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?

You can travel the world with McDonald's! Don't knock it!

McDonalds is a great place to work, I have no idea why they get so much criticism. I worked there for about 7 years from when I was 16.

I enjoyed it. I had 3 managers who used to regularly take cocaine in the office though - that was the only real down side. Probably wouldn't get away with that nowadays.
We all used to go out after work and get hammered. Made a lot of good friends there.
The people were great, the shifts was okay and the benefits were pretty good.

Only downside was the customers.

Both of our sons worked for them, although at different locations.

Our oldest started during his last year of sixth form and carried on all though university (he was at a local one) and worked Friday night and all day Saturday and then picked up more hours through the holidays. Once he graduated he took a year out before going into teaching and worked there full time so was employed by them for five years in total. He loved it.

Our younger son lasted eight months at a different restaurant, which was a lot longer than most people stuck it out for at that one - his brother had said it had a reputation as being a bad one to work at. He was messed around a lot, shifts were often changed last minute and poor communication meant that the changes weren’t always relayed.

I remember on one occasion he’d had his shift schedule and he had two days off together so on the second day he went out. Shortly afterwards his manager called to see why he hadn’t turned up for work. I said he wasn’t scheduled to be in, but was told that they’d had to change shifts around and it was put on the staff room wall the night before so he should be there. The online planner hadn’t been changed though so was still showing him as being off and he wouldn’t have seen the notice in the staff area as he obviously hadn’t been in work the previous day. Other times he’d turn up for work only to be told that he wasn’t needed.
When he later went five weeks without being given a shift, over the Summer when uni returners were back and picking up hours, he got a job at Tesco which he loved.

My DS started working at 'Maccies' pt when at sixth form and still works there when back from uni in the holidays. He had said to me it has given him the opportunity to develop so many employability skills and he enjoys his job. They pay well and he is respected and valued.
My Year 10 students at work are actually talking part in this next week

https://www.mcdonalds.com/content/dam/uk/nfl/pdf/Teachers/McD-Work-Experience-UK-edit.pdf

My daughter worked there through sixth form. She started at 16. Hard work, 8 hour shifts, better than minimum wage. She hated it but lasted over a year. It looks great on her CV, other employers love it and she always gets asked about it at interviews.

The interview she had was in two parts with a group interview and an interview at her branch with a work trial doing the drinks

She never did the cooking side, at her franchise that was the older more full time staff. She was mainly order assembly, drive through etc

My DS did it for some time and quite enjoyed it, particularly the food allowance he got, so i think it was one maccies meal each shift. he managed to pile on huge amounts of weight in the years he was at uni and working at there ! It is fast paced and hard work. I think my ds was mainly in the drive through bit .

My DD is 18, worked in one for 2 years. Lots of good points, as listed above, but there seems to be a theme of young managers on a power trip there too. There are lots of 22-30 year old managers in hers, and she's had comments from being 16 from some of them (seperate, not at the same time) about breast size, sex life etc, and abuse from managers on an understaffed shift. A couple of incidents have been witnessed and reported by other members of staff and followed through on, but it's definitely a culture in her store.

She's also met really good friends there, and toughened up.

Oh wow! That's not great, is it! Good that when it was reported it was acted upon but what a pity it happened in the first place.

From these Ask Me Anything threads, it sounds like a great place to work:

www.mumsnet.com/talk/AMA/3746368-I-work-at-McDonald-s-AMA

This one is a much longer thread:

www.mumsnet.com/talk/AMA/3327636-I-m-A-Manager-At-McDonalds-AMA

Hope his interview goes well today!