Warsaw Indiana - about Zimmer's (Fort Wayne, Boston: hotel, home, job market)

[coredneck]

I am looking at a position at Zimmers in Warsaw, IN. Concerning the company, how employee friendly are they when it comes down to "corporate culture" ? How are they on vacation time you start with, dress code, flex time, people who ride motorcycles.

[mbuszu]

Zimmer has a lot of things going for it and is just one of a few Orthopaedic device manufacturers in Warsaw (You will likely want to investigate job opportunities at more than one of them since you're looking at Zimmer seriously.). My wife worked for Zimmer and now works at a competitor of theirs. I've also done research on Zimmer for the company I work for as well.

Department to department there is cultural variability as a lot depends upon who you report to. Overall nearly everyone is Republican and Conservative value-wise, but there are of course exceptions. If you get along with your manager and peers you'll have a great time; if you do not, then you'll be miserable. I hate to stereotype further, but at Zimmer what I saw was that if you like to hunt, fish, workout, and watch sports you'll do very well. If you're not that type of guy you'll have a challenging time. Vacation time you start with depends upon years of experience you bring to the job (you'll be hired at a particular band level which determines a lot of what is included in your initial offering package). Dress code is business casual, and regarding riding a motorcycle, that's a non-issue.

Warsaw itself is a conservative and small-sized city. It is surrounded by lots of glacier-formed lakes which people vacation at during the warm summer months, and its a very safe city. If you're young and single, Warsaw isn't a great city for you - the dating scene is virtually non-existent. A lot of people who work for Zimmer and their competitors actually live in Fort Wayne and commute back and forth daily. Fort Wayne is a lot larger with a lot more to offer if you're willing and able to do the 45-55min commute each way.

Your best bet is to go for an interview, tour around town to see what you think, and negotiate actively once they express interest in you. Points of negotiation include not just salary, but also vacation time and other benefits (such a relocation benefits). Nearly everything is negotiatable since there is a lack of skilled resources in the vicinity so they need to bring in people for most new professional positions.

[coredneck]

Thanks for the reply. Further questions. I know "business casual" has many variations on how it is defined. Is Business Casual defined as a collared shirt and khakis/dockers or more dressy ? On the collared shirt, is polo acceptable or is a button down type of dress shirt expected ? Also do they have a casual Friday where you can wear jeans ?

One other question, is there flex time ? If so, are there expectations on core hours and if so, do core hours apply on Friday. On Friday, is the place a "ghost town" after 12 Noon ?

On "cultural variability", what are the variations within the "white collar" settings such as accounting, computer/IT, management, marketing ?

Originally Posted by mbuszu

Department to department there is cultural variability as a lot depends upon who you report to.
.......
Dress code is business casual, and regarding riding a motorcycle, that's a non-issue.

[mbuszu]

Originally Posted by coredneck

Thanks for the reply. Further questions. I know "business casual" has many variations on how it is defined. Is Business Casual defined as a collared shirt and khakis/dockers or more dressy ? On the collared shirt, is polo acceptable or is a button down type of dress shirt expected ? Also do they have a casual Friday where you can wear jeans ?

One other question, is there flex time ? If so, are there expectations on core hours and if so, do core hours apply on Friday. On Friday, is the place a "ghost town" after 12 Noon ?

On "cultural variability", what are the variations within the "white collar" settings such as accounting, computer/IT, management, marketing ?

I know polo shirts are acceptable as are khakis/dockers. Regarding the rest of your questions, I don't know what is done these days (things change over time - for instance they used to have summer hours where you could go home early on Fridays - that was eliminated shortly after my wife was hired much to her dismay). I have to recommend that you ask such questions to whoever you interview with. What I can tell you is that Zimmer does not have a stuffy culture... conservative yes, stuffy no. There was a guy a few years ago who wore collared hawaiian shirts in one of the departments nearly every day.

[coredneck]

I am curious on your experience. I know asking these type of questions in an interview might give a bad impression - what I have been told so I am trying a low key approach to find out before I walk in.

What kind of hours did you have to do when you were there at the time ? Was it standard 8 to 5 or can you go at 6 and leave at 3 ?

The guy who wore the Hawaiian shirts, what department was he in ?

Originally Posted by mbuszu

I know polo shirts are acceptable as are khakis/dockers. Regarding the rest of your questions, I don't know what is done these days (things change over time - for instance they used to have summer hours where you could go home early on Fridays - that was eliminated shortly after my wife was hired much to her dismay). I have to recommend that you ask such questions to whoever you interview with. What I can tell you is that Zimmer does not have a stuffy culture... conservative yes, stuffy no. There was a guy a few years ago who wore collared hawaiian shirts in one of the departments nearly every day.

[Hrtnurse1]

Hello,

My husband just started working at Zimmer a few months ago. He is happy with his decision. We are in the process of relocating now. He is in engineering. With regard to hours they told him that he could choose what time he came in but it needed to be consistent so he does 7-4:30. He wears Dockers and polos and there is casual day on Friday which is jeans and a decent top. Zimmer has treated him very well since he started. We are very pleased with his benefits so far and Warsaw seems to be a very friendly city. He does love to fish so he spends lots of time out on the lake. There are tons of motorcycles (and scooters) in Warsaw so I too believe it is a non issue. There is a wide variety of people that work there. Everything from people that still work on family farms to scientists from Boston and everything in between. There is some diversity within the company and everyone gets along pretty well. You must keep in mind it is a HUGE company and there are always personalities to deal with. He has been fortunate and was hired under a good manager. My husband also brought alot of knowledge and experience to the table which has made the transition easier. I am not sure if you have family to bring to Warsaw or if you would be relocating but they did put us up in a hotel and did a town tour and plant tour (even with our kids) which helped us make our decision. Good Luck!

Hrtnurse14

[coredneck]

I had the interview with them but didn't get the position. I got to see a view of the place. Since the interview was on a Wed, I saw everyone in the slacks/polo shirts. When I went to the West campus off of Center, I did noticed a bunch of motorcycles parked in one place.

The people there seemed pretty nice. In fact, the HR people mentioned I should submit an expense report which I mailed out yesterday. Also they were considerate enough to get back with me to either move forward or to end. Most companies these days make you just hang - that is, won't give you the time of day to respond back if you are in or out.

I think at this time, the time is not right for the three of us to move since we live in Colorado. The thing is my wife is not interested in going to Warsaw and me neither. We have been here for 13 years and really like the place but the job market really sucks right now. I am in computers/IT.

Everyone, thanks for your replies.

[mbuszu]

Originally Posted by coredneck

I had the interview with them but didn't get the position. I got to see a view of the place. Since the interview was on a Wed, I saw everyone in the slacks/polo shirts. When I went to the West campus off of Center, I did noticed a bunch of motorcycles parked in one place.

The people there seemed pretty nice. In fact, the HR people mentioned I should submit an expense report which I mailed out yesterday. Also they were considerate enough to get back with me to either move forward or to end. Most companies these days make you just hang - that is, won't give you the time of day to respond back if you are in or out.

I think at this time, the time is not right for the three of us to move since we live in Colorado. The thing is my wife is not interested in going to Warsaw and me neither. We have been here for 13 years and really like the place but the job market really sucks right now. I am in computers/IT.

Everyone, thanks for your replies.

I believe things happen for a reason. Having worked within the IT industry for over ten years I can tell you that moving to Fort Wayne (right next to Warsaw) wasn't exactly the best move career-wise for me (but then again, my wife and I didn't move here for my career, and I have entrepreneurial interests anyway). For IT jobs, living near a big city has a lot of advantages (namely more employers), and in NE Indiana I've known at least five seasoned IT professionals who changed industries or moved out the past 5 years. You're thus probably much better off thus not coming to Warsaw for Zimmer for an IT role. Good luck with your job search.

[tcoburn]

what places in Warsaw would you recommend applying for in IT?

I know medtronics only hires in temporaries, and Biomet don't hire IT people, what else is there in Warsaw for IT guys?

[domergurl]

Originally Posted by tcoburn

what places in Warsaw would you recommend applying for in IT?

I know medtronics only hires in temporaries, and Biomet don't hire IT people, what else is there in Warsaw for IT guys?

Zimmer? There's also Grace College ...