I’ve read that 1 in 8 Americans have worked at McDonald’s. So I’m in good company since I got my first job at McDonald’s as soon as I turned 16. I loved the McDonald’s I worked at. The head manager there was great and really made an effort to schedule the high school students around their extra curricular activities. For me that wasn’t always easy since I was in Band and Show Choir!
I look back at my time at McDonald’s very fondly. My co-workers were almost all people I had known most of my life so it made it really easy to be a tight team. You don’t slack on people you’ve always known!
But I learned a lot of things at McD’s that have stuck with me throughout my career. Shall we review?
- Multitasking. I usually worked the drive-thru so at any given time, I might have been taking an order, picking up another order and collecting payment for yet another order. I had to learn to be fast – and absolutely accurate. All while being friendly to the customers too! This has paid off for me in almost every job since. I pride myself on my ability to work on multiple problems/projects at one time, keeping everything on time, absolutely accurate and with a smile on my face.
- Responsibility. I never would have DREAMED of missing a shift without at a minimum calling my manager to let them know why I wouldn’t be there. I knew the team depended on me to be there for my shift and there was no way I would ghost them. Not only would I never ghost a shift – I was never late. Maybe that’s the way I’m built but then again, it goes back to not wanting to make the shift harder for my friends. That has also stuck with me to this day. I show up and give 100% to my job.
- Attention to detail. The last thing 16 year old me wanted was a customer yelling at me because their order wasn’t right. Customization wasn’t necessarily a big thing at McD’s when I worked there in the old days but if someone ordered a plain hamburger, they got a plain hamburger from me! I was also sure that if you ordered coffee, I asked about cream/sugar and included a tiny spoon to stir. If you ordered nuggets – you got the right sauce for you. This has carried on through my career as well – I’m all about making sure the i’s are dotted and the t’s crossed!
I’m a firm believer that the skills you learn in any job are easily transferable to your next job or just your life in general. What skill did you learn in your first job that you still use today? Tell us in the comments!
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