you don’t they will witch hunt you until you leave the company. If you’re lucky you might even get threatened, hiring manager depending. You’ll meet a lot of people across departments you get along with, as long as you work there. If you quit don’t expect anyone you worked with to keep in contact with you. There’s definitely some conspiracy here. All in all the best thing I ever did was leave this company. This place will take advantage of you. I feel like I was young talent collected out of the gate and after my ambition was overworked out of me for years they found enough stress to make me quit.
I intentionally avoided serious relationships and avidly did not date at work during my time here. They will get overly involved with your life if you let them. Ymmv


There are a lot of employee benefits, there is intent in taking care of the workforce.

You're time at this job can vary depending on who you are:

If you are a Type A personality this is NOT the place for you. Management is poor and their decision making lacks accountability. Veteran employees observe this and avoid taking on heavy workloads and tasks as they know it does not benefit them to do so. "That 'other' department handles that" is a common excuse. The overload of systems implemented without proper preplanning will make it difficult to get even the most simple tasks completed and this will frustrate those who like results. You will either laugh or get incredibly irritated with the amount of avoidable problems that you run into...and as others have mentioned, the pay is below industry standards. The culture seems like a high school some times with some people caring more about being liked and popular than being good at their jobs

However, If you enjoy a great work/life balance with minimal stess and have young children i would highly recommend. Work hours are about as flexible as I've ever seen in the industry and the benefits are good. ALL employees are paid salary. They also promote training/education and employee advancement so those opportunities are always available if you are proactive enough. They also host lavish company dinners and have many lunchs and company events if you are into that.

A typical day at Cook is nose to the grindstone, no talking, you can't chew gum, women can't wear perfume, or makeup. I'm a hard worker I'm paid to do a job and that's what I'm going to do. I'm not the type of person who is going to visit or waste time doing things that are not job-related. However no matter how much you do or how good your product is, they have a way of making you feel like it's never enough. A lot of the rules and regulations make you feel like you're in prison not on a job.
As one of my former co-workers said it felt like we were back in Jr High. So much gossiping, backstabbing and so many clicks. Sadly you can't trust anyone not even management. Certain co-workers are allowed to be very rude and disrespectful of others. Unlike the rest of us they could talk and laugh to their hearts content and where never told to be quiet we had too much work to be doing so much visiting.
Sadly about the only thing I learned on this job is that some people never grow up and never leave the Junior High mentality.
As crazy as it might sound the hardest part of the job was just being there. The work wasn't difficult but putting up with some co-workers, management and the environment itself made it almost unbearable and very difficult to be there. The only good thing I can say is that you are allowed to listen to music or books on tape as you work.

Decent pay for the area but, definitely not enough to survive on with out state help. The insurance coverage was awesome but, high co-pays and if you have another insurance to cover you, they will fight each other (whether they're primary or secondary) and cause you to fight collections which I've seen with several people. The lady who runs the place is an absolute sweetheart. She is super understanding with just about any life crisis. HR is amazing as well. BUT, when you get down in the management, supervisor, and lead positions (the ones you actually get to deal with) it is very hit and miss and depends on which part of the building you're in. Packaging has amazing leaders whereas production is ran like a women's prison. I do not know about Polymor as I did not work in that building but, I have heard all 3 shifts love the job.The production manager was very cruel to me which resulted in going to corporate and nothing was done about it. This manager alone is enough for me to not come back but, the supervisor and the leads are just the manager's minions and it depends on who you are if you're treated fairly or not. If you get the job here, stick to yourself!! Do not try to make friends! It's FULL of drama there! I kept my head down and out of the drama circles but, I heard all about it. The co-workers are ruthless there!!

During my time with Cook Medical it was alright. started last year and it was a pretty easy job they had me doing. I would scan product and put them in boxes, pretty easy. The part where it wasnt easy was when management would expect you to get everything that was dropped off at your station and then some. this isn't including you having to make specific boxes that nobody else will make for you. I was given my 3 month review 5-6 months into my job. was doing just as good as tenured workers who have been there for years. Was never offered a raise for my hard work. At the building i worked at you never felt appreciated for shipping more orders than expected of you. Also anyone who is new will make the same amount as you if they havent given you a raise, which is highly unlikely. Management is very nice and they can be "helpful" if you can find them. id go around my building looking for a manager and if I didnt find the who had the answer id get a I dont know or a "have you asked this other manager?" because they wouldnt know an answer to a question.. the pay is alright, compared to baxter and catalent tho its nothing special. I've had other experiences with Cook that were better than this. As of now, i would not return to work for the company nor would I recommend someone to work there.

Cook did help me get my GED through their high school program, so they’re not all bad. The health benefits were pretty good too. The problem comes with management. Absolutely disrespectful and condescending towards employees. Management also liked playing favorites, and everyone knew. I almost felt antagonized at certain moments. Every day I would take the bus for an hour and a half and walk 35 mins to work for almost a year, and frequently was told I needed to come in earlier although I was taking the earliest buses. I was not allowed to work overtime until I met the 50% rate, which I never got to that point. I’ve never cried so much at a job before. They do let you listen to music/audiobooks, but even with that the work is miserable and repetitive, which personally I think isn’t worth the decently okay money you’d make. Left a note on my managers desk stating that I was quitting, took a picture of said note too. Got a letter in the mail saying that I was fired for attendance reasons and asked to sign a paper for them confirming this. Absolutely not! The money was good, but this job caused my quality of life to suffer big time. 

Cook has improve senses the first several reviews of the company. The employee have been able to rely on employee for longer duration. The job still has on the job harassment due production issue and they often need someone to blame for the problem. The company overall has good health insurance, vision plan, 401k has been available sense it was first introduced as a group retirement and the retirement has been available for those who are employee when they need support. Mostly attendance point will get you fired with other small issue within the company. Job security at Cooks however depends more on the social acceptance. Several different events for on the job violence but was handle with security when the work release programs first began. Age and acceptance of change has work well the group that I was employed with on the third time back. However, the no rehire policy isn't effective for those who have had previous experience. As long as the employee was not arrested from the job for on the job violence. They have removed the policy at Cook Medical and some individual have been rehired.

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