Sweetwater Careers, Benefits, Review

Diversity & Inclusion Mission

Through Sweetwater’s culture that is built on the creation and celebration of music, we seek to help unify people from all walks of life by inviting in, valuing, respecting and learning from individual differences and unique perspectives. By doing so, we make Sweetwater stronger as a company and a better place to work. 

Strategies

Recruitment/Purposeful Hiring

• Partnerships: We develop key partnerships with a variety of organizations to aid us in recruiting diverse candidates. These include HBCU’s like Tennessee State University and nonprofit organizations like Women in Audio, Beats by Girlz and the National Coalition of Black Musicians. 
• Sourcing: We utilize best-in-class tools to proactively identify diverse candidates.
• Measurement: We hold ourselves accountable to annual diverse hiring targets that are customized by department/functional skill area.

Training & Development

• Foundations: All employees complete an anti-harassment, anti-discrimination and diversity and inclusion training module. 
• Enrichment: We offer additional D&I related learning & discussion opportunities through:
  • Monthly lunch and learn sessions
  • Incorporation of Cultural Intelligence training into our Manager Development Program 
  • Participation in a local community wide training program
  • Regular meetings with an internal cross-functional D&I Advisory Group to gain insights from across our company

Community Involvement

• Philanthropic Support: We offer financial support & board participation into a number of D&I related organizations - especially those listed above with whom we partner on other efforts.

Our Shared Passion

We come to work every day excited by the opportunity to help make every customer’s music dreams come true. That shared passion has driven us from day one, when Sweetwater was just the dream of a recording engineer working out of a VW bus, to our position today as the #1 online retailer of music instruments and pro audio gear in the country.

Our Common Purpose

We have the most passionate customers in the world because we provide them with the best customer service in the world. Core to our identity and continued success, our purpose is to help make our customer’s music dreams come true through an unrelenting focus on delivering truly world-class customer service.

Our Dedicated People

We are united not only by our shared passion for music and customer service but also by our commitment to challenge, encourage, and serve one another. We will always — and without question — go above and beyond to do the right thing for our customers, our employees, and our friends.

The Sweet Life

It takes a lot of energy to do a job we love so much, but we always have some to spare for the fun stuff. From amazing on-site amenities to company events to live performances by the best local and touring artists, there’s always something exciting going on at Sweetwater — for employees, their families, and our friends both local and long-distance.

Our Home - Fort Wayne, Indiana

Explore our home of Fort Wayne, and you’ll find a rapidly growing community that combines big-city appeal and small-town feel. There’s a special energy here that has propelled major community developments like Promenade Park, a world-class riverfront park destination, and Parkview Field, one of the best minor-league baseball stadiums in America — both part of a vibrant downtown core.

As Indiana’s second-largest city, Fort Wayne is a fantastic place for our employees and their families to thrive. It’s thrilling to watch our city move forward the way it has because, with each new change and development, Fort Wayne becomes more than just a nice place to live — it’s a place we’re proud to call home.

WHAT DOES A SALES ENGINEER DO?

We think of each Sales Engineer as their own store. The mission over time is to ultimately form a long term relationship based on trust, friendship and integrity with somewhere between 3000 to 6000 customers who now become "your" customer. Think of it as becoming a dedicated professional adviser who is a true expert in the products we sell through our amazing training program. Other duties include:

• Complete our 13 week comprehensive training program for Sales Engineers, Sweetwater University. (find out more here)
• Making 80-100 outbound phone calls daily to existing customers, as well as forming relationships with new ones, to assist them in making their musical dreams come true
• Answering questions and giving advice on musical instruments and pro audio gear
• Educating customers on a wide variety of topics such as guitar tone and amplification, digital audio recording, MIDI and sound synthesis, drums, live sound and countless other topics
• Following up on orders or troubleshooting a gear issue in partnership with our Tech Support team to provide outstanding customer service
• Designing sound systems or selecting gear for churches, schools, recording studios, live venues and the like
• Constantly learning about new products and advising others, be they customers or team mates

Picture living in a community where it's safe to walk down the streets at night, with minimum traffic, clean air, the most affordable housing market of any city in the country, great schools, a thriving music scene, and countless other "quality of life" choices. Think about having a career you can grow with and an excellent benefits package, while receiving both the immediate and long-term satisfaction you've always wanted. 

WHO TYPICALLY APPLIES FOR THIS JOB?

• Recent graduates of a Music Technology, Audio Production or Music Business program--- or alumni of these types of programs with several years experience since graduation
• People with music industry experience in retail sales or as a manufacturer's rep, or who work in a recording studio or a live music venue, either as an employee or freelancer
• Gear Heads: people who love talking about the latest technology with others who share their passion
• Musicians: people who love performing or writing music that are now at a point in their life where they seek stability and a career (and are maybe tired of living on a tour bus or the uncertainty of "gig" money.)

WHAT DO WE LOOK FOR IN A SALES ENGINEER CANDIDATE?

• Smart, empathetic folks with strong people skills
• Great verbal and written communication chops
• A strong knowledge, and passion for, the gear we sell
• Words that describe a successful Sales Engineer: Driven, self motivated, proactive, entrepreneurial, disciplined, organized, servant mentality, patient, passionate

Everyday Life at Sweetwater

Sweetwater employees enjoy daily benefits that add to our happiness and quality of life. Some of those include:

• full restaurant with both indoor and patio seating
• fitness center
• full-time personal trainer
• racquetball court
• concierge service
• free on-site mental health counselor
• ability to purchase gear at company cost
• salon with hair stylists/chair masseuses

Special Events

Our regularly scheduled activities include company picnics, company nights at sporting events, lunch with Santa for employees' children, a phenomenal holiday party every January, and turkeys provided for each family at Thanksgiving. We even celebrate when employees have a birthday, get married, welcome a new baby to the family, or buy a house! Plus, we often bring in professionals such as lawyers, bankers, and nurses for free consultations with employees.

The Passion for Music Continues After Hours

In their free time, many Sweetwater employees pour their creative energies into a wide variety of music and audio projects. At any given time, you'll find our employees:

• building and using personal recording studios
• playing in bands
• engineering live sound
• involved in worship and church groups
• having jam sessions
• participating in open-mic nights

Community Involvement

Our team members come to live and work in Fort Wayne from all over the country, and their diverse backgrounds are evident in their many and varied outside activities. Many get involved in community projects, in which the company also takes a very active role. Others volunteer, get involved in the arts community, sports leagues, houses of worship, etc.

When you tell people in the community that you work for Sweetwater, you are inevitably greeted with a smile and a shower of compliments. And you'll almost always hear, "Sweetwater? I've heard that's a great place to work!"