inside sales representative

warehouse associate

manager in training

warehouse worker

truck driver

POOLCORP

Worked at SCP/Poolcorp as a driver in the N. Phoenix location for 6 years, starting 2006. Negotiated my salary at the beginning of employment, there was to be regular raises and consistent overtime pay. I in turn also offered to train new hires, as well as driving the class-A equipment like the moffets when needed.. It was great, all the people there were awesome and friendly. Except for 2 total arrogant jerks, the warehouse manager and the plant manager, more on them later... It was fine for the first 2 years then they cut out ALL overtime arbitrarily. Then 3 years later our plant was moved to a new location a few blocks away, taking over the Superior pool products location. The parent company in Covington Louisiana began pressuring the upper management at our location to run a stricter, tighter budget, (meaning to start putting people out and make everyone else work harder for the same or lower pay). I watched as every single person that was there when I started, one by one disappeared. Many of these people took the managers at our plant to court. I saw one old gentleman dragged into the plant manager's office to be let go from his employ on some trumped up charge reducing him to tears.Finally, my turn came up. I had to take leave for hernia surgery in January 2012. That hernia was brought on from the many 50 lb bags of sand and salt pellets I unloaded myself over the years while in their employ... The idiot they hired to take over my route who I trained kept screwing up badly while I was away. They wrote ME up for the things this stupid guy did. I was now a target because of my previous negotiations upon hire, they wanted someone in my place underpaid. Write-ups for all kinds of stupid things like for clocking in one minute late(because I had to wait in line to do it). The one thing I truly did do wrong was get a minor speed camera ticket, even though I maintained an excellent driver record. So that was their excuse. I then filed for unemployment benefits which this previous mentioned warehouse manager and  the plant manager tried to contest by outright lies. They were not successful, nothing they put forth could be substantiated at the hearing, I got my benefits. Think twice before you apply at this location...

*Currently as a Product Manager- my day starts early and ends late in that I cover four time zones.  Most of the time is working with supplier partners developing product sales strategies regionally and then turn that into sales strategy education of showing features and benefits to our customers. Tool development as selling aids are then created to help move the sales process along.  I spend lots of time talking to our people about product and sourcing products that our customers are needing.
*Most of the time, everything we do in sales is reactive- we are firemen trying to help put out our customers fires.  We need to do a better job in developing a more proactive approach to our customer's needs.  This creates stronger relationships with our customers than anything price driven.
*Having been with Horizon now for 21 years, the majority of the Management team remains intact and is industry renowned.  The knowledge and skill set is second to no others in this industry,
*The culture hasn't changed since I started, its work hard and play hard when you earn it. 
*The hardest part of my job is the repetition that comes with turnover.  We lose a lot of our frontline CSR's and that means having to train those that replace them.  The other hardest thing I have to overcome, is that Horizon's DNA is irrigation, and that is the path of least resistance, especially when it comes to selling anything else.  My category is very profitable, yet so hard to show people the value.
*I love my job because of the people that I have gotten to know over the last twenty-one years.  These are my friends/family, and we are sharing the same goals of taking Horizon to the heights.  It makes it more rewarding when you accomplish so much with the people that you truly care about.

As far as corporations go, POOLCorp is a good company to work for in a sales or management position (I can't speak to the experience of hourly positions). Company direction is transparent and I appreciate the emphasis on safety. In comparison to other sales and BDR positions, I would say that it is somewhat antiquated and could use some modernization but it works nonetheless. Management varies WIDELY by branch but I've yet to meet a manager at any level that I didn't enjoy working with. The culture will vary widely as well by each location/region/division.

Specifically for the BDR position -- This is really more of an account manager role than anything else. There's not a lot of true outside sales in this position, as you're working mostly with the same collection of customers. There's not a lot of new businesses in this industry either, so you'll spend the vast majority of your time pitching to the same 60 people or so. This is a great position for getting experience as an Account Manager and skipping the years-long grind that BDR's do in other industries. You get a good amount of autonomy and while I feel that the bonus structure is convoluted and unclear, it's still present and available. The bonus structure is my only real gripe with this company -- It's difficult to know if you're achieving a bonus and it's also only paid out annually.

Regardless, it's a good company that offers decent growth opportunity and is a good way to grow in a competitive industry.

Are you looking for un-airconditioned, minimally trained, understaffed job that is extremely physically demanding with terrible pay and no real benefit? Then you're looking at the right place! Brutal heat during the summer spent outside picking raw stone, followed by picking extremely large orders of 80+lb bags in an un-airconditioned warehouse with little to no help. Complete negligence on training - essentially have to learn everything yourself.
You like drama? You'll love it here!
You like doing other people's job? Boy have I got news for you!
Pay is terrible for the amount of physical labor you do. They tell you "you get overtime" to help get your paychecks up - then tell you to cut your OT but you can't leave early because the warehouse is short staffed.
"You get products at-cost +5%" yeah that's nice if I wasn't getting paid 18$/hr and could afford a pool.
Completely ignore any mention of bonuses - you'll never see one.
Management is all over the place. Managers who don't manage. Sales associates who try to be managers. Meanwhile - warehouse associates are drug thru the mud and are expected to get orders fulfilled within minutes for ungrateful and rude contractors.
The upper echelon is a giant frat. They take no accountability and will throw whoever under the bus without a second thought. 
No sick time. PTO is trash (I think 1 week upfront followed by just over a week accrued) until you hit 5yrs - then you get 2 weeks!

Overall - terrible company to work for. Lining their pockets and leaving the people doing all the work for dead.

PoolCorp gave me the opportunity to not only become who I thought I was in a professional setting, but more than I ever imagined. I did not come from the industry and was worried I wouldn't transition into the role/company well. However, their training through the MIT program and the transition afterwards into my full role made it seamless. The biggest pro about the job is working with a team that you would go to battle with every day. We have such a tight nit group here in Austin and built a culture of winning like no other (I am also biased towards my team). 

The hardest part of the job would be the ever-changing environments you have to quickly adapt to. Learning products technically and thoroughly on the fly is tough, but that is what Vendor rep's are there for you to do and having those relationships are vital. 

The job and industry are not easy by any means. You have to have a "go get em'" attitude each day to not only grow yourself as an individual but see the fruits of your labor grow through your team. 

The most enjoyable part of the job would be working with small to large business owners on a day-to-day basis. You get the opportunity to learn, understand, and get creative in ways to help achieve their goals of growing as a business in a competitive market. Developing the relationships with those clients and seeing the work you put in all the way through is a special thing to behold. 

While it isn't the most glamorous environment, they do provide great benefits and a decent salary. Supervisors are paid hourly with opportunity for overtime. Managers are salaried without OT opportunities. Both can receive bonuses based on annual branch performance and monthly sales bonuses throughout the summer.
Corporate is big on safety, can and will provide any PPE and training needed. 
Knowing the swimming pool industry already is a huge help and you may have to spend time studying a lot of products to help remember them. However, knowledge will come with experience for sure.
Blue Cross health insurance and Aetna dental insurance are solid. Retirement is through T. Rowe Price and Poolcorp will match up to 5% on contributions.
They offer PTO only that can be used for vacation and sick days. Other leave (jury duty, bereavement, maternity leave) are separate from regular PTO that is accrued bi-weekly and is capped based on years worked.
Customers can be unreasonable at times, especially with pricing but that seems to be the norm in any industry. 
Management in Training (MIT) program is worth it for college grads. As of 2019 they were still having candidates travel to Texas and Louisiana for training and will work with you to get a full-time position when finished. However, relocation may be required for that. Again, they will work with you on those details.

 

Poolcorp is an interesting place to work. As a seasonal industry, summers are extremely demanding while winters are a chance to regroup and prepare for the next season. In season hours for management run from 50-65 hours a week and with the struggles of finding employees paired with a culture of lean operating practices short staffing is common. This puts extra pressure on management and branch employees to pick up the slack and perform which often leads to in season burnout.  Winters typically offer a chance to regroup but the last few years of COVID demand and short staffing there has been little time to recover.

Management as with all jobs is hit or miss. However, my experience reflects more poor managers then good ones. 

Corporate does care about their employees and wants to retain them. They have various programs that are top class for top performing employees ranging from training to stock options. But there is a large disconnect between corporate and the field. In order to attract and retain top talent, pay needs to increase across the board which should be manageable with their yearly reports of record breaking profits.

If you're a manager who's isn't scared of extremely hard work the bonus opportunities make for fair compensation (if you don't bonus you're underpaid) there are opportunities to grow your career. Just be prepared to work hard and grind it out. 

A day would start with pulling orders with a RF gun for the truck route. Our location is extremely busy with walk-in pool builders and cleaners, so you have to pull orders as they come in as well throughout the day. Its Florida so it's hard work in the summer. A couple rebar and pipe orders a day seems to be the norm. Our location receives about 3-5 trucks a day and space is non-existent. You need some common sense to work at Poolcorp. Some days are spent playing Tetris to see how you can fit product. We send orders and transfers out UPS throughout the day as well as LTL shipments. Management at our branch are pretty laid back and don't micromanage. We try to keep up with everything but it's hard-to-find time to catch up, organize, clean, and get ready for the next day. Corporate doesn't seem to put themselves in the branch's shoes. We are expected to grow but in the same space as ten years ago. Earn as you learn program helped me obtain a Class B CDL and I drive occasionally as a backup driver. We have around six regular daily delivery stops and about 3-4 jobsites everyday. If everything gets delivered, no questions are asked. If you are a hard worker and can work without direction, then the job could be a good fit. I look at our branch as a family and we all rely on each other to get the job done. 

Working for PoolCorp has been the most debilitating, soul crushing, and depressing experience of my life. From empty promises, to false narratives, to a horrid work place culture, this company will do everything it can to beat the life out of you until you become a whipped dog that will never speak up. I was promised an earning potential of 100,000+ and have yet to make more than 55,000 in my two years with the company. The bonus structure is convoluted with many built in obstacles that prevent you from actually earning anything significant. But the executives will always get a bonus, even if it comes from the employees pockets. This has led to the most financially treacherous time of my life. I struggle to make ends meet annd have sacrificed every aspect of my life outside of work. Every single employee is absolutely miserable and the reputation of the company in this market is all but destroyed. The job I was given was to repair that reputation which turns out to be an impossible mission no matter how much of myself I lose trying to do so. Taking this job has turned out to be one of the biggest mistakes I ever made. I would leave but I am trapped by the contract they make you sign so I’m stuck in this nightmare for another year. I wouldn’t recommend this company to my worst enemies. 

Every day is charged with new opportunities, to learn and help customers, one of the most valuable things I learned at horizon is to learn to learn, our goal is to help customers and meet their needs, and in order to do that we have to be prepared, this job is not for those who want everything served on the table, but for those who like conquer challenges, for those who want to keep growing and learning, our team mates are amazing, we try to strive the best team possible, I think every one is a great team player, from shipping and receiveing, deliveries, csr's, and management, we all are focus in one shared goal, to satisfied our customers needs, our hard part of this job is summer, every customer have different needs, and everycustomer wants to have their needs resolved as quick as possible, but sometimes is hard when we have to wait for vendors to delivery, at that point is not horizon, as I know our team wants to deliver ecxcellence and results as quick as possible but sometimes we dont have control over others companies, but over all our most rewarding moments is when customers have their needs meet, and a whole structure of passionate team was working behind scenes to accomplish a comun goal, " customers are first"

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Inside sales representative 9 salaries reported	$39,000 per year
Warehouse associate 2 salaries reported	$18.25 per hour
Manager in training 1 salary reported	$60,000 per year
Warehouse worker 2 salaries reported	$20.50 per hour
Truck driver 2 salaries reported	$22.50 per hour

Working at POOLCORP: Company Overview and Reviews

POOLCORP

POOLCORP Ratings

Popular jobs at POOLCORP

Salary Satisfaction

Job Seeker Tools

Employer Tools

Browse

Stay Connected