distribution associate

unloader

product support

customer support representative

account manager

Horizon Hobby LLC

Overall, Horizon has been the best company I have worked for. Even starting as an entry-level, I felt like I was part of a great business. At least in my department, my manager has been there to listen and adapt my schedule based on my needs saying things like "life happens" and "focus on yourself and your family, we'll take care of things here."

All that aside, there are some things that happen that frustrate many at the bottom. Often there are whispers of layoffs with no announcement of what is going on or why people that have been working with the company for years suddenly do not have a job. This causes uncertainty in the lower ranks.

Additionally, there are major pay issues against the local cost of living. You can work there and pay all your bills as long as you don't mind living paycheck to paycheck and living in a low-grade rental. Movement within the company is difficult as the workforce is fairly young and retention at the mid-level positions is higher than at other companies. Even with a decades worth of experience, you will be expected to start on the first step of the ladder and attempt to claw your way to the top with $.15 to $.30 raises every year for 5 years before you have a chance to the next step.

Lastly, there is an impression of mild nepotism happening at the top and mid-level positions. This will of course happen with any company, however, it is definitely demoralizing to see co-workers and yourself lose out on a position that you would be great in because it was never actually offered.

That said, the company is great and if you are young, without a family then this would be a great company to put a few decades worth of effort into. You get access to RC products and you can slowly take steps up the ladder to a better position.

Keep notes about your decisions, why and where. 
Secure all your work, including your work station, every time you step away.
Don't take it personally, it's just business. 
Create templates and use them always.  
German, French and Italian text takes more space than English. 
Use numbers or letters in illustration callouts to avoid touching illustrations for translation.  
Manufacturers change products between sample and production, which can make manuals incorrect. Stay informed to verify manual content. 
Live, eat and breathe Radio Control to enjoy and do well in this job. 
The CEO (VP hired in 2005) died January 4, 2019 after committing the company to acquiring the former competitor Hobbico, also in Champaign. 
The company went from family/founder-owned (former sales staff separated from Hobbico) to an ESOP to holding-company buyout (associated with the CEO's son) in about 7 years. Horizon Hobby bought the bankrupt Hobbico at auction in 2018.
Sales is the kpi, subtracted by product returns. 
Staff turnover is like a sine-wave, boom and bust. Make friends, but don't worry if people must move on. In any given five-year period, the company releases most staff. 
Get to know the old timers to gain a long view and reality check.
Intentional obsolescence of legacy technology generates sales.
Always keep your resume up to date, adding every number, achievement and skill to it. 
Download and review the past and present manuals for products from their website to see if you want to do the work and can improve on what is/was done.

Horizon Hobby attracts the best and brightest from around the country. The company is growing, with new products and marketing initiatives every year.  There are many opportunities for employment   in product development, engineering, sales, marketing, web services and purchasing.  
Many hobby industry leaders have cut their teeth on the opportunities at Horizon Hobby, Inc., recently changed to Horizon Hobby LLC.
The company is a fast mover in the US and in Europe, although there are not yet opportunities to transfer between regions. The company is on track to increase in size and impact in the hobby industry and hobby retail space. 
A person can't go wrong with taking a job with this employer. Working there is a great resume builder. Exposure to the marketplace and the products is a nature result of the company's functions. Communication about company goals and achievements is open in comparison to many other companies. I found working there to be an interesting and stretching challenge. There are a lot of great people there and it's a great little company that is growing well.

When starting the day we start on the amount of work that there is to be done and we follow it up by doing morning stretches. After that we do housekeeping throughout the entire warehouse by sweeping and picking up empty boxes and emptying out the trash bin. All the managers, supervisor, and co-workers are very friendly and very positive everybody gives good representation of the company. Everyday there was a new task and a new challenge and it was always enjoyable. The hardest part would be to always try to improve in every aspect that involves you, but there was always something new that I learned and in the time that I was at Horizon Hobby it made me grow more in person and in experience.

Well, what can I say? This place definitely taught me what it is going to take to succeed in the real world. I definitely do not regret working at this place. A typical day here would start off with a shift meeting to discuss how we were doing, what we needed to do, and how we can get the desired results. My coworkers were some of the nicest and cool people that I could meet. Any question that I had, they answer them. Management here was good to me too. Any questions or concerns I had, they did the best they could to answer the questions. The hardest part of the job was getting used to doing something at a desired rate. The most enjoyable part was receiving that paycheck. It was huge satisfaction for me.

My average day at Horizon consisted of keeping accurate count of inventory via scanners.  I was more than proficient in my job and always beat my productivity standards.  I was cross trained in a variety of areas in the warehouse including order pulls, inventory back stocking, inventory picking, and trained on various pieces of industrial equipment.  I was also involved with providing feedback to a consultant hired by Horizon to gauge how to increase productivity amongst workers on 2nd shift inventory control.

Hours were family friendly approx 7am to 3:30pm and during the summer start time would be 6am. Opportunities are limited not because you are not given a shot but because the team is so small peopl tend to stay in a position for a while. Co-workers are good people as it is a family friendly environment. There was no real hard task, you just have to be flexible to help in all areas which in turn made the the hardest part the most enjoyable task since you got to interact with other departments and people.

Horizon Hobby was a nice place to work I was an order picker the people with nice to work with some of them we can buy stuff at a discount and they would take it out of that checks Move by Little that was good Christmas and birthday shopping for my grandkids develop some great friendships with some people out there enjoy working with them and we remain friends as of today I would recommend Horizon Hobbies a lot of walking if you can't do the walking it's not the job for you but it was overall it was a nice place to work

I really like the quarterly free lunches. Occasionally go for seconds when too much food left over and they need to get rid of it). Very long peak season hours in the warehouse. the railroad products line no longer is in California. Hobbico our main competitor is filing for bankruptcy. Lots of job stress in the warehouse.

I enjoyed working for Horizon Hobby for over ten years. I learned about the company the Values that they shared . A regular day is very busy in the morning and then would ease as the day ended. The different cultures and their values. Managemet was very professional but easy going. The co-workers adjusted to the work flow easily. To reach our Goal at the end of the day was rewarding .

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Distribution associate 21 salaries reported	$15.93 per hour
Unloader 1 salary reported	$20.00 per hour
Product support 2 salaries reported	$16.00 per hour
Customer support representative 5 salaries reported	$16.00 per hour
Account manager 5 salaries reported	$57,600 per year

Working at Horizon Hobby LLC: Company Overview and Reviews

Horizon Hobby LLC

Horizon Hobby LLC Ratings

Popular jobs at Horizon Hobby LLC

Salary Satisfaction

Job Seeker Tools

Employer Tools

Browse

Stay Connected