crew member

cashier

fast food attendant

shift manager

maintenance person

McDonalds

I loved working for Mcdonald's and stayed for 4 years. But it's really a love it or hate it type of job. Many people (especially the younger generation) will hate how hot it gets in the grill area, and how greasy, sticky, and smelly you'll be by the end of the day. You will 100% be worked hard and often times you'll be dealing with micro-managers in your own team vs the occasional rude customer. The rude customers were actually the highlights of our days sometimes. Maybe it's different in some locations but as a crew we'd often laugh about it later, and realize that they were probably just having a bad day and wanted to take it out on us. The managers who stayed for most of the time I worked here always helped us as well and would do their absolute best, to make sure we were all succeeding. They made our jobs much more fun and interesting. The types of people you'd get working here often came from all different parts of life, and so I really enjoyed listening to everyone's story and finding out more about their personalities. There's a number of people you may have felt like should be fired, but often times what made the job unique for me was our team doing our best to work with them still. I really loved that we were all being given an equal opportunity, and was something that I deeply missed in another job that I worked after Mcdonald's. With that job almost all of my coworkers tried to get you fired and would negatively gossip about you behind your back. At the Mcdonald's location I worked at we often talked about our coworkers, but usually in a positive and constructive manner. But even then there wasn't much space to be rude to our coworkers since it would often get busy, and we were always in close proximity to each other (unlike when I worked at a movie theater). We didn't have time to argue amongst each other for very long if at all, and we definitely did NOT have time to spit on food like some customers would want to believe. Although I'll admit there have been some really bad work practices from some coworkers that didn't take the job seriously. They were dealt with and talked to.

That all said unfortunately as much as I loved the job I did eventually feel extremely burnt out. All of my coworkers who I once loved to work with had left and moved onto new jobs, and when management had almost completely changed. I was left with coworkers who didn't want to work with me as a team and often times didn't seem like they wanted to work. This already happened from the beginning (and you'll get asked to work tons of hours as a result if you like that), but at some point the staff just really wasn't good anymore. Managers would just complain to us and ask us when we'd be done while they went outside to smoke, or simply just watched us in their office even though they had nothing else to do. I understand it's not really their position anymore but them helping us and connecting with us on the job, is what helped make you feel like you were cared for. Getting praise from anyone in a higher position as you that did the same type of work you do and more, was always pretty nice as well. You often felt very understood as a result of that. That said though, what my previous managers were doing for us was not worth the amount of pay they were receiving despite the extra hours, and in some cases a few of my coworkers were actually being pushed into the position when original management had started to change. As far as I was concerned though, the 50-75 cents more was absolutely not worth it for this type of job. Whenever our most loved manager told us how much he was being paid, we all couldn't believe it. Especially since he was going out of his way to make special signs for us to help us learn, using his creative and unique teaching skills, paying for our lunches if we stayed longer than we needed to, coming in on his days off quite often to help, buying things such as cleaning equipment for our store, speakers for us to listen to at night when we've closed, proper gloves so that we didn't burn ourselves cleaning the grills at night, buying us soap whenever we ran out to help wash the dishes, making sure our tools all worked as they should, etc. He did a lot of us, but the best part is that he always took our feelings and needs into consideration. My other managers were also quite similar as well, but that manager definitely took it a step beyond and deserved to be recognized. Many of us agreed. Sadly though he worked there for many years but was never truly rewarded by the higher-ups in my opinion. He eventually had decided to quit and well that was the last we all heard from him. Although I have encountered some of my other previous managers and that one (he's doing much better these days), while working a different job once. It was a really amazing moment and it desperately made me wish they were all still my managers. Loved them.

Overall really great job if you have the right team, and might be the most fun you'll ever have working a job. Even if you're a Mcdonald's hater you'll actually still get along with many there who feel the same way. It all kind of becomes a meme and we can all laugh together about it. Working at a place like Mcdonald's can be very hectic but also very satisfying. It was my first job but I still definitely felt like I had a purpose while being there. Maybe you'll have a similar experience maybe you wont? But regardless you do learn a lot of great values and skills that transfer over to other jobs. There are also those who have worked these jobs and will actually see you pretty highly for it, because they understand what it takes to work there and that it isn't as easy as people try to make it out to be. I always connect with anybody who's worked at a position with Mcdonald's, and they're almost always some of the most hard-working people I've ever seen. 

I am a high school student, and with this being my first job, I would not recommend this job as your first job. 

If I was able to give this place a 2.5, I would. 

Being that McDonald's is a trendy food chain, especially if they put you where you're constantly interacting with customers; it's not for those who were already not good at interacting with others, but at the same time, it does helps evolve people skills such as active listening, communication, and problem-solving skills the more you get adjusted, which was what I learned from working there. I recommend this to people who have already worked in the food/restaurant industry. But if you like a challenge, this is your place. If you're coming here for the tuition reimbursement program they have, it's not really that much. $2,500 a year for part-time and $5,250 for full-time and work there for about 90 days.

This job accommodates your schedule around school, and other general things that come with life will be adjusted as requested. However, your days might get cut for whatever that reason may be. For me, I worked 4 to 5 days per week in a row, but as time went on, it became three days per week, with those days being spaced out despite my requests for more days. I've had a coworker who needed to work five days a week that became cut despite their requests. It was their first month on the job. Another coworker worked a singular day out of the week. They do tell you if you're getting more hours/days during the week. But for me, I had no idea I had to work 3 days out of a week. Oftentimes, you will be asked to stay overtime as there will be people either coming late or no one was scheduled to fill in your spot in the first place, which is highly stressful during rushes. And it is incredibly stressful if your only ride is your parent/guardian picking you up at the end of your shift. Weekends in the evenings are when they are the most understaffed and are ironically flooded with people.

Very poor training. They expect you to learn things very quickly, and if you're slow or even make a mistake, you get put in another position they believe you can handle. And yes, this is ideal when in a fast-paced environment; it's just how management deals with it that comes off as condescending. My first day was just being briefed and never told in depth, especially with the front counter. For me to even be trained, I would have to put myself in those positions to be considered. I worked there for months and was only taught how to do two things, which was front counter, runner, and towards the end of the day stock before clocking out. This isn't ideal when they need people for headsets or windows, and I'm one of the people available for that position, but I can't because no one has trained me for the eight months I've worked there. Overall, McDonald's needs better training or at least people willing to train others based on my experience working there. 

The most complex part of the job for this position is flexing. Especially when you're first starting out. When there's no one to fill in the position that's closest to you, you're required to flex. It gets a bit even more challenging as orders begin to pile, especially when it's cold in the building during winter seasons and spring/summer are just as hot indoors as they are outside. You move around quite a lot.

The workplace culture at McDonald's is generally fun and engaging. If you focus on your job, maintain a professional attitude, and communicate openly, you should have no issues working with others. The experience can vary depending on the individuals you work with, but in general, I found my coworkers okay to work with. Despite this, though, I find myself having to do positions that aren't assigned to me because others are too busy talking. Even when I openly ask for at least someone to fill the position, I'm generally met with no one willing to volunteer. But when I go and do it, they suddenly notice despite them being on me about being aware of my surroundings. So there's some hypocrisy present.  Another example was when I was supposed to flex from runner to front counter yet I had no idea how to do the cash register and our managers had a meeting. I was told off by a coworker about "doing my job" when I had no idea how to do it. That same coworker I would have to tell to do their job despite the fact that they've worked there longer than I have.

Management is also exemplary. Like I said, it depends on who you're working with. I noticed that management is strict regarding people not showing up for work during vacations or holidays. If you don't show up during holidays without a proper reason, for any reason, you're suspended. And if you do not show up in general, you're required to bring in a doctor's note along with you days/weeks beforehand notifying management of your absence. If you see yourself calling off sick days when you're not really sick for whatever reason, this job, or at least in this location, is not for you.

Overall, this place is suitable for a job where you can earn extra money as a high schooler. Strict, but if you do your job, you should get by. Regular biweekly paychecks, good people, they make sure you get your break. Some of them need to tighten up, while others need to loosen up a bit and stop being so hard on each other. My experience there could be better but overall it was mediocre.

A typical day at work for me was coming in and opening any area of the store. You get one 35 minute break, and it is not paid. I can do everything in the store from order taking to presenting orders to even handling customer complaints. I also trained new employees. They expect crew to be able to handle customer complaints, unless it escalates. The way the training system in this store worked was just plain dumb. If I was training someone since I had been there so long, they expected me to be able to work by myself on production from 5am to usually 11am running the whole breakfast line by myself, from assembling food and toast and baking everything. Anyone else would get 2 people, one assembling and one on toast and bake. I had to hurry up and meet and greet with the trainee, get him or her started on the e-learning computer. Then they had to come holler at me to tell me they were done. Then I had to hurry up from my spot, get them started on the next one. Wash my hands and hurry up and clear my screen. And expected me to train by myself on how to do certain areas while I'm trying to do my job.  I was the only one in that store that could run that breakfast production by myself out of everyone. I would have to come in behind the overnight and do some of their job because they didn't 'know' they were supposed to do it even if I had told them the previous night. They would have crew trainers training new people and that trainer didn't even know how to do that position. As a crew trainer your supposed to know all areas of the store, and they would just make random people crew trainers just to make their numbers on trainers. Most of the time, the other crew trainers would be allowed to take their trainees to the lobby or break room to sit down and go over the e-learning they just watched or go over the SOC, which is a station observation checklist. Another lady and I were the only two who were stuck doing training on the floor instead of having someone watch our spot so we could go over the paperwork with the employee. They said it was because they knew we could handle it. If you knew how to do everything in the store, they will throw you wherever that want you to go. When they would give me someone to help it with production it would usually be the person they didn't want up front with them or a trainee that I had to show the ropes of everything back in my area. If people from corporate were set to be there that day, almost all the employees would freak out, and stress. My theory if you know what your supposed to do..do it and you won't have any problems. I learned how to manage my time wisely, work quickly in stressful situations. The management was decent, although they really didn't work as a team. Most of the swing managers would help if you needed help, and stay visible in case you needed something. The store manager and one of the department managers were good at helping as well. I was set to move up to a department management position, spoke with my district supervisor. She said I would make a great manager, and would get everything started. That was over 6 months ago, and nothing came of it. I even had other department managers begging me to do it. At the time, my husband and I both were employed there, and I told them I didn't mind to transfer if need be. I had been there for years, and according to management, I was topped out at $8.50 as crew, when minimum wage just went up to $7.50, and they did not give us any incentives or anything. When everyone else gets raises, you may get a $175 bonus and that's only twice a year. The swing managers top out pay recently went up to $10.50 I believe, but they did not raise the crews top out.  Last time minimum wage went up years ago, they took all of our raises from us, and just gave us minimum wage and maybe 10cents. So I had been there like 2 years and only made 10cents more than people just getting hired in. As crew trainers, we did not get any incentive other than a free meal, no raise or anything.  After you have been there 2 years, and worked full time you are eligible for a week vacation. They don't tell you that if you hours drop even the slightest like 34 hours you will not be eligible for that vacation for that year, unless you pick up more hours. That is sometimes hard to do especially if you get sent home all the time because labor is high. Another thing, oh my goodness, the gossip! It's just like high school, but I guess that's with anywhere you work. I enjoyed working with almost all of my coworkers though. That is what I miss the most about the job. I enjoyed the fast paced environment, and interacting with the customers. Morning shift is usually always good at giving at breaks, afternoon and evening shift not so much. All in all, it's a decent company to work for. They just need to do what they say they are going to do.

This is the worst company at which to work on so many levels. The interview process alone is very challenging. First you will do a phone interview with HR. Then you will do a two day stint at the restaurant in which you will have to work the different positions while being interviewed as well. Yes, you are paid for it, regardless of whether you take the job or not, but it is nerve wracking.

In the interview process, you are told that you will have a 5 day work week and will have one weekend off per month. This is not true. It is very common for Assistant Managers to work 6-7 days a week, and not have weekends off for months, if ever. I know the last 6 months I was with the company, I worked 6 days a week and did not see a weekend off in all that time.

The stores are chronically understaffed because they are obsessed with labor costs. It is the worst when it is the overnight shift.

Speaking of overnights, you will work them and often. More times than not, you will be scheduled 9pm-6pm and then be expected to come back at 1 or 2 pm to work 1-10 or 2-11. This is very grueling to say the least.

They tell you in the hiring process the schedule will be done per month and you will get it in a timely basis. Wrong again. You really do not always know when you will work from one week to the next and it will change according to "the needs of the business". If you complain, you will hear that as an answer and again, case closed.

As a manager with this company, whether you are a swing manager, assistant, etc, you will be expected to work all hours of operation. Considering they never close, that is a very high expectation, and one they do not tell you clearly up front. I found this out much later with HR.

As with most restaurant jobs, you will be working holidays, weekends, nights, as well as overnights. But with this place, you are working ALL of them. You will be scheduled to work whenever the GM wants you and they will tell you "it's the needs of the business". Case closed.

The training in this company is baptism by fire. You pretty much have to get after them to teach you anything. Think you will go to the famous Hamburger University? Guess again. That is not for managers; it's for owner/operators. Try to tell them you are frustrated because your training is so unstructured and haphazard? Their answer is that YOU are responsible for your own development. It becomes exasperating to be at a job where you don't know anything. You can easily end up doing register for 6 months! No joke.

The culture in this company can be very mean spirited from all levels. It becomes contagious and you find yourself acting this way, which is one of the reasons I ended up leaving.

Because there are so many Hispanics working in the company, particularly the restaurant level, you pretty much need to speak Spanish to work here. I do not see how you can survive in this company without it.

The up side? Well, the benefits package is stellar. If you go on short term disability, you will get 100% of your pay for the first month or so and then 80% until the end of FMLA. You do not have to pay into this or buy a package like at other companies. But you will not get paid for at least a month because it takes them quite a while to approve the paper work.
The health insurance is great and you pay very little for it. Your family can be on it and it will not cost you very much at all. But since you are working whenever they want you to, good luck ever using it.

They do have some great management classes. I really enjoyed those a lot.

All in all the two years I was with this company was a very trying, difficult and frustrating time for me. You will not have a life; social, family, or otherwise. You will end up getting very burned out. Had I known all of this up front, I would have looked elsewhere.

This job is not for anyone who has a family or is married or in any kind of relationship. You will end up divorced, losing your mate, etc because no relationship can survive the schedule you will be expected to work. And this corporation is the very antithesis of family friendly. After all, "it's the needs of the business first" so you will be expected to sacrifice everything.

I do not recommend taking a job with this company as a manager or a crew person. McDonald's has more than earned their reputation as being a bad employer. And it will never change.
If you *still* want to go through with working here because you don't have other options, then do so at your own risk, but do not say you were not warned.

I personally had a very bad experience working fro McDonald's.
I enjoyed my time working there for a long while. I loved going to work and felt purpose in my job, but the last year of my employment was hard to bear. I encountered problems with other management staff, and my General manager.

Unfortunate and uncomfortable situations between me and another Manager higher up than me were not handled in any kind of manner that created positive results. I went to my GM 3 times about things that had happened between me and the other manager involved. The other manager's behavior remained the same, and then negative comments were made about me for seeking help for myself and others being affected by the incidents. I was belittled at work and berated in front of other crew members and management staff on more than one occasion. Many employee hours got cut due to the holiday season being slower for our particular store, but I was the only store manager to have their hours cut back. Every salary manager is guaranteed their hours due to contractual obligations set by the company, however, 4 other managers who were not salary got their normal hours throughout the months of November and December, while my hours were extremely cut back during this time period.

I was a great worker, I was given praise on a regular basis, I was loved by the crew, and I had great relationships with other management staff. However, that was only leading up to me informing my store Supervisor about my struggles with the other manager involved in the issues mentioned above. In the 3 months after I consulted my Supervisor about the incidents, I was treated poorly by other members of the management staff, and some crew from the store I worked at as well.

I was approached by my supervisor a short time after they met with the other manager I was having problems with, and was told lies that other people had been saying about me and things I had never said. I then was told multiple times that the closes I had done recently were not good, that the store had been left messy, un-stocked, and with dirty dishes. This was not true, and they bullied me into signing a write up for not 1, but 4 things, including: a "security violation" from October '19 that I was never made aware of (it was December '19 they wanted me to sign the write up) , 2 separate "attendance violations" that were untrue, and for a "bad close" from just two nights prior. This write-up was created after a disagreement on the work floor between me and my GM happened, where she began to berate me in front of our entire store, and then i began engaging in an argument with her for talking to me the way that she did. I really believe that she would not have written me up falsely for all of those things if had I just taken her verbal abuse. I stuck up for myself for the first time against her, and in turn I was punished for it.

Not even 2 weeks later I went in to work (december 14, 2019) and was met with 3 other managers, and my GM sitting at a booth in our lobby area. I thought I had missed a meeting so I went to the table. 2 of the 3 other managers at the table got up and left to go back onto the work floor. neither of them looked at me, and I used to have a good, very close even, relationship with both of them. The other manager left at the table was my Department Head who i supported, and then there was my GM who asked me to sit with them. She then went over a write up that outlined a post that I shared and had short comment conversations with multiple people on, on facebook about feeling undervalued by my job, an alleged "bad close" from two nights before, and the incident where me and the GM had disagreed and argued on the work floor. They terminated my employment for those things. I refused to sign the write up, returned my keys to them, and left the store.

They fired me because I wouldn't stand for being sexually harassed by the only male manager in the store, who was also sexually harassing minors, and talking inappropriately about them behind their backs. They continued to let him work, and chose to keep him as an employee over myself, when I did the only thing I could think to do in the situation I was put into: be honest and ask for help to make it stop.

I can no longer protect the employees who work there from his inappropriate and uncomfortable jokes and actions, nor is it my responsibility any longer. I learned a hard lesson from my time working here as a Manager.

I work at a franchisee so some of this may vary from restaurant to restaurant. A typical day is usually chaotic and crazy during the peaks and then we'll be dead and bored with high labor during nonpeaks. It is a balance between dealing with a bunch of customers at once, and then having to hurry to clean and stock while not busy. 
Our paperwork and handbook claim to work with you for availability and offer flexible scheduling, but there are so many high school kids who have to make requests multiple times before their schedule actually gets changed. Crew members also must request 2 full weeks in advance to get any specific day off and managers must request a full month in advance to get any specific day off. If the schedule is done then it is the person's responsibility to trade shifts with someone or get their shift covered. I have seen a couple of times when a person has requested a day and gets scheduled for it, then gets into trouble for not having that shift covered. Not very "flexible scheduling" in my opinion. Many people are always upset with the schedule and constantly seem to have something to complain about. 
The culture can get toxic depending on who is managing. When some managers come onto the floor they can start yelling and throw the whole vibe off, especially if it is a moment where we are struggling to keep up with orders. There are other managers who will come onto the floor and everyone gets happier just seeing them.
As a manager myself who was brought into department managing when they moved our guest services manager to another restaurant, they did not train me at all and in the beginning, some people gave me incorrect information which I later got into trouble for with our supervisor. I am occasionally expected to do many tasks with no other manager to run the floor and simultaneously keep labor down to only 21% even when certain crew struggle to keep up with the rush. It is not uncommon to feel like we are understaffed and then look at labor and see that it is super high and then get questioned why none of my work is done meanwhile I was on the floor the whole time trying to keep OEPE down.
Back when I was a crew member we were given go-home tasks at the time we were supposed to clock out, which made many of us have to work extra minutes in that day, only to cut any overtime we may have gotten later in the week by sending us home early. There was one moment when we were super busy, backed out to the road, and a training manager was left on the floor. I requested to use the restroom as I had been holding it for a while and really needed to go #1. She denied it and I continued to hold my bladder. When I first started as a crew person I did not feel welcome at all, it felt like I joined and it was like a clique that I was not in yet, I mainly just stuck to myself. 
Some managers do not give anyone the benefit of the doubt, they will roll their eyes when someone calls in for being sick. Some crew has even worked while sick(throwing up), which I was not personally ok with but the higher-ups made the decision. We do get those crew members who call frequently (mainly teens who want their weekend off), which can get annoying especially when they are spotted out and about when they claim to be stuck in bed sick or stuck in the bathroom with a stomach bug.
Dealing with customers is a whole other beast. We do have our regulars that we see multiple times a day almost every day and we get to know their names and sometimes their adorable pets! Then there are the people who can be downright awful and will cuss you out for any little reason they can find, thankfully at my location we do not have very many of those experiences but I know it is more common in bigger cities. Managers are given training on how to deal with upset customers but it takes a few experiences to get the hang of it. Some people will never be satisfied. 

When I worked at McDonald's, I was the over-night maintenance man. My nights would start at 10pm and would end at 8am. I worked 10 hour shifts for 8 days straight and would then have 3 nights and 4 days off straight.
Besides my lunch break, the job constantly kept me busy, which I liked. I'd start the night off by spraying degreaser in the parking lot on oil spills and such (letting it sit over night) while I waited for the closing staff to finish sweeping up the dining room. Once they were done, I'd begin to mop the bathrooms (cleaning and scrubbing sinks & toilets along the way) and dining room. Then, I'd move into the kitchen area.
 By this time, the dining area of McDonald's has been closed for a few hours so the kitchen's not too busy and, counting me, there'd be at most 4 to 5 people working a night. Before I'd mop the kitchen, I would do the fry vats. This involved one of two ways of doing it. The first way is if the oil was changed somewhat recently or was still fresh, I'd run it through a machine that would filter and clean the oil while catching all the sediment left behind and pouring the filtered oil back into the vats. The second method is to completely drain the oil and replace it with new oil. Both methods I would scrub and clean the vats while the oil was removed.
Mopping would continue through out the store while I would also rotate the dry stock and the stock in the cooler and freezer, wash towels, clean any dishes or equipment I would use. Twice a week I would do truck.
Near the end of the night, I would finish up outside which involved sweeping up any mess and cigarette butts, picking up any trash and using a water hose to spray any spots that I put degreaser on at the beginning of the night.
Some issues were that for me to do my job and do it right, I couldn't waste any time doing anything else. Which mean that I didn't spend extra time on breaks, I didn't mess around or talk much, which is all fine but as I said before, I had exactly enough time to finish my chores. So when something broke or a co-worker needed my help with something, it usually put me behind to at least some degree. So, because of this, sometimes I wouldn't be able to clock out until about 9am rather than 8am. This was NOT allowed. But, I wasn't allowed to just leave my work unfinished, understandably. So what would McDonald's do to fix this? They would go into the computer and literally change my (clock out) time so that I wouldn't receive pay for that hour. This is (or at least was) 100% illegal. Their reasoning? "McDonald's employees are not allowed to have ANY over time". Which means at the end of the week when my hours were totaled, I'd accumulate 1 to 3hrs of over time but would receive no pay for these hours/over time.
This started to become an issue when managers would ask me to stay after 8am to help them with THEIR work and not pay me for any time accumulated after 8am.
Every time I brought this up, I was quickly dismissed. When I mentioned that what they were doing was illegal and mentioned a lawyer, my hours were immediately cut...I'm assuming so that there was absolutely no chance of me getting over time.
Once this happened, I was no longer able to cover paying my bills & requested to be put back on full-time. To try and help my case, I stated that 90% of the time that I stayed after 8am was to help a manager who asked me to stay rather than them thinking I decided myself. I then began to say that if over time is that big of an issue, I'll just leave at 8am no matter what. That's when things got worse. I was immediately reprimanded, being told that if a manager tells me to do something, I better do it. 
I can understand and respect this but I'm not going to keep having money and time taken away from me and yelled at by one manager for helping another manager. It became too much. So, after complaining about it multiple times, I was put on "probation".
After all this, I decided that it was time to leave and look for work elsewhere. So I moved out of Ellwood City and left McDonald's.
Honestly, all and all it was a good place to work and I actually liked the job. But technicality began to ruin things and managers enforcing rules they didn't understand by breaking the law just made the work place too stressful.

You've probably heard the horror stories at Mcdonald's, but I assure you hardly any of them are true. This job can get you started in the job industry as well as get you some experience to get out there if you have no experience at all.

A typical day at work would be clocking in and going directly to the back to count your own register prior to starting work. Depending on your store, you or a manager will do this. You will then be directed to your main position for however long you may work. When I started out, I worked with a friend in the drive-thru simply taking orders, I got a good grasp of the monitor and how to use it as well as where menu items were. I went from not knowing how to do a single thing at this restaurant, to knowing how to do everything. 

In which case, a usual work day for me will consist of taking orders in the drive-thru. This takes some very fast and skilled people to do so because of the dual monitors present, talking to multiple customers at once, and cashing out orders correctly. Since the majority of all sales come from the drive-thru, you will need to be accurate, kind, courteous, quick, and always communicating with the rest of your team. This is really evident when a customer has a special order for an item (such as a lettuce-wrapped burger).

If you work an 8 hour day, you will be given 3 breaks; two 10-minute breaks and one 30-minute break. If you work this long you may be shifting positions quite often.

Typically for me, because I am somewhat fast, I will also present (which means be at the second window of the drive-thru giving out the prepared food) and then eventually moving to the front counter taking orders. No part of this job is truly difficult, you will learn everything you need to know from your manager and crew trainers.

The rest of the job is stocking product, cleaning (mopping, sweeping, wiping off counters, etc.), taking orders with a smile (always), being courteous to the customer, giving out correct cash, and if you work in the kitchen -- preparing the order correctly. 

The quality of your co-workers really depend on your location sometimes, but I assure you will make friends at your Mcdonald's job. You work as a team at a Mcdonald's, keep that in mind because if there is no communication you will have a tough time. Your co-workers are the most essential tool you can use at this job - always communicate with them or there can be great confusion.

The hardest part of the job is dealing with customers who are just plain rude (but, maybe they aren't, maybe they had a bad day and are taking it out on you, who knows) and very, very, busy rush times. You will become very stressed out when you get swamped with one after another of ridiculously huge orders from customers that you have to prepare and get out quickly. Just keep your cool and keep doing your job to the best of your ability is what I learned from the several experiences I have had with events at our Mcdonald's (such as Teacher's Night, Fish-Filet Fridays, etc.).

The best part of the job is meeting new people every single day. From all of the customers I have met every single day I have worked, I have eventually befriended some regular customers. Making friends with your co-workers and having fun while doing the job is also a plus. 

I have learned many things from being a crew member at Mcdonald's. I have learned to work well under fast-paced, high-stress, and high-pressured environments. As well as following directions well and able to learn quickly. I have also had considerable improvements in self-esteem and gained great customer service skills as well. I learned how to deal with certain situations regarding customers when problems are presented (upset customers included). And I have gained a lot of skill in multi-tasking due to primarily being a drive-thru cashier. Dual monitors were present and I would often communicate with multiple customers at once, while also giving out correct cash/ insuring order accuracy.

if you are looking for a job to get you started, there is always a job in fast-food and there are always great skills you can learn and interchange between other jobs.

Well I worked there for a year and a half. I love the job duties and I love how much there is to learn. The fast paced work was fun and had a good amount of challenge. 

When I first started I loved it, but as time went on they implemented a "percentage of labor" thing, which basically meant they kept us understaffed on purpose, and if we had a rush we were doomed. When I closed was when this impacted me the most. If the day crew couldn't keep up with things, then everything would pile up on each other and the closers can't go home unless literally everything is finished. This also meant that every order at night would set us all back on our closing tasks that much more. If the customers are the point but they actively get in the way of me being able to go home... I mean you see the contradiction there. 

I was a big fan of the general manager however. He was harsh but very fair, and he would help us on line when he was there too. I felt like he was in charge because he was actually really good at his job. He didn't just bark at people which I really respect. 

The training however was abysmal. If you can even call it training. My first day in the middle of a rush they told me "well just take orders I guess. " So there I went. Having never used the P O System, barely knowing the sandwiches themselves. When I would inevitably mess things up, instead of being met with respect and understanding they would just give me a disapproving glace and cut my hours. This made  it difficult to improve but once I did they would always focus on what I should be doing better. I love improving but it always felt a little like I was racing to meet a moving target. 

It's a very corporate atmosphere. You have to wear the correct clothes in the correct way and say the correct things and do the procedures just so. I didn't mind that much but when you aren't even allowed to wear a brown belt it's a little uptight in my opinion. 

They have a bad habit of not teaching you how to do something, but expecting you to do it anyways. Then they get mad when you can't do it right, so they just never have you do it again so you never improve. 
Then next time someone does ask you to do it, the whole process repeats. 
This was in particular a problem with closing tasks because there's just not time or staff allocated to learning. New people were usually there during the day shifts so at least during those times there was some learning expectations. 

They have so many employees and so much turnover, that the employees don't receive a lot of respect. Part of this was the college town setting, but the lack of respect was probably not helping. When I say they don't get respect I mean that our humanity was not considered well. This was in reference to the percentage of labor as well as being timed for literally everything. Also when they punished us, instead of addressing the people who made the problems they would punish all of us by taking our free lunches away. This is no doubt to get us to police each other, but this tactic is honestly vile. They punish me financially because someone else took a yogurt. That is ridiculous. 

Also, the call out policy. Oh the call out policy. They trusted us so little that they were convinced that if we called out on a game day (football game because college), then we just wanted to go to the game. So if you are sick on a game day, and you can't come in, then you get written up. I left right when the pandemic started but I can't imagine that policy went well. It's food service! Let me stay home! I don't care about football!

Also the managers cannot for the life of them agree on how to do anything. When you are there you have to tailor the way you do things by which manager is breathing down your neck. Every little thing had to be done right, but if you do it the way the manager an hour ago said to, then good luck because the manager this hour will not talk to the previous one, and it will be your fault.

All in all it served me well at the time but I think it was good I left when I did. I could see it going downhill fast as I left and the issues were becoming more pronounced. 

I started with the company when I was 17 and work my way up through all the ranks up to general manager it wasn't an ideal job actually took a2 year break and work at a hospital instead, but ended up coming back for scheduling reasons as a floor supervisor which is a fix schedule as a manager. My store manager at the time quit and I was the only one who knew how to run the roll so I took on the role because though it is a hard job I do care about the job but it was the biggest regret that I have made so far. As you move up in rank you are subjected to more and more levels of stress, which is expected for the position. But the level of stress that you undergo and a 24-hour establishment is more than you would find in most businesses. The workload requires you to do the job of five people by yourself, and when you do have the managers to delegate to they are often not trained well and incompetence. You always have to worry about people calling out which is a number one problem for every single McDonald's, including your own managers who are promoted because they have a higher level of responsibility and they do not feel that. I have work with the company for about 4 years if you accumulate all the time that I've spent there and in four years after all the talk and every single year they're being a management meeting change New Vision plan, and all that other good stuff from the uppers, it's still the same repetitive cycle. There is far too much expectation out of one person for such little pay. My current pay level is 15.87 dollars. And that's $15 and Compasses taking care of a restaurant, keeping sales up, making sure that our customer complaints are zero, make sure that our voice survey scores are at 70% or better, and it only rates the fives it does not count any fours or anything else so it's not an average, Staffing the store, doing inventory, checking the truck and verifying the truck, doing schedules for the managers and the crew, doing the piano which is profit and losses, promoting training and doing performance reviews on stuff, having to keep track of every item in the store, controlling profit and controlling the losses of product, working between 9 hours and 12 hours a day on average, having to be entirely flexible when somebody doesn't show up to work and having to find coverage for every shift, being on call 24 hours a day because your boss will call you at 1 in the morning and your crew will call you at 1 in the morning and if you're lucky your manager might call you at 3 in the morning so you get a minimal amount of sleep. This job is not family friendly oh, I know multiple store managers multiple department managers that have lost relationships their kids their lives to work they've worked constantly for years or months. I know some people who had to go on medical leave for depression because this job has made them suicidal. And just think I'm making more money than them. Don't get me wrong the company has benefits if you are a single non-parental person. If you don't have kids and you're young and you have aspirations of college but you need other things done this jobs for you. This job is for people who do not want kids for want families, or have many years before they plan on doing so. For me oh, this job is not for me. I have been in this role again after returning from working at the hospital for only about 8 months and I absolutely regret every decision that I've made about coming back. It has destroyed my time at home with my child, who goes to daycare all day and then someone else picks her up and I hope that I can come home. I can't even set dinner out because I never know what time I'm getting off. My manager meetings that I said with my boss usually run for 13 hours which is unrealistic and absolutely disgusting. My boss will call me on my days off if I have a day off. And don't even bother asking for a break because the more you move up in rank you do not get breaks

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Crew member 1294 salaries reported	$13.39 per hour
Cashier 388 salaries reported	$15.26 per hour
Fast food attendant 335 salaries reported	$13.61 per hour
Shift manager 589 salaries reported	$16.15 per hour
Maintenance person 409 salaries reported	$15.67 per hour

Working at McDonald's: Company Overview and Reviews

McDonald's

McDonald's Ratings

Popular jobs at McDonald's

Salary Satisfaction

Job Seeker Tools

Employer Tools

Browse

Stay Connected