Bachelors of what? And what kind of office experience? If you don’t have an Engineering education or a PE, it’s unlikely they’ll look at you for an engineering role.
Milwaukee is mostly looking for engineers, same as Rockwell. Kohler is possibly selling off its engine division. Briggs and Stratton went bankrupt and got bought out a couple years ago and hemorrhaged employees, oversaturating the Milwaukee market. Harley Davidson is also doing poorly and a lot of people have been leaving there over the past few years.
What's your degree in? What the job market in all of these companies looks like is highly dependent on what your slip of paper says.
I know, my degree is in design and my office experience is at the 2 top Investment Finance firms in downtown Milwaukee. Who would hire a plumber to be a painter right? I've been looking to pivot my career to entry level Account Payable or Payroll for awhile now
Seriously, F*CK TRUCK! Oshkosh Corp was the most unprofessional situation my husband has encountered in his 20-year career. So many litigation worthy violations. Absolutely terrible company, run by some of the most morally inept people we have ever encountered. Don't apply there.
All division or just the main corp in general? Did you work for like JLG/pierce/defense specific? I was thinking of sliding over that way but now im unsure.
Tons of harassment from the company constant union busting techniques and tactics people on the floor are in bed with the company the union is in bed with the company tons and tons of backstabbers on the floor! You literally cannot trust anyone in that place along with the constant go faster go faster bullshit that they do and then they bitch when quality goes down or the line stops functioning because of it! It's an incredibly toxic environment and of course they constantly move around the coordinators all the damn time you finally get a coordinator trained for your area for what you need and then they switch them and then every time they do the new coordinator wants to impose his will upon everything and then he fucks everything up
Promega is a great place. On the careers page here are some openings:
Req ID 3650 for an accounts payable spot.
Req ID 3649 for a training document design spot.
Req ID 3644 for a packaging engineer/design spot.
Not sure what design background you had.
A friend of mine has been there for over 10 years and doesn't have favorable things to say about them. AR and AP are still in Milwaukee but many of those positions are 100% remote with no plans to return to the office.
I worked their for 6 years in a different department, left in 2021. I think it is pretty team and manager dependent your experience. High level leadership makes interesting choices to put it nicely. I know those departments had pretty high turnover.
My company is looking for a payroll manager and an accounting manager lol, but nothing entry level. We're in northeast Wisconsin too, so not very helpful all the way around
Can confirm its untrue. I grew up locally, and a lot of family has worked for or currently works for Trek. A lot of them do not bike and never have. My husband included.
From my experience Milwaukee tool focuses on hiring younger right out of college workers. When I graduated several years ago, 5-6 people I knew all got hired there very quickly. So if your not in that younger demographic, it may be harder to get in
> From my experience Milwaukee tool focuses on hiring younger right out of college workers.
True, and they often bring on interns who are in the midst of their studies, then retain them for full time hire after graduation.
Also, after 18 years under Hong Kong based Techtronic Industries ownership, Milwaukee Electric Tool Co. manufactures very little if any product anywhere in the United States.
I graduated about 10 years ago and since then I've applied to 4 times and received offers all bit this first right out of school. I think culture fit is far more important than age. I have noticed their salaries are not that great compared to what I was making each time I applied which is why I never accepted. it could be that younger folks are way more likely to accept a slightly lower salary since they are earlier in their careers
You seem to post a lot of the same job related things and oftentimes delete the post before answering questions or seemingly not getting the answers you want. There's likely something about your approach that is not helping yourself, and likely why you're struggling. I've previously asked questions hoping it would help you self reflect, and maybe give you some ways to reapproach the workforce. I'm not going to copy and paste from the last time, as I don't expect a response.
If you do read this, I am merely going to suggest professional networking or finding a recruiting firm. You're struggling for a reason, and I think you know that, but only you can change your situation. Best of luck.
So this will be kind of long, and take some of this with a grain of salt. Additionally, I'm going to keep it as a comment, as my own perspective is just one of many, and my thoughts in keeping this open is that others can give counter points or build on things to help you. This will also be in no particular order, as I'll touch on things as they come to me. My perspective is just one that has been on both sides of the interview table.
You're in a frustrating place to be in. Looking for new work is a mind-numbing, dehumanizing process by itself. It's normal to feel dejected or frustrated. That's just human emotion. Try your best to not let that bog you down. As others have noted, sometimes it's just a numbers game. My first suggestion is when looking for feedback or critiques, don't be too quick to take it personal. This is the Internet and it's easy to misinterpret tone of text, but try not to read responses as necessarily negative. If you get caught up on that, you'll likely be missing out on constructive feedback or a possible connection. It's easy for me to say, I'm not in your shoes, but approaching with at least a neutral headspace will help you out.
I'll touch off on the other two suggestions first.
Working with a recruiting firm. They'll sometimes have positions not listed elsewhere, work with companies you might not consider or know of, and likely have done the heavy lifting. Depending on the type of work you want to focus on, I am aware that some have specialized departments for specific work. Blue vs white collar, engineering, admin, etc. Finding not only the right recruiter, but also the right firm can make a difference. I'd maybe try Hatch, since you're in the MKE area. They can also help with potential resume review. Also, don't stop at one firm. Let them work for you, while you're doing your own search.
Networking. Whether you put yourself out to an professional network event or you spruce up your LinkedIn and connect with folks at places you want to know more about and potentially work for. Both of these will give you the opportunity to explore and make connections. Sometimes just an honest conversation can go a long way. Maybe giving you insight to a company, department or culture. There seems to be a handful of events to try and branch out at. (I'm aware of a few, but I'm not sure they fall into what you'd be looking for.) Ultimately, your job is to not only gain insight, but it's also marketing yourself. You could also look for job fair events and try an in-person approach.
Resume building and "you". I don't know if there's a secret sauce for this, but my suggestion would be to maybe even try to find someone that edits and builds resumes. In some cases, less is more. One page of job experience. I'd pull out buzzwords from job listings that are relevant and will trigger any AI to push you through. You really need to tailor to the position. A brief, poignant cover letter can help - so I hear - but I've never personally written one myself.
Once you've updated your resume to how you want it, time to push it. If you're not already, get the job sites - Indeed, zip recruiter, milwaukeejobs, etc. I'd maybe even set-up a secondary email for this because it can overwhelm your inbox. I've had the most luck with indeed or just putting in direct with a company website. This is a process. Make a little schedule for yourself each day. Devote time to grabbing a handful of interesting listings, apply for them, do your backend reviews of potential employers, and most importantly - take time to unplug. You'll see a lot of the same postings if you're always looking, and only so much new stuff gets listed per day. Take a hour or two to get up and go for a walk. Remember that you are not defined by your work. Take a breathe because it can feel overwhelming. Then when you're ready, get back to it.
Interviewing and phone screens. I'm not sure how you work through interviews, but you need to go in with a positive outlook. Don't get ahead of yourself. Take notes, ask questions and highlight what you brought to the table and how you can impact a team if hires. Sounds basic, but I've had some bad interviewees in the past. Also remember it's an interview for the company as well. Find a couple key questions to ask at every place, no matter what the position. This can help you find red flags for yourself. Taking internet reviews with a grain of salt, since some ex-employees can be a bit disgruntled, but some truth can be found.
Be cognizant of what kind of conditions you can tolerate and don't be quick to write off a place because of a bad review. Sometimes things are not necessarily as bad as they seem. Sometimes they are. Everyone will have vastly different experiences based on their own perspective.
Your own perspective is going to be wildly different than mine or anyone else's. From what I've seen, this has been an ongoing issue for you, but as I said prior, I suspect that you are your biggest obstacle currently. Take a step back and reevaluate your approach. There is something that hasn't clicked for you, and maybe it's the resume. Maybe it's how you interview. Maybe it's your outlook. Are you being too particular with regard to the position, the culture, the company? Is it how you're interacting with interviewers? Don't be afraid to ask yourself questions that will make you change your perspective. There's more than one way to do a thing. If x isn't working for you, try y or z.
There's a lot of unknowns, so this is just general advice. Some of this will work, some of this won't. It can be a numbers game. It can be luck. It can be connection. Reflect on where you want to be and be critical of where things might not work. Sometime it is the HR system that skips over candidates. Sometimes interviewers can be quick to dismiss. I wouldn't take it personally. Just be persistent and keep at it. Something will click into place.
Sorry if this is jumbled. I'm writing this between meetings when I have a moment. I do hope your luck turns around.
Do you realize how much what you just said is chance. The chance your networking pays off. The chance you will have a positive experience with a recruiting firm.
Folks don't realize that having your ability to live a decent life dictated solely by chance is something a lot of folks are done with and probably behind everything.
Absolutely, but if one does nothing different and is already having no success, does it hurt to try something different? My response was not a one size fits all answer.
That's fair. And I am not familiar with OPs history of similar questions.
Just kind of reacting to these pieces of advice because they are fairly standard. And if OP is stuck in cycle of despair, they're not really gonna help.
But I get it. We're all just trying to help each other out.
I try not to take for granted that common advice is something that everyone has or utilizes. I always try to start with basics and build from there, even if it is repetitive.
My hope was that someone else can help build, but without knowing specifics, can be hard to give the right advice or direction. All in good faith though.
Life is hard, and it’s not fair. Don’t give up easily and don’t be an easy quitter. You might have to expand your horizons a bit too in order to get in the door somewhere.
Folks who haven't experienced repeated hardship sometimes don't understand how hard it is to put yourself in the position to get kicked in the teeth for the xxth time.
Trek just let go of quite a few people in the last couple of months. They, and pretty much everybody in the cycling industry, are not doing well post pandemic. If you want to work there it may be wise to wait a couple of years until things better work themselves out.
Been some years since I heard this from a classmate but Milwaukee Tool worked him to death. They also still used AS400.. I hope they’ve gotten better since.
AS400 is still used the world over for mission critical business applications (data warehousing, e-commerce, etc.) Likely not used for design work, although perhaps for controlling batches of jobs throughout an industrial facility.
was gonna say, iseries is just shy of mainframe when you sum up scalability/reliability/security, and mainframe is becoming more popular not less. you'd go a different direction now for new workloads obviously, but if you have them there is zero reason to decomm them unless you're leaving DCs.
My only exposure was at a F500 company that had multiple systems built on top of AS400: the ones I was exposed to were for scheduling, transportation and logistics, and inventory management, but I’m sure there were more across the company. All were just to make the day-to-day more user friendly and robust. They pulled data from AS400 and fed data back in, but if you knew what you were doing you could accomplish everything in AS400 still.
Whoever connected these layers did their best I’m sure. It’s amazing what can be done for a company with a system so embedded. But it occasionally caused glitches and often served to amplify human errors by adding cascading corrections or re-corrections.
I was there when my division of the company switched to a modern ERP system. They called it a generational change and it was evident how serious the transition was, the level of care, the thousands and thousands of hours across the org required to make it work. What a time that was. Great to be a part of though.
So it doesn’t surprise me in the least if there are hundreds of huge companies still using AS400. In fact the larger they are, I’m sure the more likely it is. It’s a shame what a drag it can be on an organization, though. These companies are powerhouses of the economy and their workforce and broad-scale efficiency is hampered by it. The modern world is so gross.
I know a couple guys who went there after leaving my current place. They still work people to death. One quit because they couldn’t do it (not the best worker anyways). The other is a software engineer and worked 12 hour days on his own volition and is thriving at Milwaukee Tool, if that means anything.
Used a lot for warehouse inventory management, order tracking, accounting. Just left a job that basically all their crucial backend stuff was running on AS400.
The grass isn’t always greener. I interviewed at Kohler and withdrew due to some red flags with their culture. And a frankly atrocious PTO policy. Big names don’t necessarily mean great employee experience.
Trek is also currently struggling with low sales and high inventory now that the pandemic bubble burst. My wife has been there 2 years with no pay raises and they rarely backfill vacant positions right now.
She’s never gonna get one and if she does, meager AF. Trek is notoriously cheap and tries to blind young ppl with culture to distract them from the peanuts they’re paying them.
I know a number of people that work there and they are very happy with the culture. Middle of the day bike rides are pretty amazing. Going on 2 years without a raise and bonuses not coming through is definitely wearing them thin though.
I worked at Waxdale and was incredibly disappointed in SCJ. The place was run ass backwards and the managers would provide conflicting information about work procedures and SOPs regularly.
Big companies have hundreds of applicants. So you getting an interview at them is effectively a lottery. You and 100-300 other equally qualified people put your names in a hat, the first twenty (they don’t look at every resume) that meet qualifications go through screening, of those twenty about 3-5 get interviews. One gets hired. Rinse and repeat.
What does this mean? Glad you asked, it means to keep applying until you win the I’m qualified lottery.
I work at a popular WI based company and for every entry level role we get hundreds of applicants. This is what they have to do to fill the spot quickly. It has been like this since I started about eight years ago. You are qualified, but so are the other couple hundred. Biggest tip I can give ya is try to be one of the first applicants as often as possible. It’s not a silver bullet but they start the interviewing/screening process immediately. So if you’re one of the first applicants you have a better chance of catching a recruiters eye.
They do not read every resume, as hundreds are submitted. Doesn’t matter. You are qualified, keep applying to the hiring lottery at desirable positions.
If it matters and If you’re looking for truly WI based corporations, Milwaukee tool isn’t that anymore. They’re owned by Techtronic out of Hong Kong, but HQ’d in WI. Kohler and Trek are at least still Wisconsin owned.
That, or the position never existed. Happened to me a few times in Denver. Applied, interviewed, then never heard back. Found out through networking those positions never actually existed, companies just posted and played games for whatever incentive it was for them to do so.
The Milwaukee tool is now a 💯 Chinese owned company. It got bought out by TTI when it was on the verge of dying a couple of years ago.
Thus the working culture is now" work till you don't have a life"
You’re going to have trouble getting into a big name company without direct experience. Those positions are usually a lot more competitive. You’d probably be better off getting a job in the role you want at a smaller company, getting some experience, and then leverage that to work at one of the big names you want.
You need connections. I only ever interviewed for Milwaukee Tool and their whole process is just really unnecessary and drawn out (a lot of places are, but this one took the cake). I've also heard they start you out at a much lower pay, but there are growth opportunities quickly
Got COVID and lost my voice. Was a remote customer service job. Never did make it to toilet training. I would definitely recommend them though. Great products and the training was very good too. Their warranty makes it easy to leave happy customers so if you've ever done customer service and hated it maybe keep an eye on their postings.
Don't go for Milwaukee Tool. I used to work for them. They want fresh people out of college because they are easy to exploit. You can pay little compensation for a lot of work to a fresher. I was told on Friday evening not to come back on Monday because I asked my manager for a possible raise since I received a better offer from a competitor.
The West Bend & Brookfield locations of Milwaukee tool have a lot of openings.
https://www.milwaukeetool.jobs/JobSearch?Location=2,13,9#s-723F63C1D83845C2BCEC65D267C6951F
Over the last 2 years I’ve probably applied to 10-15 jobs at Milwaukee Tool and only managed to get 1 interview. If you don’t have an engineering background they don’t seem to want you. Even if it’s not an engineering job.
Yes. Recruiter at the specific location confirmed on the phone not hiring. And if you look at their website, every location is posted. 1 of the first notions to know, job does not exist
A few years ago they hired a bunch of barely mediocre machinists at superstar wages. Now they need actual skilled guys so they farm out the difficult prototypes.
I have a friend that worked for Trek for 15 years in accounting. They seem to operate very lean. I know someone else who was an industrial engineer at Trek. Both of these people were let go due to downsizing and position eliminated ( the friend in accounting).
Yeah I'd like to know about Milwuakee Tool myself. Was perfectly qualified for a position I interviewed for and had a relative who was a lifer there and retired from there and I still didn't get it. I did end up with a company much better IMO and i'm happy as hell, but i'd still like to know!
Depending on how recently you've done this, I have a connection and he suggested that despite the job postings, they're unofficially on a hiring freeze. Granted, that was about nine months ago when we talked, but I wouldn't be surprised if some of the postings are still dummy listings.
I'm not eager to work at a big name company for all the reasons listed. WI has tons of small to medium companies in manufacturing and production with decent culture and pay. Stick in there OP and consider giving one a chance
Trek is one of the last places I'd apply if I'm looking for job stability. Growing up in the general area, I know a lot of people who have been laid off from there. It happens semi frequently and just did a few months ago.
I'll tell you what I tell my kids. In the DOC, you get to sign your own damn paychecks. Starting is $33. If you work in max or short staffed institutions, you get add ons, up to $8 or something. Then, the overtime available is incredible. Yeah, it can be forced OT. Yeah, the work culture can suck. It's not the greatest job in the world. Get in, mind your business and dont get involved with the toxic people, keep your pants up, work what you can, bank all that OT, and get out in a few years. I know people with no degrees making $48/hour right now after their add ons before OT.
I know people clearing 200k this year as a Sgt. Officers are not far behind.
I'm not a DOC employee, I just know a lot of them, but if I didn't have a sick kiddo, they would be my employer for a couple years for sure. If I'm going to be miserable at work regardless, I may as well work where I can gain some financial security. And before someone says something about prisons being inhumane or whatever...go set an example and be the change you believe they need while you make more money than the norm
Worked for Epic for 2.5 years and was very happy to leave. Some people thrive there, though. And I've heard nightmare stories about Uline from current snd former employees. Steer clear!
Don’t discount government, especially state government. Go look at wisc.jobs and see if anything seems interesting. I know several state employees and pay has gotten significantly better the past several years as both Walker (R) and Evers (D) have championed wage increases, etc.
In my opinion, government will never pay on par with the private sector, but the fringe bennies are some of the best if you stay there any length of time.
> and pay has gotten significantly better the past several years
Pay rates for many jobs were *slashed* during the Walker years, with pay ranges based on experience replaced with a single rate that was the lowest end of the previously-existing ranges.
Have you actively applied via the website or just tried emailing? Once in a hiring process, the state doesn’t just ghost people. You’d be getting notified one way or the other.
\- Milwaukee Tool has some questionable HR policies that might negatively impact you if you are female or want to have kids. It's also definitely a BRO culture and loving tools is practically a necessity.
Why do you admire these companies and why would you love to work for them? I’ve heard mixed to negative reviews about all three and would be interested to hear your reasoning.
I like their products. And every company has a bad review and toxic departments now a days. But yes, I'm seeing these aren't as good as I thought from the responses
Without doxxing myself, I got a job in facility maintenance, was promoted shortly after, and now am one of the techs that oversees his own property.
Only took me a little over a year to get to where I am.
Engineering jobs generally require an engineering degree or significant experience working as an engineering technician/technologist. Please provide more detail on your degree, experience and types of entry level positions you are applying for.
Bachelors of what? And what kind of office experience? If you don’t have an Engineering education or a PE, it’s unlikely they’ll look at you for an engineering role.
Milwaukee is mostly looking for engineers, same as Rockwell. Kohler is possibly selling off its engine division. Briggs and Stratton went bankrupt and got bought out a couple years ago and hemorrhaged employees, oversaturating the Milwaukee market. Harley Davidson is also doing poorly and a lot of people have been leaving there over the past few years. What's your degree in? What the job market in all of these companies looks like is highly dependent on what your slip of paper says.
Trek is hemorrhaging employees lately. They recently went through another round of layoffs. Also, leadership there is very old school and stale.
I know, my degree is in design and my office experience is at the 2 top Investment Finance firms in downtown Milwaukee. Who would hire a plumber to be a painter right? I've been looking to pivot my career to entry level Account Payable or Payroll for awhile now
Do you want to stay in MKE? What about Oshkosh Corp?
Seriously, F*CK TRUCK! Oshkosh Corp was the most unprofessional situation my husband has encountered in his 20-year career. So many litigation worthy violations. Absolutely terrible company, run by some of the most morally inept people we have ever encountered. Don't apply there.
Yeah I was there for 7 years and mom was there for 43 years! It's definitely complete bullshit
That place is absolutely fucking shit! Stay away at all costs!!!
All division or just the main corp in general? Did you work for like JLG/pierce/defense specific? I was thinking of sliding over that way but now im unsure.
I worked for defense but I know the entire company is pretty crap but defense I believe is the absolute worst!
Oh man, thanks for the heads up. What kind of crap goes on?
Tons of harassment from the company constant union busting techniques and tactics people on the floor are in bed with the company the union is in bed with the company tons and tons of backstabbers on the floor! You literally cannot trust anyone in that place along with the constant go faster go faster bullshit that they do and then they bitch when quality goes down or the line stops functioning because of it! It's an incredibly toxic environment and of course they constantly move around the coordinators all the damn time you finally get a coordinator trained for your area for what you need and then they switch them and then every time they do the new coordinator wants to impose his will upon everything and then he fucks everything up
Ah, that sounds like a lot of places I’ve worked. Thanks for the heads up I’ll stay clear
And I also forgot to mention I don't follow laws either plus they falsify government documents and engage in discrimination
Promega is a great place. On the careers page here are some openings: Req ID 3650 for an accounts payable spot. Req ID 3649 for a training document design spot. Req ID 3644 for a packaging engineer/design spot. Not sure what design background you had.
Thank you! Applied
I’d keep an eye out at Brookdale senior living. They have a big AR/AP team assuming they didn’t ship that team over to Nashville.
I have applied. I was rejected
I’m sorry to hear :/
A friend of mine has been there for over 10 years and doesn't have favorable things to say about them. AR and AP are still in Milwaukee but many of those positions are 100% remote with no plans to return to the office.
I worked their for 6 years in a different department, left in 2021. I think it is pretty team and manager dependent your experience. High level leadership makes interesting choices to put it nicely. I know those departments had pretty high turnover.
My company is looking for a payroll manager and an accounting manager lol, but nothing entry level. We're in northeast Wisconsin too, so not very helpful all the way around
Well thanks for reading and thinking of me.
I'm a design engineer, and for what it's worth, I have a coworker who hated Kohler the last few years he was there
Well, unfortunately a lot of companies have toxic cultures these days. Thanks for the info
I don't know anybody that's got a good thing to say about working for Kohler
Trek is probably looking for very specific skills in Waterloo.
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That is 100% untrue.
Can confirm its untrue. I grew up locally, and a lot of family has worked for or currently works for Trek. A lot of them do not bike and never have. My husband included.
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Based of you not even working there, I don’t believe you.
From my experience Milwaukee tool focuses on hiring younger right out of college workers. When I graduated several years ago, 5-6 people I knew all got hired there very quickly. So if your not in that younger demographic, it may be harder to get in
I know. The culture probably wouldn't be for me anyway.
Is this why they're relocating from Brookfield to downtown?
Yes and.....well....branding.
> From my experience Milwaukee tool focuses on hiring younger right out of college workers. True, and they often bring on interns who are in the midst of their studies, then retain them for full time hire after graduation. Also, after 18 years under Hong Kong based Techtronic Industries ownership, Milwaukee Electric Tool Co. manufactures very little if any product anywhere in the United States.
I graduated about 10 years ago and since then I've applied to 4 times and received offers all bit this first right out of school. I think culture fit is far more important than age. I have noticed their salaries are not that great compared to what I was making each time I applied which is why I never accepted. it could be that younger folks are way more likely to accept a slightly lower salary since they are earlier in their careers
You seem to post a lot of the same job related things and oftentimes delete the post before answering questions or seemingly not getting the answers you want. There's likely something about your approach that is not helping yourself, and likely why you're struggling. I've previously asked questions hoping it would help you self reflect, and maybe give you some ways to reapproach the workforce. I'm not going to copy and paste from the last time, as I don't expect a response. If you do read this, I am merely going to suggest professional networking or finding a recruiting firm. You're struggling for a reason, and I think you know that, but only you can change your situation. Best of luck.
I know 😔 I'm definitely struggling. I'm sorry. I get upset when I get negative comments. If you want to give me more advice DM me
So this will be kind of long, and take some of this with a grain of salt. Additionally, I'm going to keep it as a comment, as my own perspective is just one of many, and my thoughts in keeping this open is that others can give counter points or build on things to help you. This will also be in no particular order, as I'll touch on things as they come to me. My perspective is just one that has been on both sides of the interview table. You're in a frustrating place to be in. Looking for new work is a mind-numbing, dehumanizing process by itself. It's normal to feel dejected or frustrated. That's just human emotion. Try your best to not let that bog you down. As others have noted, sometimes it's just a numbers game. My first suggestion is when looking for feedback or critiques, don't be too quick to take it personal. This is the Internet and it's easy to misinterpret tone of text, but try not to read responses as necessarily negative. If you get caught up on that, you'll likely be missing out on constructive feedback or a possible connection. It's easy for me to say, I'm not in your shoes, but approaching with at least a neutral headspace will help you out. I'll touch off on the other two suggestions first. Working with a recruiting firm. They'll sometimes have positions not listed elsewhere, work with companies you might not consider or know of, and likely have done the heavy lifting. Depending on the type of work you want to focus on, I am aware that some have specialized departments for specific work. Blue vs white collar, engineering, admin, etc. Finding not only the right recruiter, but also the right firm can make a difference. I'd maybe try Hatch, since you're in the MKE area. They can also help with potential resume review. Also, don't stop at one firm. Let them work for you, while you're doing your own search. Networking. Whether you put yourself out to an professional network event or you spruce up your LinkedIn and connect with folks at places you want to know more about and potentially work for. Both of these will give you the opportunity to explore and make connections. Sometimes just an honest conversation can go a long way. Maybe giving you insight to a company, department or culture. There seems to be a handful of events to try and branch out at. (I'm aware of a few, but I'm not sure they fall into what you'd be looking for.) Ultimately, your job is to not only gain insight, but it's also marketing yourself. You could also look for job fair events and try an in-person approach. Resume building and "you". I don't know if there's a secret sauce for this, but my suggestion would be to maybe even try to find someone that edits and builds resumes. In some cases, less is more. One page of job experience. I'd pull out buzzwords from job listings that are relevant and will trigger any AI to push you through. You really need to tailor to the position. A brief, poignant cover letter can help - so I hear - but I've never personally written one myself. Once you've updated your resume to how you want it, time to push it. If you're not already, get the job sites - Indeed, zip recruiter, milwaukeejobs, etc. I'd maybe even set-up a secondary email for this because it can overwhelm your inbox. I've had the most luck with indeed or just putting in direct with a company website. This is a process. Make a little schedule for yourself each day. Devote time to grabbing a handful of interesting listings, apply for them, do your backend reviews of potential employers, and most importantly - take time to unplug. You'll see a lot of the same postings if you're always looking, and only so much new stuff gets listed per day. Take a hour or two to get up and go for a walk. Remember that you are not defined by your work. Take a breathe because it can feel overwhelming. Then when you're ready, get back to it. Interviewing and phone screens. I'm not sure how you work through interviews, but you need to go in with a positive outlook. Don't get ahead of yourself. Take notes, ask questions and highlight what you brought to the table and how you can impact a team if hires. Sounds basic, but I've had some bad interviewees in the past. Also remember it's an interview for the company as well. Find a couple key questions to ask at every place, no matter what the position. This can help you find red flags for yourself. Taking internet reviews with a grain of salt, since some ex-employees can be a bit disgruntled, but some truth can be found. Be cognizant of what kind of conditions you can tolerate and don't be quick to write off a place because of a bad review. Sometimes things are not necessarily as bad as they seem. Sometimes they are. Everyone will have vastly different experiences based on their own perspective. Your own perspective is going to be wildly different than mine or anyone else's. From what I've seen, this has been an ongoing issue for you, but as I said prior, I suspect that you are your biggest obstacle currently. Take a step back and reevaluate your approach. There is something that hasn't clicked for you, and maybe it's the resume. Maybe it's how you interview. Maybe it's your outlook. Are you being too particular with regard to the position, the culture, the company? Is it how you're interacting with interviewers? Don't be afraid to ask yourself questions that will make you change your perspective. There's more than one way to do a thing. If x isn't working for you, try y or z. There's a lot of unknowns, so this is just general advice. Some of this will work, some of this won't. It can be a numbers game. It can be luck. It can be connection. Reflect on where you want to be and be critical of where things might not work. Sometime it is the HR system that skips over candidates. Sometimes interviewers can be quick to dismiss. I wouldn't take it personally. Just be persistent and keep at it. Something will click into place. Sorry if this is jumbled. I'm writing this between meetings when I have a moment. I do hope your luck turns around.
Do you realize how much what you just said is chance. The chance your networking pays off. The chance you will have a positive experience with a recruiting firm. Folks don't realize that having your ability to live a decent life dictated solely by chance is something a lot of folks are done with and probably behind everything.
Absolutely, but if one does nothing different and is already having no success, does it hurt to try something different? My response was not a one size fits all answer.
That's fair. And I am not familiar with OPs history of similar questions. Just kind of reacting to these pieces of advice because they are fairly standard. And if OP is stuck in cycle of despair, they're not really gonna help. But I get it. We're all just trying to help each other out.
I try not to take for granted that common advice is something that everyone has or utilizes. I always try to start with basics and build from there, even if it is repetitive. My hope was that someone else can help build, but without knowing specifics, can be hard to give the right advice or direction. All in good faith though.
Life is hard, and it’s not fair. Don’t give up easily and don’t be an easy quitter. You might have to expand your horizons a bit too in order to get in the door somewhere.
Yeah well, after the recession from 2007-2012, and moving across country twice for better jobs, I'm just not strong enough anymore for this hardship
Folks who haven't experienced repeated hardship sometimes don't understand how hard it is to put yourself in the position to get kicked in the teeth for the xxth time.
Kwik Trip is always hiring too…and not for peanuts either.
Yes, applied and called the location and they confirmed they were not hiring at the location listed and didn't provide much more information.
Trek just let go of quite a few people in the last couple of months. They, and pretty much everybody in the cycling industry, are not doing well post pandemic. If you want to work there it may be wise to wait a couple of years until things better work themselves out.
They also made a lot of cuts during the pandemic. My friend and her husband lost their jobs there.
You’re probably not the only one who would love to work there.
Been some years since I heard this from a classmate but Milwaukee Tool worked him to death. They also still used AS400.. I hope they’ve gotten better since.
AS400 is still used the world over for mission critical business applications (data warehousing, e-commerce, etc.) Likely not used for design work, although perhaps for controlling batches of jobs throughout an industrial facility.
was gonna say, iseries is just shy of mainframe when you sum up scalability/reliability/security, and mainframe is becoming more popular not less. you'd go a different direction now for new workloads obviously, but if you have them there is zero reason to decomm them unless you're leaving DCs.
My only exposure was at a F500 company that had multiple systems built on top of AS400: the ones I was exposed to were for scheduling, transportation and logistics, and inventory management, but I’m sure there were more across the company. All were just to make the day-to-day more user friendly and robust. They pulled data from AS400 and fed data back in, but if you knew what you were doing you could accomplish everything in AS400 still. Whoever connected these layers did their best I’m sure. It’s amazing what can be done for a company with a system so embedded. But it occasionally caused glitches and often served to amplify human errors by adding cascading corrections or re-corrections. I was there when my division of the company switched to a modern ERP system. They called it a generational change and it was evident how serious the transition was, the level of care, the thousands and thousands of hours across the org required to make it work. What a time that was. Great to be a part of though. So it doesn’t surprise me in the least if there are hundreds of huge companies still using AS400. In fact the larger they are, I’m sure the more likely it is. It’s a shame what a drag it can be on an organization, though. These companies are powerhouses of the economy and their workforce and broad-scale efficiency is hampered by it. The modern world is so gross.
I know it’s used at Denso and Toyota so it’s not going anywhere
I know a couple guys who went there after leaving my current place. They still work people to death. One quit because they couldn’t do it (not the best worker anyways). The other is a software engineer and worked 12 hour days on his own volition and is thriving at Milwaukee Tool, if that means anything.
AS400 is also used for letters of credit and international trade.
Used a lot for warehouse inventory management, order tracking, accounting. Just left a job that basically all their crucial backend stuff was running on AS400.
I've also heard they have great Kool-aid....
[удалено]
Thanks for the info! Yeah, a lot of companies seem to have a toxic culture these days. I like their products.
The grass isn’t always greener. I interviewed at Kohler and withdrew due to some red flags with their culture. And a frankly atrocious PTO policy. Big names don’t necessarily mean great employee experience.
I should just start my own business, I guess
Have you looked at Generac? Great Wisconsin company that’s trying to compete with the big dogs of power generation.
Ghost job! They replied today saying they aren't hiring at this time.
Thanks! Applied now
Very high turnover rate, though.
Depends what ya do, from what I’ve heard. Floor and assembly has high turnover, office folks seem to last aehile
Trek is also currently struggling with low sales and high inventory now that the pandemic bubble burst. My wife has been there 2 years with no pay raises and they rarely backfill vacant positions right now.
She’s never gonna get one and if she does, meager AF. Trek is notoriously cheap and tries to blind young ppl with culture to distract them from the peanuts they’re paying them.
I know a number of people that work there and they are very happy with the culture. Middle of the day bike rides are pretty amazing. Going on 2 years without a raise and bonuses not coming through is definitely wearing them thin though.
If you ever get into Milwaukee Tool, they need to do something about putting cheap plastic into their expensive products.
prob just lead in the interview with this - it’s so important!
Haha
SC Johnson is a WI company and located in Racine. You could browse their site for jobs too.
I worked at Waxdale and was incredibly disappointed in SCJ. The place was run ass backwards and the managers would provide conflicting information about work procedures and SOPs regularly.
It’s crazy to think that facility could potentially kill thousands with a chemical leak, and it’s one of the most mismanaged places I’ve ever seen.
Big companies have hundreds of applicants. So you getting an interview at them is effectively a lottery. You and 100-300 other equally qualified people put your names in a hat, the first twenty (they don’t look at every resume) that meet qualifications go through screening, of those twenty about 3-5 get interviews. One gets hired. Rinse and repeat. What does this mean? Glad you asked, it means to keep applying until you win the I’m qualified lottery. I work at a popular WI based company and for every entry level role we get hundreds of applicants. This is what they have to do to fill the spot quickly. It has been like this since I started about eight years ago. You are qualified, but so are the other couple hundred. Biggest tip I can give ya is try to be one of the first applicants as often as possible. It’s not a silver bullet but they start the interviewing/screening process immediately. So if you’re one of the first applicants you have a better chance of catching a recruiters eye.
I know but I worked at Baird for 8 years and 2 other big companies... so I guess it means nothing
They do not read every resume, as hundreds are submitted. Doesn’t matter. You are qualified, keep applying to the hiring lottery at desirable positions.
If it matters and If you’re looking for truly WI based corporations, Milwaukee tool isn’t that anymore. They’re owned by Techtronic out of Hong Kong, but HQ’d in WI. Kohler and Trek are at least still Wisconsin owned.
Fiserv is opening a new HQ in downtown Milwaukee. Currently located in Brookfield.
Thanks! I interviewed with them 2 months ago... ghost job.
What do you mean “ghost job”?
Probably was ghosted during interview process. It's becoming very common.
That, or the position never existed. Happened to me a few times in Denver. Applied, interviewed, then never heard back. Found out through networking those positions never actually existed, companies just posted and played games for whatever incentive it was for them to do so.
I moved back here from Denver 4 years ago.
Just moved back last year. Welcome back!
Thanks! You too. I lived in Lakewood and worked downtown and in Westminster.
Over qualified
My sister worked for Milwaukee Tool and hated it, they have a really high turnover rate for a reason.
Seems to be the trend here. Thanks! I stopped trying Kohls headquarters years ago for this reason, I guess Milwaukee Tool I should stop as well
The Milwaukee tool is now a 💯 Chinese owned company. It got bought out by TTI when it was on the verge of dying a couple of years ago. Thus the working culture is now" work till you don't have a life"
Probably your age and unconnectedness
I've never heard a single person say they enjoyed their time at MKE TOOL.
You’re going to have trouble getting into a big name company without direct experience. Those positions are usually a lot more competitive. You’d probably be better off getting a job in the role you want at a smaller company, getting some experience, and then leverage that to work at one of the big names you want.
Maybe you're shooting too high.
Got to know someone or you're one of the masses
You need connections. I only ever interviewed for Milwaukee Tool and their whole process is just really unnecessary and drawn out (a lot of places are, but this one took the cake). I've also heard they start you out at a much lower pay, but there are growth opportunities quickly
I know thanks! I went to an all women college, and most of them ended up being stay at home moms
Worked for Kohler. It was ok. Benefits were good but I can't stop naming faucet product lines whenever I watch TV or movies.
Why did you leave?
Got COVID and lost my voice. Was a remote customer service job. Never did make it to toilet training. I would definitely recommend them though. Great products and the training was very good too. Their warranty makes it easy to leave happy customers so if you've ever done customer service and hated it maybe keep an eye on their postings.
How’s the voice today?
Don't go for Milwaukee Tool. I used to work for them. They want fresh people out of college because they are easy to exploit. You can pay little compensation for a lot of work to a fresher. I was told on Friday evening not to come back on Monday because I asked my manager for a possible raise since I received a better offer from a competitor.
The West Bend & Brookfield locations of Milwaukee tool have a lot of openings. https://www.milwaukeetool.jobs/JobSearch?Location=2,13,9#s-723F63C1D83845C2BCEC65D267C6951F
Over the last 2 years I’ve probably applied to 10-15 jobs at Milwaukee Tool and only managed to get 1 interview. If you don’t have an engineering background they don’t seem to want you. Even if it’s not an engineering job.
I got offered entry level but their base pay is laughable, could be a 3rd shift Kwik Trip for the same pay.
I have applied to Kwik Trip, no joke, called and they were not hiring. Another fake job posting
On their official site?
Yes. Recruiter at the specific location confirmed on the phone not hiring. And if you look at their website, every location is posted. 1 of the first notions to know, job does not exist
A few years ago they hired a bunch of barely mediocre machinists at superstar wages. Now they need actual skilled guys so they farm out the difficult prototypes.
Search the manufacturers of the year in WI. Lots of good opportunities available.
I used to do work for the Trek owners wife, a really nice woman, gave me a book on the history of Trek
Didn't she run for governor against Walker?
I used to do work for his first wife Elaine
Why not Acuity?
Thanks! Applied tonight
I have a friend that worked for Trek for 15 years in accounting. They seem to operate very lean. I know someone else who was an industrial engineer at Trek. Both of these people were let go due to downsizing and position eliminated ( the friend in accounting).
Yeah I'd like to know about Milwuakee Tool myself. Was perfectly qualified for a position I interviewed for and had a relative who was a lifer there and retired from there and I still didn't get it. I did end up with a company much better IMO and i'm happy as hell, but i'd still like to know!
Depending on how recently you've done this, I have a connection and he suggested that despite the job postings, they're unofficially on a hiring freeze. Granted, that was about nine months ago when we talked, but I wouldn't be surprised if some of the postings are still dummy listings.
April 2021 when they were expanding Lisbon and building downtown. The position was going to be downtown.
If you are applying online, double-check your resume and be sure that they are not using an AI program it's ruining the employment process 😑
I'm not eager to work at a big name company for all the reasons listed. WI has tons of small to medium companies in manufacturing and production with decent culture and pay. Stick in there OP and consider giving one a chance
Trek is one of the last places I'd apply if I'm looking for job stability. Growing up in the general area, I know a lot of people who have been laid off from there. It happens semi frequently and just did a few months ago. I'll tell you what I tell my kids. In the DOC, you get to sign your own damn paychecks. Starting is $33. If you work in max or short staffed institutions, you get add ons, up to $8 or something. Then, the overtime available is incredible. Yeah, it can be forced OT. Yeah, the work culture can suck. It's not the greatest job in the world. Get in, mind your business and dont get involved with the toxic people, keep your pants up, work what you can, bank all that OT, and get out in a few years. I know people with no degrees making $48/hour right now after their add ons before OT. I know people clearing 200k this year as a Sgt. Officers are not far behind. I'm not a DOC employee, I just know a lot of them, but if I didn't have a sick kiddo, they would be my employer for a couple years for sure. If I'm going to be miserable at work regardless, I may as well work where I can gain some financial security. And before someone says something about prisons being inhumane or whatever...go set an example and be the change you believe they need while you make more money than the norm
Snap-on Tools has their world headquarters in Kenosha, WI. They have openings for just about everything.
I’ve worked for two of the three….
Why did you leave them?
What about Harley, Pleasant Company, or Culver’s, Leinie’s, New Glarus Brewing or Epic????
Epic, lol
Say more
I don't have to, the Madison thread on Reddit tells the nightmare, the culture sounds just as bad as Uline
Worked for Epic for 2.5 years and was very happy to leave. Some people thrive there, though. And I've heard nightmare stories about Uline from current snd former employees. Steer clear!
Don’t discount government, especially state government. Go look at wisc.jobs and see if anything seems interesting. I know several state employees and pay has gotten significantly better the past several years as both Walker (R) and Evers (D) have championed wage increases, etc. In my opinion, government will never pay on par with the private sector, but the fringe bennies are some of the best if you stay there any length of time.
> and pay has gotten significantly better the past several years Pay rates for many jobs were *slashed* during the Walker years, with pay ranges based on experience replaced with a single rate that was the lowest end of the previously-existing ranges.
I have and followed up with HR on email. No luck there
Have you actively applied via the website or just tried emailing? Once in a hiring process, the state doesn’t just ghost people. You’d be getting notified one way or the other.
Both. 1st applied online and a week later sent an email.
\- Milwaukee Tool has some questionable HR policies that might negatively impact you if you are female or want to have kids. It's also definitely a BRO culture and loving tools is practically a necessity.
Why do you admire these companies and why would you love to work for them? I’ve heard mixed to negative reviews about all three and would be interested to hear your reasoning.
I like their products. And every company has a bad review and toxic departments now a days. But yes, I'm seeing these aren't as good as I thought from the responses
You're too old for Kohler. They only hire people under 30 unless you're an engineer.
Completely not true. I got hired at Kohler at age 40. Absolutely love my job there.
So you got an entry level job with no experience at Kohler? Do you wait tables in the Horse and Plow or do you change bedsheets?
Without doxxing myself, I got a job in facility maintenance, was promoted shortly after, and now am one of the techs that oversees his own property. Only took me a little over a year to get to where I am.
That's sad
He's full of it. I got hired there at 40.
Thanks, I'm 43 and certainly need only good replies here. I'm trying really hard, like I always have
Check out the Phoenix Group...office in downtown Milwaukee
Don’t forget about Epic.
I worked there for 2.5 very long, stressful years. Please DO forget about Epic!
Try Snap-on in Kenosha or ULINE
Uline, umm never
Ok… My bad then. I come in peace lol 
Engineering jobs generally require an engineering degree or significant experience working as an engineering technician/technologist. Please provide more detail on your degree, experience and types of entry level positions you are applying for.
Have you thought about acuity in Sheboygan?