application specialist

control panel technician

Spartan-Controls

What is the best part of working at the company?
If you show effort and interest in a role, the company will match that effort and interest with  paid training. Push you to work more on what you are showing interest for, broad enough company with many career paths.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
The pay structure as a full time employee is probably the most stressful side of things, when the work was slow your pay reflected it but if there was work to be done then you were compensated very well. Along with many paid days off to give you rest when the work was slow.

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
This varies pending on the location you work at within the company and what your business unit did. Regional shops each had their own little twist on culture to be unique which made it fun, major locations like Calgary and Edmonton were much more kool-aid induced culture.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Typical day was drink coffee, work on projects pertaining to your scope, make it home for decent time of day to enjoy evening with your family. Busy season would change that and you spend 70+ hours with your team at work (pending role some would be away from home for weeks) this is where the culture part came in at least for the regional shops. Having a good close team made the busy seasons worth it.

The work was fine, the projects were intense but not unmanageable. Compensation is a combination of base salary + quarterly profit sharing + annual profit sharing (once you've purchased shares). The base salary is extremely low but the addition of quarterly profit sharing bumps it up to match industry. Every employee receives both. After year three every employee is offered a standard amount of shares based on the job role. These shares vest over 10 years and profit sharing for share owners is paid out in two installments annually. My offer letter indicated my salary would be matched to what is typical for someone with my experience and background however for three years I was paid consistently 20% to 60% more than the amount in the offer letter because of profit sharing.

It's not uncommon to work with a number of people who have been there for decades. These people are either very good at their job or are very good at playing games and keeping their head down. The game players would not succeed or make nearly what they make at Spartan anywhere else, they were just lucky enough to win the Spartan lottery by getting in early and buying shares.

I worked at the Solutions Center in the NE. The work is interesting, and there are some great people that work there. Although, the mechanical drafting group was very inflexible, did poor quality work, and spent a lot of time talking loudly, taking extended lunch breaks, and making fun of other coworkers/calling them names. They were always complaining, and dragging their feet whenever an engineer tried to get them to do any drafting. The management was blissfully unaware, and would not take any action to correct the behaviour. It was not impressive to say the least. I believe the management needs to be improved in that group, there is no reason to have behaviour like this.

If you are someone who likes to work hard, "play hard" - this is the company for you. Yes it is busy and a lot of work to be done, but Spartans (that is what the employees are called) know how to have fun, too. It's a very connected, family-like culture, which is rare how big of a company it is.

The benefits are paid, and it's a great package. Pay is entrepreneurial in nature but fair and competitive. Don't be quick to judge the pay by the offer letter, you will be happy with your T4 at the end of the year. You get a lot of time off, you just need to actually use it. The Management are all supportive of work life balance, so if you plan and use your time, there is some balance there. 

Overall, it was a great place to work. I would happily recommend it to friends and family. 

The days are busy and filled with challenges that provide great learning experiences. Daily challenges are constantly teaching me a better sense of time management, better communication skills and most importantly I am always learning how much more work I can handle than I had previously thought possible.

The management team is very supportive and approachable. Co-workers are friendly and hard working. Everyone loves to have fun and understands the importance that a fun and relaxed workplace plays in increasing productivity.

The hardest part of the job is the complexity of each project, and the fact that no two projects are the same.

The most enjoyable part of the job is the company and overall culture, which is made better by the feeling of community created by the employees.

I thoroughly enjoyed my time working here, but the manager I had at the time was unprofessional and due to our remote location, his antics went unnoticed for so long that we ended up losing half of our team. I would strongly recommend working for Spartan, and would do so again in the future, especially in one of their bigger locations. The base pay was so-so, but the quarterly profit sharing, benefits, flex days, vacations, and a wealth of other benefits, more than made up for it. I only left Spartan due to a relocation to another city where they sadly did not have any availability at their local branch. 

They offer decent benefits, take safety seriously, offer good training, and on the surface they create a good work environment. But the problems begin and end with their pay structure. You’ll barely make minimum wage with the promise that “QPS will compensate” (Quarterly Profit Shares). The QPS is just a scam to differ your hourly wages so when they’re busy and you have mandatory overtime your compensation is really just what they should be paying you hourly in the first place. This also creates an underlying toxicity. Employees are always talking behind eachothers backs about who isn’t pulling their weight, and it’s everybody but themselves. The QPS is just a carrot, and month to month your lucky if your job pays for gas and groceries. 


Very easy to keep busy whether you're working in the field or in shop.  Usually 8 hour days with about 100 to 400 hours of OT depending on your role.  Lots of options for learning and career development, advancement is very much encouraged there.  Management team and workplace culture are great.  Any issues one may have are addressed promptly.  The hardest part of the job would be on the technical side of things, which isn't for everybody.  The most enjoyable part of the job is the people there are very easy to get along with and are more than willing to help out.

Rules for working at Spartan Controls:
Never dispute your manager or GL. Don't expect to be considered for promotion based on hard work. You will be expected to work overtime.Good place to work if you are seeking slave like relationship they can fire you at any time for any reasons.There are people with mental problems with bad behavior and management doesn't care about that. You should be a somebody( old workers or GL) pat to get a permanent job.Kissing up is where it's at.
Not recommended for normal people.

Through this job, I learned that culture is so so so very important. There is not enough money in the world to make me work under these circumstances ever again I am

If you enjoy a challenge and can handle stress of completing a job on time then you will like it. There will be pressure from your supervisors as well. You will feel this until you start getting faster and become more efficient with your tasks. You will have days where you feel confident and there will be days where you will feel not confident. You must be able to take criticism well because they go over your jobs in testing and have you fix what is wrong. Use this criticism for learning. Overall it really is a good place to work and if you have experience in it you will feel better about it but if you are going in blind accept that it will be a challenge.

Top Job Titles	Average salary
Application specialist 4 salaries reported	$46,000 per year
Control panel technician 3 salaries reported	$19.00 per hour

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