I know you’ve always wondered “what’s it like working at McDonald’s?”. I’ve done it, as I worked for the corporation during my time being unemployed from January to March this year.

Here’s what I learned during my time there, and some tips for anyone about to start working there.

1: You’re going to be on your feet a lot.

I made a big mistake on my first few shifts, when I bought cheap shoes that made my feet throb by the end of the shift as they were so tired. A top tip: buy comfortable, non-slip shoes as when the floors are wet, it can be a health & safety hazard.

Throughout your shift, you only get an hour or so to sit down so you need to be comfortable on your feet!

2: People are inherently lazy with putting their food away.

I used to see some people walk away with a full table of food wrappers still sat there, apparently unable to put any of it away. I always make sure to put my tray away, whilst some people decide to leave other people (mostly me) to clean up after them because they can’t be bothered to do it themselves 😡 it was one of my pet peeves, and I hope people have more sense than to leave a table full of food wrappers and empty cups.

3: You need to get to used to working long hours.

The shortest length of shift is 4 hours, and the longest is 9. There’s also a lot of early starts, as some of my shifts started at 7am. But earlier starts mean earlier finishes, which has to be a bonus!

4: Customers get angry about everything.

Customers think that because you work at McDonald’s, that’s apparently an excuse to be rude to people and shout at people?

Even if you go out of your way to deliver the best customer service you can, customers will still get angry and come marching up to the front counter, demanding to speak to a manager. Thankfully they had to deal with it, and not me.

But I know people who have cried with being shouted at. You have to grow a thick skin when dealing with customers and calmly apologise, that’s all you can do until a manager arrives to sort it out.

5: When you leave the fast food industry, you have a lot more respect for people who do that job full-time.

I was always nice to fast food workers, but now I’m nicer (if that’s possible) because I know what dealing with rude customers is like. It’s nice to be nice ☺️

6: Customers have some strange requests.

I have an example to give you: a customer asked for a cheeseburger, but without cheese. Why not just get a hamburger?? I had to deal with their complaint and get a new burger made for them, to which my colleagues said the same as I did about just getting a hamburger 🤷🏻‍♀️

Thankfully, all was resolved and the customer received a hamburger, which they should have ordered in the first place.

7: Everything in the kitchen comes out of a bag or a box.

That might put you off, but it’s true. Everything is delivered in boxes and stored in a big room or a massive fridge for perishables such as milk.

The food is then fried for only a couple of minutes before serving to the public or being made up in a wrap or burger.

8: There’s a reason the Drive-Thru orders get served first.

That’s because a McDonald’s branch is measured on how quickly a Drive-Thru order is processed and delivered to the customer.

They’re measured both locally and nationally, and those numbers are scrutinised by the big bosses. It’s a big thing to be at or towards the top of the list, which we were a few times 🙌🏻

9: The best part of working at McDonald’s? Working with a great team.

The team at the restaurant I worked at were great, we all got along really well and had a laugh during every shift.

I’ve remained friends with some of them on Facebook and keep up with what they’re doing from time to time, which is great 😁

Have you had any experience of working at a fast food chain? If so, tell me your stories!

A K Jones

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