My days with McDonald’s

On Tuesday 16^th October 2018 at exactly 14:37 hours, I shook hands with the restaurant manager of the McDonalds located in my neighbourhood. I was ecstatic as it was my first “official” job as an employee of a large (in this case, multi-national) firm. 

….My first job!

One week and one contract later,  Shreyas Parida was officially an employee at the McDonalds Corporation™. A feeling of maturity coursed through me and I felt like a true adult.

So, like any other adult, on the brink of dawn over the weekend, I departed my home and travelled to my workplace (which was actually, just 15 minutes away).  I was greeted with smiling faces and firm handshakes. That day was mostly spent on me getting trained about safety regulations, house rules and most importantly, getting to know about my role; a lobbyist.

The story of a McDonalds lobbyist 

In the Netherlands, it is not allowed for 15-year-old teenagers to work in the kitchen. So the only thing we can do is work as a lobbyist.  According to Linkedin, this is what the job of a “Lobbyist” or Lobby Attendant looks like (copy-and-pasted from the McDonalds work description);

As a Lobby Attendant, you may be responsible for:
– Greeting customers with a smile
– Maintaining Cleanliness levels
– Delivering Orders to Guests with Courtesy
– Partnering with other Crew and Managers to meet target goals during your shift
– Interacting with Guests about their visit
– Ensuring items are well stocked

All the above looks quite professional and “fun” on paper. Yet, what is said in the job description can be very different from reality…

MacDonalds: The Good, The bad and The ugly 

The good

What I loved about McDonald’s was that it had a very “productive” work culture. Everyone put in 100% effort and I usually did not see many “slackers”. 

The atmosphere was super relaxed when there were not many customers around and jokes could easily be cracked. 

Also, on the contrary to popular beliefs that fast food kitchens are very nasty and unhygienic, I found McDonald’s to be super neat. Hygiene was of paramount importance; there were regular inspection checks by third-party companies and everyone had to clean their hands in 30 minutes intervals.

The bad

Although I have discussed a lot about the work environment, if you were smart, you would have realized that I have not talked about my job as a lobbyist in the “good” part.

If I am brutally honest with you, there was nothing very good about my job…

I completely disagree with the above job description of a lobbyist. If I were the employer, I would be more realistic;

• Always keep your lips streched to show that you are smiling and enjoying the job.
• Clean the dirty toilets every 30 minute (even when it is clogged). 
• Clean the trays (which usually have milk or cofee spills on them).
• Clean the cigarette box. 
• Clean the floors.
• Clean the tables (keep in mind that most people usually have a habit of using the tables as their plates, rather than the given trays).
• Clean the seats.
• Replace the full trashbags with empty trashbags (The full trashbags usually have holes in them which causes nasty stuff to fall on your uniform).
• Be forced to work under high pressure no matter how relaxed the enviorment is.
• Peform million other tasks if you have nothing to do.  
• Do all the above tasks without a glove on.
• Only time you can put a glove on is when someone drops their keys inside the dustbins and you have to manually scrap through the bins to find it.

And no, I am not joking, this is actually what we 15 years old had to do!

The ugly

You might ask “well, is it really that bad?”. To be honest, after cleaning many clogged toilets you simply get used to the stench of human excretion. 

So, then what is the ugliest think about working at the McDonalds? 

The pay 

Honestly,  after running back and forth for hours upon hours and cleaning like there’s no tomorrow, you would expect a 15-year-old to get a decent amount of pay, right?!

Nope.

We got paid a measly €4.20 per hour. 

If I go around begging for money, I could probably earn more than that (and save a lot more energy). 

This brings me to my closing question that a lot of young people are probably pondering upon;

Should a 15-year-old work at a fast-food restaurant?

In my opinion, one should not work in a fast-food restaurant if the only thing they are looking at is money. (note; McDonald’s was the only fast food restaurant I worked in, however, I think that other fast-food restaurants also operate in the same way as the McDonalds). 

Personally, I joined McDonald’s so that I can buy a few more video games and get the thrill of working like a professional. However, I quickly realized that the work-to-reward ratio is way too little. 

On the other hand, if you want to learn how a fast food restaurant works, then go ahead! It also gives you great insight into how multinational firms work. Another benefit is that these types of jobs look quite good for your resume 😉 

Finally looking back at my struggles in this corporation, I realized one of the biggest downsides (even worse than the low salary) of the McDonalds is not working on your own terms. Famous author and marketer, Chris Brogans phrased it beautifully; 

The goal isn’t more money. The goal is living on your terms.

PS: After 3 months of working, I have decided to move on in my life 🙂 Thank you McDonalds for the experience.