Why I’m avoiding fast food jobs at all costs
Posted on May 4, 2009
Let’s be real, getting a $9 or $10 an hour job is relatively easy. I compare it to fast food – you get in and get out for very cheap and very little effort, but it’s no good for you down the road. Ironically, most of these types of jobs are at fast food restaurants.
For me, the hardest part has been saying ‘No’ to these types of jobs. Sure, I could have more money in my pocket, but it’s just not worth it. The small amount of money I would gain today would hinder my chances of better paying jobs in the future.
We are in a highly competitive marketplace right now and it will potentially only get harder as more and more people are getting better educated. If there are two people applying for a job and one has relevant work experience while the other has McJob experience, who do you think will get the job?
That lack of experience has been a small hindrance for me but I won’t let it stop where I am going. The lesson in all of this for me is to not settle, ever. Good enough should not be good enough for you – you should be thinking bigger and expecting more of yourself.
TalentEgg.ca and the TalentEgg Career Incubator and the rest of the web is filled with meaningful jobs and creative ways to get them. Do your research on WHAT you want get, then get knowledge on HOW to get it.
I immerse myself in marketing because that is where I want to go. For you it could be drama, writing, starting a charity or even building a website – whatever it may be go after it with your all. I call this the Knowledge Drive, which is something we all need to develop.
I would rather not eat fast food from Monday to Friday so I can have steak on Saturday.
Share your passion with me. Where do you want to go?
This article was written by David-Paul Williams
19 comments
I would rather have steak on Saturday too…nice article.
I wouldn’t be so hard on “McJobs” — for many students this is a great opportunity to make some money and get experience.
Relevant job experience is what you make out of it — for example, at McDonald’s you learn many important skills that can be applied to future jobs, such as learning to positively interact with customers, or working in a team environment. I know people who have worked at McDonald’s early in university, moved up to a management position, and this experience has helped them land future jobs.
I would argue that you are better off taking a job at a fast-food restaurant than not working at all — but that’s just my opinion. If your financial situation allows, I would recommend doing something rewarding while you are out of work, such as volunteer or take an unpaid internship in the field you love. For those not so fortunate, don’t necessarily rule out a job in fast-food… you never know how your “McJob” could help land you a “real job”!!
David didn’t touch on this in the article, but he’s definitely living the right attitude: you can’t wait until you’ve graduated to get the experience you need to get a good job. You need to start as early as possible — even in first year, like David.
I am going to respectfully disagree with you David. A Mcjob isn’t that unmeaningful. With the right attitude, I think one can learn something….atleast about themselves from any job. Plus..a MCjob teaches you some basics about POS, customer service, basic accounting, team work, working under high pressure….etc. And while you’re searching for the job of your dreams, putting some money in your pocket doesn’t hurt either.
I have had customer service jobs back in high school at the Bay and Eaton’s…it helped me out..for sure. In university, I probably put more emphasis on my interests and figuring out more about myself. So, my resume is filled with a lot of unrelated experiences (form robotics to theater). At the end of the day, I switched from Science to Finance and I landed a job with a Fortune 500 company before I graduated, without having any prior experience in finance.
Thanks for the replies everyone!
Fatema I actually agree with you to a point. I should have mentioned this in my article but it slipped my mind for some reason. I do agree that they aren’t completely meaningless as a first or second job because you may not know what field you want to get into or you are to young for any other jobs. As a first job they tell you a lot about yourself and you do gain needed experience for the future.
Since I have passed that stage, as many University students have, it does not add much value to your resume.
I think you’re right: no work is ever meaningless, but there comes a point in every post-secondary student’s life when they have to say, “Is this job (whether it’s a McJob or not) going to help me further my long-term career goals?”
Unless you want to work in food service, retail, etc. (and those are definitely meaningful career choices at certain levels) your McJob is probably not going to offer you anything other than, as you said, $9 an hour, and you should start focusing your time and energy elsewhere.
I agree and disagree.
You only get as much out of an experience as you put into it…
Even if you have a McJob, try and do something innovative; if you see an ineffiency or a problem come up with a solution and present it to your manager.
You never know what could happen.
Bottom Line:
Sometimes you have to get a McJob; Do your best and try to create a valuable experience for yourself.
Hi Fatema,
Does your company hire a new graduate or any other job info? I am a new graduate in financial economics,my email is jeffcc01@yahoo.com,thanks a lot.
I find this topic interestingly controversial. As Daniel has stated, there is a place for every job, it can simply be a matter of what you do with it.
Granted, the fast food experience is not on the top of everyone’s list but the $9/$10 a hour job can be your key to experience, on the job learning and ultimately a chance to see things from a different perspective.
No, you shouldn’t settle but what you perceive to be settling now may prove to be more than valuable in the future. Think of the people you could meet and develop relationships with — Network, Network, Network!
I’d hire someone who had work experience doing a ‘McJob’ over someone who only has experience searching and holding out for that that perfect job / experience any day.
It shows a strength of character doing a job you don’t necessarily want to be doing and taking whatever you can from it. And of course, the bottom line for most people with grander ambitions, they have to earn an income whilst in the pursuit of happiness.
Good article! Thanks for the dose of controversy.
I do not disagree with you but I do think there is a point where you need to get more relevant experience as well as extra curricular among other things.
And yes I love stirring up controversy and hearing other peoples opinion, it is how we all grow.
David, I think your article is all about maintaining professional standards. This is especially difficult now because of the lousy job market.
But, I think you’re right in the sense that if you can make ends meet financially, then by all means avoid the “fast-food” jobs and write,volunteer, network,etc. in your spare time. In the end, it’s this type of experience that will build a long-term career.
I would have to agree with David here. Those 10$ jobs were good and sufficient source of income back in high school days (maybe early University). To me a person working McJobs shows no ambition and no drive to get to their goals etc. At this point its more about putting your name out there and networking and getting noticed and doing internships etc.
one thing I forgot to mention was that one has to make sure that “the means to an end” doesnt become “an end”.
I think the article is a bit too demeaning. Although the point made is quite valuable but we must also know the importance of soft skills. Any “McJob” may not provide you with the best skills but it does provide little valuable support points which are extremely important in any mainstream job.
But again it is important to use them as fill in rather than getting “Filled in” with them.
A huge part most of you are ignoring: some of us don’t have a choice and MUST take what we can get. Some income is better than no income and I’m sorry, some of us don’t even have time to volunteer during university because we are literally working 25-35 hours a week just so we can afford to keep going to school.
Some of us just don’t have the luxury to bulk up our resumes with extra applicable experience.
Hi Kristina,
I was in the same position as you in my first and second years of university, working 35+ hours a week at $8/hr at a crappy retail job just to pay my living expenses. However, as I started my third year, I realized I had zero experience which could eventually transfer into a career.
Then I evaluated how much I was spending and decided that if I asked for help from my family (who weren’t paying for my education), shared an apartment with someone instead of living on my own, moved within walking distance of school, etc., I would have enough money to scrape by and be able to volunteer at school, as well as do unpaid work which would get me the experience and connections I needed to eventually get my current job.
I know that if I had kept working that retail job, I would probably still be working there instead of earning a salary doing a job I love.
For me, it was about making sacrifices and I knew I would rather sacrifice a few luxuries for a short period of time instead of sacrificing my career and my future.
I disagree with the author, as a fast-food job can be very valuable for young students in work experience. It teaches you how to work hard, how to manage your time, team work, customer service. I worked my way thru college at McDonalds while studying Chemical Engineering, and I was the first in my class to land a job – in Nuclear Research! In fact I was working at McDonalds when I recieved the job offer — the manager tapped my on the shoulder to tell me I had a long-distance phone call — I gave him my notice when I got off the phone.
For young students, working at McDonalds, or any such place, shows employers that you are wiiiing to work hard and shouldn’t be dismissed as non-experience,
My sister got her job as a Human Resource Manager because she has Mcdonalds on her resume.
Hear that? It’s the sound of yoour “opinion” suddenly becoming invalidated.
And by the way, Mcdonald’s is a HUGE corporation. Working for ANY corporation of that size looks great on a resume. Trust me.
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