test engineer

test technician

office administrator

test engineer entry level

administrative assistant

MGA Research Corporation

This will be an extensive post, I suggest you scroll to the bottom for a quick summary.

I'll start this on a positive note. Most coworkers here are pretty good people. Hard to find someone you won't get along with. The job provides a pretty good intangible benefit as well if you're into helping others or making the world a better place. As for tangible benefits, the health insurance is stellar, and they provide matching 401k. The work can be fun at times, and there is a lot of room to learn and practice new skills. I would also have no worries about job security unless you are a serious safety concern.

Unfortunately, the sour notes far outweigh the ripe. Corporate bills itself as having a "flat management structure." They sell this as everyone having an equally valued opinion, and everyone being a company stakeholder. In practice, there is a clear divide between who has a real say in company and who is there to do corporate's bidding. They also use this as a veil to hide accountability for any short comings that crop up. No one is given a real clear picture of what your job duties are, and management generally doesn't know exactly what you should be doing either. The phrase "figure it out" is used in excess and the company depends on your sole initiative to correct issues, or even take on entirely new projects.

Leadership and "management" straddle the line between ineffectual and incompetent. In the rare glimpse that something does go according to plan, expect congratulations for your work and only that. You can also expect quite a number of weekends to work, and on the rare occasion, to be working over a holiday with 2 days notice. If given the opportunity I suggest you do your best to avoid this situation as you won't be rewarded for the initiative.

This is also a good spot to mention that there is no overtime. The company has devised an elaborate, and quite frankly, demoralizing overtime pay schedule. They do NOT pay time and a half. It is a diminishing kind of system, and if you work enough over time hours, expect a pay stub that reads in the single digits per hour paid. In terms of pay overall, management will take advantage of you every step of the way. Benefits will be held over your head proudly, in an attempt to impress you that they provide insurance that federal regulation requires. Local industry and factory work far outstrips the wage you can produce here, no matter the effort put in.

There is no clear and concise laid out plan to increase your salary. Should you ask about how to get to fair compensation, you will be told to keep doing what you're doing and it will pay off. This promise is generally empty, and provides no clear insight on how pay is structured. It appears nepotism is at play here, and the closer you can sit to management, the better your pay will be. It is the conviction of many associates that raises and bonuses are the same whether you are an effective employee or just there to warm a chair.

In summary, I regrettably cannot recommend you pursue a career at MGA. It is my personal belief that the smartest and most cunning associates have been the ones who left after a year to get their foot in the industry, then moved on to greener pastures. If you can tolerate your time and skill being taken advantage of, and perhaps even the way your upper lip would smell, then this would be a good job. I implore you to constantly be on watch for a better opportunity though.

Big issues with a lack of organization, bad attitudes, and turnover. Huge ethical concerns as far as adhering to specifications, honesty with customers regarding their testing, and employee safety. There are automotive test facilities out there doing it right, and this is not one of them. Executives seem like they have good intentions, but corporate policies were not followed at our facility which was good and bad.

It's fast paced and you will learn a lot on your own due to the lack of formal training structure. The facility manager was a respectable guy.

Very poor benefits package. The healthcare plan is really good, but that's where it stops. You receive no benefits until you have been there 90 days. You can't contribute to your 401k for a year and the details of the match make it worthless. You won't get a raise or bonus until you have been there one year.

Nothing to say about personally working there. This is my review of the interview process that I encountered when applying for a position at this company. I applied for the position and heard back from the company within a day. When conducting the phone interview the person seemed to not really understand the job qualifications or know what the job entailed. You could tell this person was not enjoying doing this interview and it was easy to notice they didn't seem to like working at this company. The job description didn't seem to fit the role that was projected in the job advert and they seemed to think other people don't know what an engineer is. I would not have taken a job with this company if it was offered.

Long hours, underpaid, toxic work environment, underappreciated, overworked, unorganized, unethical; these are some things that come to mind immediately.  They hire new engineers out of college for cheap work.  The turnover rate is extremely high.  They don't train you, it's truly a "sink or swim" environment... except they put a weighted vest on you.  They bully their technicians.  They promise raises and bonus but don't follow through on them.  The upper level people are absolute snakes as well.  They cannot always be trusted to be honest and open with their customers.  Every project is a mess and always runs over their deadlines.  They promise customers deadlines without talking to anyone involved in physically making it happen.  You will often hear the phrase "just make time" if you work here.

They have good medical benefits and feed you free lunch though.

This company is family run which basically means they have zero management or organization. They'll also make sure to promote their family into positions they have no qualifications for.

This company has some of the most incompetent people in positions of power meanwhile those underneath them are working 55-65 hour weeks. The lack of management skills is astonishing. Turnover is high and will stay that way until something is done about the pay scale. They won’t meet industry standards on pay unless you make it into the boys club. The head of a facility is making $175,000+ a year and will refuse to bump up his employees who are hard working and underpaid to start. New York had a huge group of people quit. Texas had a group of people quit, all on the same day. Michigan has constant turnover to the point they never close job listings. 



FIND A DIFFERENT COMPANY TO WORK FOR. 

What is the best part of working at the company?
Really great starting opportunity with lots of ways to quickly take on responsibility to get experience.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
You not only get to perform as an engineer, but as a sales representative with major accounts and be your own project manager.

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Cohesive and friendly while also pushing you to do better everyday.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Long days with lots of problem solving with the reward of bringing in or fulfilling current customers needs.

Please look elsewhere for work. This place is a joke. Management is a boys club and the pay is laughable. You can make more working in fast food. 

They say you get bonuses which are chunp chabge compared to some managers who get $250,000 bonus. Wish this was an exaggeration but sadly it is not. 

But equipment keeps breaking and they say they dont have money to fix it. Wonder why?

Moving up in this company is not something that happens. I had tried and was shut down after putting in my 100% for so long. 

So take this from someone who worked here, until they pay fairly, control berating manangement and work on some structure. This place is destined to fail in years to come. 

This company is disorganized and does not care for its employees. If you are looking to gain experience in the industry, you will find it there. However, the turn over is high so you will be tested to sink or swim by covering for loss of previous employees. If mistakes are made, you will pay for them either by lesser compensation or mistreatment. There is very little respect given by leaders, and they expect more then they should. Be warned, not many are happy with the day-to-day. If you are looking for a company to "grow" with, I would suggest to look elsewhere.

MGA is a great place to start out with little to no experience. The growth opportunity is endless if you are willing to put in the time and effort, as well as being eager to learn and expand. The amount of knowledge and experience one can learn here is endless, everything from in depth engineering R&D, running a small business, or or coding/computer work. You get what you put into it, most people just don't have the drive to achieve what they think they should be paid.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Test engineer 9 salaries reported	$64,667 per year
Test technician 1 salary reported	$17.50 per hour
Office administrator 2 salaries reported	$43,250 per year
Test engineer entry level 2 salaries reported	$17.50 per hour
Administrative assistant 1 salary reported	$15.00 per hour

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