RE: Fancy working for McLaren
Discussion
I did a year at McLaren automotive on the 720S for an engineering consultancy and the staff turnover was immense. The building itself was impressive and the canteen food was superb but the most of the upper management I dealt with were utter cocks. Generally the non management people were great but the parking was a real issue, often being blocked in but 6+ cars. I wouldn't go back but then JLR isnt that much better.
asci.white said:
RacerMike said:
From what I understand, the F1 team and McLaren automotive are two totally different places to work. The main issue is McLaren automotive think they’re the F1 team and treat everyone with zero respect.
This exactly. My best mate worked in the database team for a couple of years and hated it. I'd get daily emails about how management were shocking in how they treated staff, cut budgets to dangerous levels and generally demoralized everyone with their attitude. It was basically 'you work for Mclaren, you're not here to enjoy the role' and never showed any concern around the high staff turn over every month. He didn't meet anyone else who stayed more than a year. One guy even left after 3 hours which kinda says it all.
Roma101 said:
MikeGoodwin said:
In the IT sector at least McLaren has a poor reputation. Pay is low too. I also know people who have worked and work there in other sectors and have known the working hours leading up to model releases become eye watering. By that I mean soul destroying.
The comments in this forum back this up it seems
Good luck.
Also lol at the guy moaning he never heard back..
Why lol? I was responding to a specific advert so they were clearly looking for someone. It wasn’t speculative. The comments in this forum back this up it seems
Good luck.
Also lol at the guy moaning he never heard back..
My point is that when they can’t even be arsed to send a quick email to an applicant for quite a niche role at their company and are not prepared to let you contact them about it, that doesn’t leave a good first impression or send the right message about what sort of company they are.
Your profession may be full of gits where it is normal to act that way, but in mine, it’s not the norm.
What I'm reading here does sound a bit abnormal... which is quite sad if it's true.
donutskidmark said:
Not long ago I had a guided tour of the McLaren factory- I can honestly say it was very interesting.....but some of the jobs looked so boring I’d only do them if forced to due to community payback. The place had the atmosphere of a morgue.
You know things are bad when you have to drink your coffee out of a dome bottomed mug so that you cannot put it down on your desk.Zoon said:
donutskidmark said:
Not long ago I had a guided tour of the McLaren factory- I can honestly say it was very interesting.....but some of the jobs looked so boring I’d only do them if forced to due to community payback. The place had the atmosphere of a morgue.
You know things are bad when you have to drink your coffee out of a dome bottomed mug so that you cannot put it down on your desk.Why hasn’t someone spoofed this place in a comedy TV show yet?
It sounds ripe for a piss take by someone.
David Brent takes on a job at McAlpine.
Mr Whippy said:
Zoon said:
donutskidmark said:
Not long ago I had a guided tour of the McLaren factory- I can honestly say it was very interesting.....but some of the jobs looked so boring I’d only do them if forced to due to community payback. The place had the atmosphere of a morgue.
You know things are bad when you have to drink your coffee out of a dome bottomed mug so that you cannot put it down on your desk.Why hasn’t someone spoofed this place in a comedy TV show yet?
It sounds ripe for a piss take by someone.
David Brent takes on a job at McAlpine.
donutskidmark said:
It’s somewhat ridiculous that parking is such a major issue at a car manufacturers-
Maybe with hindsight a large tarmac carpark would have been better use of the property than a lake??
They don’t even use the lake in a constructive manner like Tom Hartley would.
I think 'car people' tend to dislike and distrust public transport the most so choose to drive. Also I think there is a restriction on percentage of parking spaces against total number of employees. I don't know how true this is or who sets this. Maybe with hindsight a large tarmac carpark would have been better use of the property than a lake??
They don’t even use the lake in a constructive manner like Tom Hartley would.
The lake is a heat sink for the building so it is an important feature.
I spent some time here a few years ago and can confirm all the above - it really is a terrible, terrible place to work. Woking have really nailed the toxic office environment down to a tee! And, judging by all the glassdoor reviews, are still relying on the brand and have no interest in becoming a pleasant employer.
What sort of jobs is everyone talking here? Grease monkey £30k permie, £25-35/hr contract jobs? Or proper engineering jobs?
There is no such thing as CV prestige for proper jobs.
And never apply for any job via some online thing. Speak to someone on a phone who can tell you job specifics and dosh up front or don’t bother.
There is no such thing as CV prestige for proper jobs.
And never apply for any job via some online thing. Speak to someone on a phone who can tell you job specifics and dosh up front or don’t bother.
Limpet said:
A role came up at Woking recently that on paper looked like a great fit for me. And it's McLaren, right? Or at least that was what got me excited.
One of the few benefits of getting older is that you build a reasonable network, so I did the usual thing and asked around before proceeding, and I can honestly say I've never had such universally negative feedback about a company before. Normally you get people who've had both good and bad experiences, but it was all horribly negative. None of the present or former employees I spoke to had a good word to say about the place. Except for one chap who said he very occasionally gets to take a press car home for a weekend if it needs some miles putting on it before it goes to a magazine for a test, people were incredibly down on the place.
Got the same story (almost to the word) from everyone. Not going to list all the failings, but the car park debacle and the hopelessly overcrowded offices which are presumably peculiar to Woking were the bits that concerned me least, frankly speaking.
Given what they do, and their brand and reputation, it should be an amazing company to work for.
Very simliar to my expeirence. A role came up a few years back that matched me, got an interview. Contacted a couple of people I knew who were already there and told in no uncertain terms that I should keep away unless I really had nothing else to go to.One of the few benefits of getting older is that you build a reasonable network, so I did the usual thing and asked around before proceeding, and I can honestly say I've never had such universally negative feedback about a company before. Normally you get people who've had both good and bad experiences, but it was all horribly negative. None of the present or former employees I spoke to had a good word to say about the place. Except for one chap who said he very occasionally gets to take a press car home for a weekend if it needs some miles putting on it before it goes to a magazine for a test, people were incredibly down on the place.
Got the same story (almost to the word) from everyone. Not going to list all the failings, but the car park debacle and the hopelessly overcrowded offices which are presumably peculiar to Woking were the bits that concerned me least, frankly speaking.
Given what they do, and their brand and reputation, it should be an amazing company to work for.
Anyways, having already arranged the phone interview I dialled in and can only describe the experience as the most bizarre phone interview I'd ever had, I really just couldn't work out what they were looking for, and I assume vica versa as I didn't get offered the role thankfully.
I will always view that as a bullet dodged based on what I'd been told before and heard since.
Not a happy place to work apparently.
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