account executive

solution specialist

vendor manager

sales consultant

customer support representative

MSC Industrial Supply Co.

I worked at MSC for a little under a year, as a travelling Vendor Managed Inventory Specialist. 

Training lasted a week in the branch, which consisted of sitting behind one of the inside sales reps and watching them all day, then two weeks on the road with your fellow SSRs. After that, you were. After a few months on the job, they also sent me down to the headquarters in Davidson for a few days of training, and an affiliate company in Raleigh, NC to learn about their Rotopoint vending machines, which you stock and service. 

An average day for me consisted of travelling to 3-5 accounts and managing their VMI bins/vending machines; loading them with inventory, checking stock levels, communicating with contacts on site to take VMI requests, and to communicate any issues that they have with the account Outside Sales Representative. I personally enjoyed travelling and meeting people at my accounts. The majority of accounts are, not surprisingly, industrial in nature; so if you don't like wearing a hard hat and steel toed boots on site, getting dirty/grimy, or sweating excessively during the hot summer months, this is not the job for you. 

This job does require a lot of travel, so be ready to spend a lot of time on the highway, travelling from account to account, which can be separated by up to 100 miles in my experience, though I'm sure this varies by the part of the country you live in. I would recommend an extensive music playlist, or a few audio books, to keep you sane throughout the day.

MSC has an extensive collection of products that they offer to customers, which can be somewhat overwhelming, especially with the limited training that you received regarding them. Most of the knowledge that I acquired ended up being on the job; often via my own research, or from my outside sales representatives.

Management was pretty hands off; especially for those of us that were on the road. I would only visit the branch once every week or two for meetings, or to pick something up. Not particularly responsive to any questions or concerns you may have, but keeping in mind that this position is on the bottom of the totem pole in regards to branch hierarchy, it was understandable in retrospect.

I thought the pay was enough to live on; and the benefits were very good. The other VMI specialists were very helpful and supportive when I had questions or needed help, and members of both the inside and outside sales team that I worked with were very professional and knowledgeable about the product lines offered. Also, they do provide a company car, that you are allowed to drive for personal use; although they charge you 50 dollars a month for personal usage weather you want it or not, which could cause a problem if parking at your domicile is limited, or you have no need for it. 

My ONLY major complaint, when all was said and done, was being forced to use my personal vehicle for my first 4 months on the road When I was hired, they had promised pay by mileage, which unbeknownst to my hiring manager, they had recently phased out. I ended up putting 15K miles on my car before they informed me that they no longer paid mileage; only a set stipend paid biweekly, which didn't even cover gas expenditures for the distance I was driving, (250-300 miles per day), which was an upsetting revelation, to say the least .If your territory is expansive, or requires a long commute, keep this in mind before taking the job, as it takes 3-4 months to order your company vehicle, as they will not get you a rental.


Overall, I found MSC to be okay for what it was worth; as a stepping stone into the industrial supply field. Don't expect to skyrocket up the ladder from this position, though.

Overall, if you are into precision, numbers, goals, friendly competition, bonuses, (over gift card amounts) incentives to be on top, or pay raises, this isn't the position for you.

You need extremely good big data skills. Like many older companies, you'll need to be familiar with JDE to SAP, plus BI (like Crystal Reports) because National Accounts buy so many small businesses that there will be many orphaned companies you still need to research and link to a Parent. 

A typical day was finding payment has been in house, but simply unposted, because we could do it ourselves by going to bank images and getting the remit. Has it changed? It is critical to managing the credit line and the DSO. There was hardly time to think about posting for other jobs once are there long enough to realize you already have had your hands in a project with quite a few.

It's not very sophisticated, but the activity is high, so time management through Calendar and with all your desktop applications is very important when your unavailability is not clear. It's not unusual to have a NAM post a con call with a CEO to your calendar with no specified agenda. It's time to get on the phone & read account notes to prepare. Let your boss know you are blocked out for the afternoon researching whether you need to be a player on this call at all or just listen. Could it be, we just haven't posted a payment? Will an ad hoc statement with cash applied be the fix? You get to use your hard skills and soft skills. 

From answering the 800 number, taking credit card payments and releasing orders on deadlines, there isn't anything too tangential to AR that you won't do. Change of address, tax status, revising bills, changing terms, reconciliations, adjustments, consignment, vending, collecting bounced checks, credit holds, e-billing, meetings, conf calls...you are advised on almost everything not meeting expectations after the sales contract and multi level support for the sales rep on coordinating multiple departments on how to get it all smoothed out is common.

Kind of unreal how it spilled into 6 day weeks, and without any numbers, reports or baselines, the review process became about personality. There's no way to quantify what you do to make a case for pay increase.

The customer fulfillment center in Mableton Ga. is the most dysfunctional and improperly run warehouse it has been my experience to be a part of. The hourly associates are hired with no discernible skills or desire to work and most would have trouble working the order counter at a fast food establishment. Hourly associate turnover rates are incredible despite the amount of money the company throws at the associates in hourly pay rates, incentives and other compensation. The warehouse management system (WMS) is archaic and there is no one at the company, in any CFC or corporate office, that fully understands how it works. Training for new hires is near non-existent and the amount of internal problems created by the lack of training with a total lack of accountability for the hourly associates causing the problems is staggering. A customer ordered a name brand drill and received toddlers pajamas (the company does not sell toddlers pajamas, the pajamas were a personal item belonging to a packing associate). Customers routinely get wrong items or wrong quantities. The company spends large amounts of money in improvements but usually every improvement is only half completed. As it was said by a member of upper management about the Fortna system after it's completion, "we spent 12 million for this, too bad we don't know how to use it". Upper management micro-manages every aspect of daily work to the point of causing health issues for the supervisory staff and has little to no respect for it's supervisor staff. Human resources has no respect for supervisors. The company is so leery of having the union make another attempt to organize the associates, that the human resource department actually runs the day to day operations of the warehouse much the same way they did which caused the union to try and organize the first time. All an associate has to do is  make a complaint to human resources concerning any aspect of their daily work and the HR department makes changes to operations despite how many other associates those changes impact. It is only a matter of time before the union makes another attempt. The company prides itself on it's "culture" but this very culture, and how the associates use it against the company actually causes the company the most harm. Under no circumstances should any sane individual attempt to work at his company.

The work is fast paced and exciting.  Always busy and always different.  The biggest problem is the constant back biting that goes on among the staff in the branch offices.  Someone is always running to management and HR to tell them something that they thought they heard someone say or do.  You find yourself tap dancing on the carpet for HR over things that always turn out to be unfounded / untrue.  With all the work there is to be done in the branch, it is amazing that so many people have nothing better to do than to be trying to mind everyone else's business.  A very cliquish environment not unlike being in High School.  Management plays favorites and if you are not a 100% company "yes man", you're not one of them.  

Do not expect that hard work will get you noticed or rewarded.  The same few people always do the majority of the work and the ones who do the bare minimum are simply allowed to continue to skate by in that manner.  Management always says they will do something about it, but no action is ever taken.

Difficult to use your time off due to staffing needs of the small branch office.  But the benefits are OUTSTANDING and compensation is more than fair.  Too bad the people who work in the branches are more interested in behaving like juveniles than getting their own work done and that management is more than happy to participate in the behavior.

If you don't mind dealing with all of that and keep your head down, don't dare speak of anything in your own life, don't try to befriend others, you might do well here.

What is the best part of working at the company?
Exposure to a wide range of products and c:ustomer scenarios
Opportunity to develop multitasking and problem-solving skills
Experience working with multiple systems and internal teams

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Performance heavily focused on call volume rather than full scope of work
Misalignment between job responsibilities and evaluation metrics
High-pressure environment with competing priorities
Limited recognition of time-intensive tasks like quoting and customer support
Inconsistent communication and expectations from management

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
The work environment is highly metrics-driven, with a strong emphasis on call volume and activity tracking. This creates a fast-paced, high-pressure atmosphere where quantity is often prioritized over the quality of work and customer interactions. While there are systems in place to manage workflow, the culture can feel more focused on monitoring performance than supporting employees in managing the full scope of their responsibilities.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
A typical day is constant pressure—balancing high call quotas with nonstop customer issues, quotes, and internal follow-ups. You’re expected to hit call numbers while doing full account management, which often conflicts. Systems are clunky, priorities change constantly, and the workload is unrealistic, making it hard to succeed no matter how hard you work.

What is the best part of working at the company?
They have proven over the past few months that they don't care about their employees.  During the past few years non commission sales workers have been remote with very little adjustments in pay during the change in cost of living.  Now they are requiring us to go back in the office with that same pay with no consideration that we cannot increase our pay based off of commission like the rest of the sales team.  Some employees were even hired as remote workers.  However, they are requiring that even if you were hired as a remote worker if you are an hour commute to a facility, you must come in or lose your job.  Yet, if you were hired as a remote worker and do not live near a facility, you keep your job and continue to work remote.  Back to cost of living, we now need to pay for gas to commute, some need babysitters because of this change, wear and tear on the vehicle, some only have one vehicle for the family, office attire, and more.  This has been brought to their attention and they flat out told us if we don't comply, we are replaceable.  No exceptions.  

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
The lack of compassion towards the employees/associates as people with real life hardships.  They simply don't care.

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
In my department I work with amazing people...  however, go up the list and it gets less and less a team.  You become a number.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Walking on eggshells lately.  It wasn't this way years ago.

In the first 4 years as a Machinery Service Engineer, I would handle incoming calls with warranty issues that could be repaired over the telephone, or would set-up an appointment with a service rep. within the network. I helped bring down department service costs annually. Worked with Import Vendors from China, Taiwan & Japan via e-mail and domestic vendors such as Wilton, Delta, Bridgeport-Hardinge etc., via e-mail, fax or telephone. Also helped expand nationwide network of service reps. Handled monthly service reports for Supervisor, assisted Machinery Sales Dept. and Machinery Parts Dept. when needed. Knowledgeable of Drill Presses, Lathes, Milling Machines, Surface Grinders and Electrical applications for machines.

  As a Call Center Technician, I handled incoming customer calls with new or existing applications, with the help from our large catalog, vendors and /or personal experience. Was knowledgeable of most of the 500,000 items in our vast catalog and would coordinate assistance with domestic vendors such as Makita, DeWalt, Starrett, etc. if needed. In process of taking online engineering courses twice a week during working hours, with a current 93 GPA. Have received the Bronze and Gold stars for employee of the month on 5 different occasions. Also, was a member of the Safety Team for 2 yrs. Computer software used – Word, Excel, PowerPoint, AS 400, JD Edwards.

The role involves visiting customers to fulfill their product needs, managing orders, and attempting to expand business within their facilities. However, efforts to offer competitive pricing or broaden the product range often face pushback from management. This creates challenges in meeting customer expectations and building stronger relationships.  

Product deliveries occasionally face issues, such as not being stocked correctly, leaving you to resolve these problems during follow-up visits. Despite raising concerns, resolutions are often slow or ineffective.  

Engaging with prospective clients can be difficult, as some express dissatisfaction from past experiences, citing high pricing, delivery delays, or other service-related issues.  

The work can feel repetitive and challenging without sufficient support or flexibility from the management team. 

Typical day is providing customer facing services to a deck of customer accounts handling industrial vending and VMI services. You get a variety of customers from Metal Working customers to MRO accounts. My deck of customers were great people to work with. Workplace culture was full of silos where the constant turnover created a new batch of people still figuring out their roles which in turn created delayed responses and unfulfilled problem fixes. 
The company is driving diversity and transparency which are great goals but transparency is still sorely lacking. Your bonuses are based on a regional team which you have no input or control and with the constant turnover the numbers decline and your bonus follows suit regardless of your efforts. The company is set up to figure your job out yourself with no professional growth initiatives in this role. 
The best part of the job is the anonymity working in the field and not tied to a desk. 
The hardest part of the job is the lack of information available to you to assist in meeting the customer needs.  

I was normally one of the first people to arrive and the last person to leave the department. The sales tax team was very very busy. The tax dept consisted of income tax and sales tax associates. The dept was very divided and this made some members of the sales tax team uncomfortable with the environment. Some members of the sales tax team didn't really get interaction from the managers or VP of Tax. Personally, I am an individual who doesn't mind working continuously and kind of blending in the background. I am there to do a job. Others in the dept prefer to feel as if they belong.

With this job, I learned the real meaning of busy! During tax season, there was a lot of prep work for property tax returns and filings. The company was continuously growing. The income tax team grew, but the sales tax team did not.

The hardest part of the job was managing the job and life. Since we were very busy all year, instead of during tax season, I began working long hours most of the time. My quality of life began to suffer with my family. It was time for me to make a change.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Account executive 342 salaries reported	$82,697 per year
Solution specialist 44 salaries reported	$50,229 per year
Vendor manager 89 salaries reported	$19.76 per hour
Sales consultant 53 salaries reported	$70,271 per year
Customer support representative 67 salaries reported	$19.21 per hour

Working at MSC Industrial Supply Co.: Company Overview and Reviews

MSC Industrial Supply Co.

MSC Industrial Supply Co. Ratings

Popular jobs at MSC Industrial Supply Co.

Salary Satisfaction

Job Seeker Tools

Employer Tools

Browse

Stay Connected