I was a Maintenance Partner, they hired me because I have my 4th Class Power Engineering ticket so they are legally covered by Albertas boiler laws. What they should really hire is a Millwright.
Cintas will really sell the position in interviews. They will speed up the hiring process to get you locked in and its not until after you understand what is like to work in a Cintas plant.
Their plants are built using the cheapest methods possible, its very cookie cut. One staff bathroom in the office side of plant, cant just put another one in production Cintas? CHEAP.
They have extensive safety training because of the employees that have died on the job in previous years. I felt like I was a 1st gradee being taught common sense.
Their benefits are not the best. They dont even cover quiting smoking medications. You get NO SICK TIME. If your sick they still want you there! They offer the lowest vacation time and you dont get paid vacation until you have served for a year....and really its you who pays for your vacation time they take little amounts from each pay cheque to cover when you use it down the road.
The fumes and chemicals in the plant are toxic and cancerous but they wont tell you this or talk about it. If you care for your personal long term health do not work here.
Unpaid breaks and lunches. You scan in using a card and they round down to the nearest 15 minute intervals always.
Lot of the management have low IQ and common sense...however they are
Prosnice people
Constoxic, unhealthy, back breaking, no ethics, environmentally unfriendly, cheap
Overall the job of Route Manager at G&K Services was fun. You arrive to work for 6:30am, get all of your employees on the road after they all approach you indicating they are short product. (Uniforms, Mats, Linens).... This is where the term "The Supply Company that Cannot Supply" comes from.
Once the employees are off on their routes, depending how you scheduled your day, you would either be on the road or working in your office, unfortunately ALWAYS putting out fires. There's never a day where you can be proactive with this company. Unfortunately they stray far away from their CORE VALUES and the CUSTOMER PROMISE which are posted around the office and warehouse. Customer invoices are touch negatively on what seems to be a quarterly basis. Inventories are increased without their knowledge, annual increases which state 5% on the agreements are only 5% for garments and 10% for all other products they receive (mats, soaps, linens).... Then there's the garment protection packages which should be reviewed with the customers, but instead isn't. All of the above play key factors in customers wanting to quit their accounts with G&K.
The hardest part of the job is trying to make your customers happy and believe in the company that ripped them off for the last 5 years, and then hid behind their auto-renewal clause on their agreements.
I learned that no matter how hard you work, no matter how many hours are put in, and no matter what kind of positive return you bri
Route Sales Representative | Edmonton, AB | Jan 10, 2017
Route Sales First Aid & Safety
Great people to work with but you are mainly on your own all day except for the customers you visit. There is a HUGE learning curve and you are expected to learn quickly and be on your own after a few weeks. You are expected to increase your sales through selling customers things they don't actually need in their first aid kits. You are also expected to learn the other products the company offers in terms of safety like gloves, respiratory equipment, glasses etc. This as well on your own. The pay is very low for what they expect. They also track your every move as to where and what you are doing. You drive around in a set territory in a van that as well you are expected to keep up inventories in order to make sales. In order to increase sales you need to bring on new customers, sell items customers don't need, sell safety products, - which you have to learn about yourself. You are warrant to the elements as you work outside part of the time getting product from the van. The customers rely on you to know the OHS guidelines which you have to research and figure out for yourself what is expected. You mainly learn from the other reps who all have their own way of doing things. No consistency and no procedures in place to ensure you are following the OHS guidelines. You do set your own hours so if you start the day early you can finish early (around 3-3:30 pm) but you have to keep up with emails, dropping off catalogues to new customers, extra sales in order to make better money.
Pros* You set your own schedule * Good group of reps * Lots of opportunity to learn
ConsLow pay, *High expectaions, * No consistency in training, * HUGE learning curve, * So many changes all of the time
New employees on day one are given a copy of a book called "The Spirit is the difference," a reference to their corporate culture. They also use terms like "partners" to describe any Cintas employee. This is all nothing more than one big elaborate charade. Management is very toxic and will work you to the bone, nothing you do will ever be enough. If you are not part of the "old boys club" then you will never be promoted or make it in this company. Any sort of free thinking and creativity is shunned by upper management so unless you want to be a mindless drone, do not work here.
I was "fortunate" enough to work for both the sales and service sides of the organization and witnessed many unethical business practices happen here. One such practice was the annual 3-5% price increase stipulation found in every service contract. On a yearly basis, I witnessed Cintas try at every opportunity to increase price by over 20% to existing customers, and then hope they would not notice the increase. If they did not notice, they would continue to charge these prices. If they did notice, instead of correcting the mistake and issuing credits, management would fight with the customer and then threaten them with the whole "you signed a contract and legal ramifications will be enforced if you try to leave." Absolutely terrible customer service. Cintas would even threaten small mom and pop shop customers legally if they ever tried to leave their contract, even if it was for perfectly valid rea
Being a sales representative for over 5 years here is what I've experienced.
Sales managers are mandated to interview 3 new people a week even when they are not hiring. Keeps potential good new hires guessing if they are going to get a job.
Poor compensation pay
Targets in sales unrealistic to hit PC
To get promoted you need to pretend everything is great and that you have the best job in the world
Sales salary below standard.
3rd paycheck of every month in sales in almost zero
Need to rely on the competency of your Sales manager to approve expenses on time or you get a zero paycheck every 3rd week.
Sales schedule start at 7:30a - 5pm
Managers only look at the sales numbers and when top performers stop producing they ignore and go to next rep who is the flavour of the week.
Service reps are told by managers to short customers and to throw additional items or products on a bill to grow the business without client knowing.
Huge Price increases over CPI and hope customer doesn't notice.
Cintas bought a major competitor in North America which impacts selling new business
If you are a top performer and want to move to a different division outside your current role they will hold you back and make your job harder. You are as good as your last week.
To become part of this prestigious cult you need to wear a Black or navy suit, white shirt and blue or red tie and clean shaven .
Cintas has constant production and supply issues in which make selling
ProsGood ongoing training and benefits .
ConsPreach a work life balance but expect 24/7 Cintas
🤔 Asked me to shave my beard🧔off...completely OFF to a clean face, I tried to compromise and I told them I would shave it down but I ain't shaving it off. So basically what they're trying to say is that you won't be able to sell anything to any Customer because you have a beard? that's the saddest thing and the most discriminatory thing I've ever heard in my life when we were kids we're taught not to judge a book by it's cover that's essentially what you're doing it is up to the employee to make the customer feel as though they are a customer and appreciated it doesn't matter whether I have a beard or have a whole body full of hair I don't have tattoos on my face I don't have earrings on my face or anything like that but again even that shouldn't matter and it's discriminatory to think otherwise it's not like it was Food Services where in which case I might have to shave my beard or I would have wore a beard net I have never been asked to shave my facial hair in any interview in my life this is horrible and I hope you guys do better just know I went to CP24 with this review and I hope they review it on your show cuz I know I'm not the only one. At my last job I had customers calling my boss asking specifically for my services no one else's hit the boss said he was going to send somebody else they didn't want the work to be done they just wanted it to be me I wonder why that is play Cintas you guys just lost a really good guy and i didn't even get a chance to work for you gu
ProsPlace pays good
ConsCant drive for them if you have a BEARD !😂😂🤣🤷♂️😡😤🖕🏼
2.0
Route Sales Representative | Edmonton, AB | Jan 12, 2017
Labour intensive company.
A typical day at work would consist of arriving to work and finding out if there are any changes to your route, checking to make sure you have waiting emails or messages from management or clients. Resolve those or figure out how your going to resolve those on top of your work load in the day. Check your route over to make sure you have all your delivery's and bulk items, and if you don't load them up or find out where they are and make plans to deliver them later. Start your delivers for the day and find out what customers need while your on site. Organize the lockers and bulk item areas to make them look neat and tidy. Carry in cloths by hand or with buggy and arrange them by locker number. Collect all soiled garments at each location and check for repairs needing to be done. Take those to the van and hand bomb them in. Speak with the clients and employees trying to up sell products we have available. After the day is done with go back and organize your dirties for the night shift and unload required garments into the the specials carts. Once you have cleaned up your truck organized your paper work and called your customers back. Check to make sure there is no special deliveries to take with you on your way home.
ConsLONG HOURS, UNACHEIVEABLE GOALS, EXTRA WORK EXPECTED WITH PERSONAL VEHICLE
An excellent business to establish and improve yourself
Cintas is difficult to put into words, it is 100% a self driven give and take job. The more you put into it, the more it will give back to you.
The guys you work alongside on the ground with are what make this company great.
However the training you receive and the real life situations you will come into are really what sets this company above. You polish, fine tune, or even gain your personality and business skills through a company like this as you will be placed in situations that require you to be a strong minded individual on a consistent basis.
The training is extensive and will set you up for success, although you will have to keep your mind open to change as this company changes its policies, and rules, and regulations often to better suit their corporations needs and goals.
The beginning is always the hardest anywhere you go, especially with Cintas. You will have to be willing to study the material, work many extra unpaid hours, and continuously push yourself to succeed.
Overall is a great place to start your first career and gain world applicable knowledge, and polish your own set of skills.
ProsTeam dinners, team outings, extensive training, role plays.
ConsUnrealistic goals and expectations, low commission structure
I worked here as a SSR for only one week before I found out how horrible it actually is. They are so low on people due to the high turn around rate, that they can't properly train you. As soon as your 39 days training is complete they throw you onto a random route and expect you will know where to go and who to see. ( These days will take 15+ Hours. It will take you over a year to get your own route.)
As for the management, I was actually called into an office after my 6th day for the first time to speak with my "manager" While training I put my best effort in and was told I was doing a great job by my trainer. She called me in and asked me out of no where if this job was right for me and if I was all there.
This automatically showed me how rude this management can be to there employers and with all of this, I can see why they don't have the necessary amount of employees to get the job done correctly. Sure the money is good, but for your sake, do not waste your time.
Its hard work, which is fine, but the hours and management ( One in particular) make this place a horrible work environment. Don't be fooled.
Cintas was very good to me on a variety of levels, with the opportunity at times to learn valuable skills from a talented pool of leaders and colleagues. Unfortunately over time, this talent pool was eroded and replaced with individuals who did not embody the spirit of how Cintas says they want to do business, or treat their employees.
There is an arrogance to middle management, in that they are unable or unwilling to adapt to market conditions. They also project a bonus cheque first, people second attitude.
Hardest part of the job is the complete disregard for work-life balance of middle management. They model and impose this on everyone.
Greatest part of the job is the quality of people that Cintas attracts via strong recruiting and an excellent track record in other markets. I only hope that things improve locally before more of these great folks move on to companies that value them beyond tools to improve middle managements bonus cheques.
ProsTraining Available, excellent people in general
ConsLack of work/life balance. Middle management questionable ethics.
A typical day working for Cintas will start between 5:30am and 7:00am. You'll have two check ins with your service manager each week plus a weekly development/staff meeting. You're expected to be at your first customer by 8:30 each day. You'll have a list of customers to see each day and, provided you don't finish *too* early, you're in charge of your own hours, really. You can work between 35 and 55 hours per week depending on what route you have. Though, Cintas doesn't consider you 'at work' until you log into your first customer. If your first customer is 2 hours away and you leave at 6:00am, you don't actually 'start' working until you arrive at the customer's location.
The good:
- There's a lot of autonomy. You aren't in the office all day.
- There's a possibility of good money depending on where your route is/how much volume it does.
- Qualifying employees received a one-time cash bonus after Trump's tax cut.
The bad:
- You're encouraged to look for sales opportunities and grow your route sales volume. However, once or twice per year, Cintas likes to cut up big routes and make new, smaller routes. You might spend 18 months growing your route (which means growing your paycheck) only to go through a route split and lose 40% of your revenue.
- The pay structure is kind of convoluted and changes regularly. When I started, we received a bonus for our First Aid, Safety, and Training sales as well as residual percentages for our AED service agreements and Eyewash
Extreme Micro Mgt, No job security, un-ethical sales people
I discovered I was the 5th rep in my territory in as many years. I'm finding that most reps typically last 1 year. The first 3-4 months are training. Then you have a few months to become successful or you are put on a performance improvement plan. The territories, and reps that are successful are generally in busier territories with new restaurants constantly opening, and also constantly fed hot leads. Sometimes just a matter of luck! These reps can do well if you're fortunate to land in one of these busy territories. They are few and far between. I worked long hours, and I made tons of phone calls during phone block begging people to meet with me in order to meet the required "16 New" appointments per week, make 50 cold calls/week, fill out report after report, and come up short on sales numbers. I have been in sales for 12 years. 1 with Cintas, and this is the first time I have never made the required number. It's also the hardest I've ever worked for such low pay. I was told I'd make 75k first year, and over 100 second year. I think only a handful of the several hundred reps make that much.None that I met. Those are the busier territories i'm referring to. The sales numbers are highly un-realistic for most territories which is why turnover is so high. These arent bad sales people! It's the system at Cintas! It's very old school sales. It's what I imagined a used car salesman to be like. I'd say they are pretty similar. I'd say this is a decent place if you're right out of
ProsIt's a temporary job, and opens your eyes that Cintas is Rock Bottom!
Quality Assurance Analyst | Stockton, CA | Aug 25, 2015
Dead End Depressing Job
A typical day at work began at 5:30am until 2pm Monday through Friday. I worked there for almost two full years and there was really nothing good about the job in all honesty, besides the work schedule and weekly pay. There are a total of three shifts. I worked first shift, hence an early start and end to the day with weekends off. When i was first employed at Cintas I was a bulk folder. For eight hours each day, i folded bundles of towels. Not exciting or enjoyable whatsoever. Big carts of towels would be dumped in front of you on a table and you folded bundles of towels as fast as you could to reach your numbers because you were on incentive. All Cintas cares about is numbers. Most of the time the towels that needed to be folded weren't even clean, soaking wet, or torn to bits. Extremely unsanitary because these towels were coming from hospitals with god knows what type of germs on them. Cintas also offers room for "career advancement." Basically, if there is a job opening you would apply or tell your supervisor for consideration. If you got the new job it was considered a "promotion." Most of the time management would make you feel like you were getting the new job/"promotion" only to announce it to someone else making you feel confused and let down. My second job at Cintas after a "promotion" was quality assurance. I enjoyed it a little more than folding but it was still extremely hard labor for low pay. Initially, i worked with a "partner" (Cinta's version of coworker).
ProsWork Schedule Mon-Fri, Weekends off.
ConsPoor management, low pay, bad company culture.
I worked at Cintas for 23 years. Starting as a route skipper. Soon had my own route and became a trainer and began training newly hired partners to take over routes. I would take a route that was not being run well and had been vacated by a previous SSR (Route Driver) because they were fired or left the company. I'd get a SSR in training and he or she would get trained on that route. It was great training for them, because the trainee got to see how to MAKE a route great, versus getting on a truck with another trainer who's route was already dialed in. You don't get to train people and get the bonuses that come with it, if you can't manage your route well. It's not rocket science, but there's a ton of little details that need to be handled daily. I did that for a few years, then began running a route to a neighboring state. What fun that was, in spite of the unique challenges. It was often like being on an island and I think the poor management I had at the time knew that I'd figure it out because of my past experiences in the military and my past performance with the company. The company has a good vetting system for hiring everyone they hire, from the lowest positions to the highest positions, but sometimes poor candidates slip through the process. They never work out for more than a few years. Around 10 years with the company I promoted into a sales role. It was pretty incredible to all of a sudden start making 6 figures a year. The challenge with sales is it never gets ea
ProsSolid company that will be around for a long time
ConsNone worth mentioning that I didn't address in the narrative
Great Customers. Terrible Management. Inflexible Policies
I worked a very large rural territory as a Service Sales Rep for the First Aid division.
I absolutely loved my customers and the job - it was a source of pride knowing I was helping keep people safe - perhaps even saving their life. Selling was easy since I was able to build trust and listen to my customers' needs. I didn't mind working 75-80 hours a week because I felt like I was investing in future growth.
However, working for Cintas was awful. Management at my office was incompetent, unethical at times, and rigidly stuck to Cintas' corporate policies that simply did not work in rural areas.
Cintas does everything it can to A: force SSR's to visit accounts every 4 weeks. Period. Whether they needed it or not. B: Never write a zero invoice. Ever. C: Cintas punished locations for losing too many customers. These three contradictory policies results in a lot of pressure to visit customer more often than they needed, sell them things they didn't want, and not get rid of customers who didn't fit the mold. It was a vicious circle.
What they did need was safety gear. But the warehouse manager would flat out refuse to order products for me, trying to argue I wasn't going to sell them - even when I had a request for them.
My territory was composed of small farms, machine shops, car repair shops, etc. I'd drive by 500 person manufacturing plants on my way to these places - but sales reps never came to my territory to prospect these large companies.
I was also requi
ProsCustomers were amazing, rural territory was beautiful - my "office" was perfect
This is from the perspective of a production supervisor:
First, there is nothing production about this job. They don't manufacture anything, I had to babysit the temps they would hire, had no say in any impacting decisions and ultimately just plugged holes for the workers that couldn't show up for work. Oh, and I had to be a security guard, emergency response team and maintenance worker just to keep the place running.
I gave this company two whole years of 110% solid effort which nearly always meant at least 70 hour work weeks (not including the inevitable saturday) performing grueling work. Always understaffed, every day was a nightmare logistically, and the work in the plant is tedious, monotonous labor for pennies. If you are looking at an hourly position, expect to make minimum wage and receive an annual pay increase of around $.20-.30. That's right, 30 cents an HOUR. After a YEAR.
The working conditions are brutal, at 25 years old I had to get prescription inserts for my shoes because my arches dropped from having to load or unload trucks for months (a job that I had no choice to perform because we seemed to never have enough staff for the job). If I didn't help while my workers were there, well then I had to finish it after they left. They don't pay overtime, but if you're salary...well you're in for it.
People die in this job, yet we are expected every day to "get the job done" and that usually means by putting our health in jeopardy. I was continually expected to
Decent company depending on the division you're in. Some branches are more stable than others.
First Aid and Safety is a division that on the surface, preaches about customer service/ loyalty, relationship building, etc but in reality, its all about sales...by hook or by crook. They would much rather you tick off YOUR customer by stuffing their first aid cabinets with unnecessary overpriced items. And if the customer complains about the prices, or items they didn't want/need, Cintas FAS will in most cases proceed to refund that customer and dock your commissions. (Pay is base + commission for items "sold") And then there are these "contest". These contest basically turn into a screw fest for unsuspecting customers where some SSR's basically stuff cabinets with a spotlight product. The product is usually something that the SSR should have introduced to the customer already but now they are given an incentive to put as many (insert product here) in a cabinet as possible. The only time this is frowned upon is when the customer notices and complain, but there is no real accountability. "Oh look! Our cough drop sales rose 6000% during a random week in July! Gee golly!" Its a complete joke but hey, if you get lucky enough to inherit a territory with large offices with big budgets or large industrial businesses with high employee counts, you can be very successful. If not, management looks at you as if you're not trying hard enough (Even though in reality you may be preservi
ProsCompany vehicle at home, Great Co-workers, Uniforms are cleaned by Cintas
ConsHook or crook mentality, encourage bad business practices, no accountability
Good job If you specialize in brown noseing, deception, and backstabing.
Once you have been trained on all 5 stations by the above described personnel, you are left to fend for yourself, unless you become one of them, but still must watch your back.
This is serious work that has regulations that MUST be followed mandated by a number of state and local authorities.
You may be called upon to; sort cages of cylinders into two classes, help load or unload shipments, fill and service various types of chemical cylinders, being exposed to breathing in and physical contact to said chemicals (because safety protocols are half-assed, spoken of constantly, yet approached on a 5th grade level), be responsible for the inventory of parts, chemicals, tools, and documentation.
All the while the purchasing agent, friend of the plant manager holds off on the orders till he gets a shipping bulk discount, plus any number of shipping delays promote a lack of parts and chemicals, which management tries to blame production for work delays, prompting the reuse of parts and chemical, a big violation of regulations.
You will be held accountable for accuracy, and condition of the cylinder's cleanliness, and structural integrity, by which each "partner" is to be watchful for defects to the cylinder wall. Yet most "partners" are only concerned about quantity not quality, also backed by management.
A defective fire extinguisher can kill you, and those it is there to protect!
Management is the most worthless personnel at the facility, you'd expect them to care about refin
ProsModerate pay, benifits are good, 401k and profit sharing
ConsTerrible management, co-workers, work ethics. no real advancement
Perfect job if you have a record and have zero options elsewhere. They put on this front like it’s the best place to work and train you on doing the respectable uniform job and when you’re done they throw you in the “other job” that have the most disgusting duties ever. Digging through restaurant mag got soil ed linen. Spend 90 days doing one thing trap ping you to only hope you stay doing the job. Mislead by interview process, mgmt and trainers. 4 day work weeks is only plus. But you’re so exhausted on day off from being over worked it takes a day to recuperate. The clients truly did like the company due to the contract they’ve been signed. Once client realizes they’ve been had they turn on you. I pulled back the curtain on cintas in 5 months to see who they’re. You will have to lose all respect and integrity in yourself to do the job and for little money. Keep searching this place is a labor trap and unethical as. 4 day work week unless a holiday is nearing then you work extra day anyway. 6/7 days of work packed in 4 days. Commission structure is a scam. I promise you on this. The harder you work and more clients you get the less money you are able to make. The tenured guys told me stay within a certain volume or else you will be working for free. Scam. I’ve never worked harder at a job and felt so taken advantage of before. Cintas you should be ashamed of yourselves. After a long hot excruciating disgusting day you still have computer training to do that takes hours on the
Pros4 day work week sorta. Work load is 6/7 days packed in 4
ConsMgmt, dishonesty, over worked/under paid/ commission structure is a joke and they know it
Management was upfront and truthful during the interview process. Early before dawn start time, long hours, dealing with dirty and contaminated uniforms, heavy lifting and working in hot or cold outdoors. You will do a ride-along before you get hired. ASK QUESTIONS & GET ANSWERS!!! Most drivers will refrain from negativity to avoid repercussions but be adamant and get them to be honest. Weigh out the hours, versus the labor versus the pay. Hey, times are tough and you need a job, right? But this place might be more of a downer as time goes on. Trucks never seem to be loaded properly; there are constant shortages which will put you behind when trying to leave for your route. The pay is generated from a base salary plus a percentage of what your route volume is. Obviously the harder routes make more money but you'll be working 40-50 hours in four days. Want 9-5? Keep looking. Average day starts at 5am. This is a 4 day work week with optional 5th day if management approves OT. SSR's are salary but yet are required to swipe a timecard??? Doesn’t make sense but somehow they get away with it. SSR's salary range from $35,000 to $70,000+ based on direct sales and promotions. You could bring home $300 one week and $1200 the next week (I made $40k my first year and worked my a** off). SSR's are expected to sell. If you’re looking to just do your route, no more no less, then you will be gone as they post results for everything. You are expected to "make seconds that count" and spend a
ProsFREE uniforms, 4 day work weeks, weekends off, you control your day on route
ConsBack breaking work, long hours, paychecks not consistant
Questions and answers about Cintas
How often do you get a raise at Cintas?
Asked Nov 17, 2022
Yearly + performance
Answered Feb 23, 2023
annually
Answered Feb 23, 2023
What is the interview process like at Cintas?
Asked Apr 6, 2017
Meticulous hiring is what it is called. You will have a phone interview and 2 more interviews with people that you will probably never work with and people that are not even part of the department hiring. They want to hire the correct people but somehow still hire the wrong ones.
Answered Feb 28, 2020
Got interviewed 3 times. I honestly believe they didn't know if to trust me. So I got interviewed by the manager first, my suspervisor and another suspervisor that isn't even on my shift. Passed with flying colors. Don't judge a book by its cover, I say.
Answered Apr 17, 2019
What is Cintas holiday leave policy? How much holiday leave do you get per year?
Asked Jun 13, 2022
10 days
Answered Mar 20, 2023
2 weeks but you feel guilty for taking it and your route is poorly managed in your absent by those that should lead the example of good service.
