Pros
Menards will train you up and down. If you want to learn something just let them know and they will give you the tools you need to get trained. They will promote you from within, but be prepared to make Menards your life if you want to get into management. Store managers can make a lot of money, but they work very hard and long hours for it. Better place to work as a part-timer. You don't get health care benefits, but you can still get a bonus. And you have more control over your own schedule.
Cons
Not enough accountability from all team members. Some can get away with murder while others work their butts off and barely get recognized. If you work full time they discourage you going to school to better yourself. They don't come right out and say it, but you have to have an "open" schedule and they can put you down for whatever shift they want. They will not work around a school schedule or another job. If you are full time you are essentially a manager in training. They want to own you since you are their investment. It is easy to get stuck in the Meards trap if you don't have a college dergree to fall back on if you ever stop working for the company. Just because you worked at Menards doesn't mean Home Depot or Lowes is going to hire you right away. If you were not at least a store manager you do not know enough to be useful to them. They might consider you a liability if you worked for Menards for an extended period of time since you could be a "spy" for Menards. Ot you just might be a "reject". Menards does not hire former employees of the big two for this same reason. It is an unwritten, but a followed practice. Schedules for managers are uneccessarily brutal. They work 44-50 hours a week (in itself thats not bad) but they work 36-40 hours from Friday at noon to noon Monday over the weekend (they work every other weekend). Also there are many times when you have less than eight hours between shifts from closing one night to open the next day. These hours a REQUIRED for you to be a manager. If you tell them you think the schedule is unfair or unduly difficult they just tell you to rethink about being a manger. Also, the jobs here don't pay that much compared to the amount of time you spend on them and the quality of life you loose to their back to back scheduling. You make a lot of money from bonuses, but they are not guaranteed. Some stores do not make bonuses and that is at least 15% of your yearly income for people who have been there at least 6 years. Managers bonuses are based on what that department/store sells and if goals are met. These goals and benchmarks are made up by the general office and they can change them on a whim. I know of one manager that made $52k one year and $38k the next because bonuses were not paid and he held the same position at the same store during those years. They want department managers to make about $45k a year so if you go over one year they find a way to get it back the next. Their books are open to you if you are a manager, but they have some real creative bookkeeping. If you start to ask questions about it (or probe into any other policies that seem suspect) they make excuses until you give up or they start breathing down your neck on other department or store issues that may have normally been accepted before you stuck your nose into their spin and manipulations. This is an unoffical practice and it is known by the managers in the company so the general office is hardly ever challenged. They also might show you some in company propaganda about much this person is making and look how fast he got there. While the expamples they use are true they are exceptions and not the rule. Not everyone is going to have the same track as the "superstar" they are telling you about. They like butt kissers and yes men. If you aren't both or one of those you will be in the thick of the herd with everyone else. This is not unique to this company, but "hard work" is not all that is needed to really get ahead. Everytime they mention dedication and commitment just replace them with "yes man" and "butt kisser" and it will be easier to understand.