To ask what it's like to work at McDonald's?

[rosesinmygarden]

DS is 17 and has an interview on Wednesday. It would be his first job. I suspect it's really hard work but reasonable pay.

Does anyone have experience of working there/teen working there?

Any tips for interview or thing to consider?

Each McDonald’s business is owned by a local franchisee, so they will be different, but their general corporate policies are good. They pay well for the sector.

My ds works at McDonald’s and enjoys it. Their pay is much better than minimum wage and they get a free meal when they’re on a full shift and are supplied uniform. They just have to buy their own shoes, however, these are subsidised.

Lots of my friends worked there when we were at college.
It was good pay and perks. Also usually a good friendly atmosphere and a choice of shifts to suit.
Hope his interview goes well.

That all sounds very positive. With the shoes, do they have to have a specific pair? Just wondering why or how they're subsidized? I'd assumed he'd just wear his own lol!

The McJob label is very outdated now.

Macdonalds have some really good training schemes/apprenticeships these days.

My teen dd worked there until a few months ago, she loved it, she was customer care so on the floor dealing with customers, it wasn't easy but she's no snowflake and quite ready to deal with what was thrown at her quite literally fireworks.

It was good pay and holidays etc but a thick skin was needed!

Worst thing is that if you're working on the grill (which he won't be at first), you can't get the smell of burgers out of your hands. But it's busy so you don't get bored and time goes quickly, and they move you around so you're not always doing the same thing.

For an unskilled job, it's not bad at all.

Thats good to hear. He's doing A Levels and plans to study at uni so this is a student job really but you never know!

One of my DDs old school mates worked there for a couple of years. Might have been 3 or 4 actually! Late teens when she started.

She thought she'd only be there for a couple of months, but found herself promoted quite quickly and ended up in management.

She sort of forced herself to leave in the end because her goals were elsewhere.

They need the shoes as they have more grip than standard shoes and despite regular cleaning, the floors can get relatively greasy.

The smell of the apron after they've been working in the kitchen and making burgers is something else.

The work is busy, but relatively well paid and they are given good training.

The shifts can be negotiated, but can include midnight finishes etc, depending on the hours of the store.

Then there's the delights of dealing with the general public. But overall my DC enjoys it.

It's really an OK job for a teen. Worked there from 16- 19 and my only thing that was an issue was it was a bit gossipy and clicky. Would just advise to not get super involved with the work politics.
I remember them being good for apprenticeships for people with no or little qualifications so that's always something to be viewed highly on.

DS went as a temporary job and stayed 3 years.

Hard, hot work, but really good employers. Huge attention paid to H&S, hygiene and staff wellbeing.

A great experience for DS, he had fun working as a team with some lovely, hardworking young people, was relatively well paid and promoted twice! And actually, when we can to wrote his CV, he had loads of skills he'd developed there. When he interviewed for his next job they gave him a higher position than the one he applied for. A stint at McDonalds shows you're not scared of hardwork.

I think if they get a hint that you'll unreliable you won't get many shifts, but they look after their good workers. I suspect some of this is dependant on the quality of the local management though.

My daughter has just done her first training session and has picked up her uniform. She has been supplied with shoes. It all seems well organised and professional so far!

This is not true. Some are franchises but there's plenty of company stores too.

It depends on what role he's applied for. I can only really speak of the customer care/customer experience leader side of things (I've never worked in kitchen) but in general it's a decent place to work.

He'll get access to a massive amount of training in a range of things - food safety, customer service, conflict resolution, you name it. He'll also get free private health care after three years, access to mental health support, a fair wage (I get £11.50/hour but he'll probably start at around £8/9). He'll also get his full uniform provided, apart from shoes. I would say to buy a good pair of non slip shoes because the floors can be very slippery at times. They had to be fully black, but that has been relaxed now and colours are acceptable too.

It is hard work, especially on the production side (kitchen, drinks/ice creams). They don't like people just standing around so he'll be expected to always be doing something - cleaning if it's quiet, getting stock, prepping stuff for kitchen if that's where he's working. If he's doing front counter/till, pretty much the same just not prepping stuff for kitchen.

Dining area staff get much more freedom and tend to be left to get on with it, but we're also generally older and the managers need to trust us to do our jobs because we're not under their noses.

I've worked for them since 2012 and seen a lot of business managers come and go. They really set the tone for the store imo-a bad one makes it a horrible place to work but good ones really do look after their staff.

I'd say tell him to go in with an open mind, ask for direction if he's not sure about something and to enjoy it. 😊

(also, if you're in the North East, PM me which store it is and I'll tell you if I've heard anything bad about it.)

Yes, this is actually the "danger". DS got too comfortable there, was progressing and earning well for his age and probably let other things go that he should have persued.

my son works there. money good but he gets burned loads in the kitchen but i tell him it's character building stuff. plus he can leave if he wants to but he's used to the money tbh
i also work there (nepotism. in fact i got him the job and not the other way roundd) and i am never allowed in the kitchen as i'm old and fat. but the money is good and i rarely get the hump with working there.

A friend of mine work there while she was going through uni. She was quite well paid. They worked around her Uni schedule. She got promoted a fair bit. One thing she did say you had to be on your toes with customer service and also checking money notes as they often had secret shoppers who were either difficiut or handed over dodgy notes.

DS worked there all through secondary school and university. They were great at giving suitable shifts for his timetable. He learned a lot and it helped him to get into sports club management. He always speaks very highly about them .

and it's <shoes for crews> where he might be directed to for his work shoes. they are disgusting. but shoes. etc. and recommended by the mc donalds people.

Forgot to say-

They're also pretty decent at working shifts around uni/collage if he needs that. I've done everything from one day a week to six, depending on what I had on with uni.

They'll probably direct you to Shoes for Crews but imo they're not the best quality. I have Sketchers Sure Track and they've held up brilliantly.

This is also not true.

McDonald's does not have a secret shopper program. They had something called GAPS about five years ago but it has been dropped since the Food For Thought surveys on the receipts came in.

They also weren't allowed to use fake notes.

Ds18 works nights there atm. Hard work but well organised and good money.

It's definitely now a job that looks good on your CV, people know if you've been there a while, you've had to stick to rules, listen to direction, wear uniforms and generally be a reasonable employee, so they won't have to teach you basic stuff!

Sorry, not trying to take over the thread, just keep thinking of things!

He'll also get drinks while on shift and a free meal on his break. Breaks are typically 45 mins and he'll be expected to clock out for them.

There's also a huge employee discount scheme with genuinely hundreds of shops that he'll get access too.

Most of my friends worked there though college at muliple different locations they all stayed a long time.
The only downsides seened to be 0 hours contracts so they couldn't always rely on getting shifts, and hot oil and metal burns on hands and forearms but that comes with most food places

My friend worked there and while I can't say she liked the job, she stayed for a few years as it is a good company to work for. Good pay, benefits, and they were really flexible with her shifts when her terminally ill father went downhill. She didn’t enjoy the work because there are obviously lots of crappy aspects of fast food retail, but it was a good place to work.