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cutewithoutthe Góðberit Norðling Since: Nov, 2010 Relationship Status: Star-crossed
Góðberit Norðling
#1: Jan 13th 2011 at 10:29:51 PM

What are they like? How difficult are they? What kind of skills do they require? How much pay would a Sixteen year old recieve?

pvtnum11 OMG NO NOSECONES from Kerbin low orbit Since: Nov, 2009 Relationship Status: We finish each other's sandwiches
OMG NO NOSECONES
#2: Jan 13th 2011 at 11:43:43 PM

Minimum wage pay, most likely part-time work (as you're 16 and in school, yes?) and it'll be work. You'll probably get sick and tired of whatever fare they serve there, since you'll be around it all day or however long your shift is. If you get some good experience frying stuff up, and if you have an interest in the food industry, you can always move up to working in a real restaurant later on, where the pay and benefits will be better.

I appreciate courteous fast-food workers - I don't always get them.

Note: I've never worked in fast food. But I have worked in a military chow hall for a bit, washing pots and pans. It sucked.

Happiness is zero-gee with a sinus cold.
Acebrock He/Him from So-Cal Since: Dec, 2009 Relationship Status: My elf kissing days are over
He/Him
#3: Jan 14th 2011 at 12:04:26 AM

I worked at a Del Taco for a few months as a janitor. The job was so stressful, and my boss so annoying that I decided being unemployed was far better than ever working in fast food again.

Your Mileage May Vary, however.

My troper wall
cutewithoutthe Góðberit Norðling Since: Nov, 2010 Relationship Status: Star-crossed
Góðberit Norðling
#4: Jan 14th 2011 at 12:11:45 AM

what other job options would a guy like me have?

^^And yes, I'm still in school, and will be sixteen in EXACTLY a month...I think.

2/14/95 ftw.

lemedy OM NOM NOM NOM from Australia Since: Nov, 2010
OM NOM NOM NOM
#5: Jan 14th 2011 at 12:16:29 AM

I didn't do the fast food high school job - I was a checkout chick instead at a local grocery store. Can't comment on the minimum wage, I think the legislation and amounts vary between Australia and the US.

I had a friend work at Mc Donalds. After telling me what some of her workmates did to the food, I stopped eating it for a long time.

cutewithoutthe Góðberit Norðling Since: Nov, 2010 Relationship Status: Star-crossed
Góðberit Norðling
#6: Jan 14th 2011 at 12:17:41 AM

[up] What...what DO they do? o_0

lemedy OM NOM NOM NOM from Australia Since: Nov, 2010
OM NOM NOM NOM
#7: Jan 14th 2011 at 12:27:28 AM

Drop the patties on the floor and serving them, purposely undercooking meat, admitting she wouldn't clean cooking utensils such as spatulas properly if she didn't feel like it, and once serving bread rolls even when they had found a dead mice in the packet - she thought it was funny, seeing how much they could hide from the manager.

lemedy OM NOM NOM NOM from Australia Since: Nov, 2010
OM NOM NOM NOM
#8: Jan 14th 2011 at 12:34:32 AM

I will add I really, really like to think that most fast food places are run a lot better than that, for fear of being sued. The manager of this particular Mc Donalds was just a lazy dumb-ass who couldn't be bothered managing his staff.

Yuval Since: May, 2013
#9: Jan 14th 2011 at 1:45:33 AM

I live in Australia. Here, 16-year-olds working in fast food get paid really badly; think about $6 an hour. I worked in fast food for exactly five hours earlier this year, and I was paid $8 an hour - and I was twenty years old (older employee = better pay) and working at a casual rate (permanent employees are paid less than casuals, but they don't get called in at short notice to do really weird hours, or so the hypothesis goes.)

As you can tell by "exactly five hours", I got the hell out of there and went to retail. Retail is much better, if you can get a job just in a supermarket or corner shop - it's about as busy as a fast food joint, but without the pressure to produce goods (which may only be a problem if you're a total klutz like me and can't make a simple sandwich without injuring someone), the dirt (every restaurant is filthy backstage. Every one.), and the constant, nauseating smell of grease and oil. To answer your question about fast food skills, you don't need any; but you will have to cook stuff, clean floors and fixtures, serve customers, and do a hell of a lot of dish-washing. It is not fun. It is dirty and miserable.

One thing that doesn't get mentioned very often and that I've heard about is the fact that McDonalds - specifically McDonalds, I'm not sure about other fast food joints but I imagine they'd be similar, for the sake of competition - looks really good on a resume as a part-time highschool job. Why? They train you for customer service. As the above commenters mentioned, sometimes employees don't use that training; but in Australia at least, McDonalds is renowned for placing emphasis on customer service, so as far as gruelling McJobs go, it's worth thinking about in regards to the future.

edited 14th Jan '11 1:49:56 AM by Yuval

BlueNinja0 The Mod with the Migraine from Taking a left at Albuquerque Since: Dec, 2010 Relationship Status: Showing feelings of an almost human nature
The Mod with the Migraine
#10: Jan 14th 2011 at 6:21:06 AM

Cute: Thanks for making me feel old; you were two months old when I had my first kiss. Ye gods.

As for the OP: My first job was working shelving books at the local library. The hours sucked, but for a book-lover like me the job itself was awesome, and it paid $1/hr more than minimum wage. I did learn customer service skills (mostly because patrons were constantly coming to those of us in the stacks, rather than walk back to the desk). My wife worked at two different fast food places in high school (Mc D's and Arby's) and then was manager of one (Taco Bell) for a while after we were married. Having seen her at work, I am very glad I applied first to the library. grin

That’s the epitome of privilege right there, not considering armed nazis a threat to your life. - Silasw
MajorTom Since: Dec, 2009
#11: Jan 14th 2011 at 6:25:30 AM

I've never worked fast food (and I'm 25!), instead I worked at a mountain resort with restaurant in it. It's work and there are times where it is definitely anything but fun.

On the flipside I basically learned everything there is to know about running a real restaurant since by my last year I was basically doing everything in the establishment sans only a few things.

Bur from Flyover Country (Living Relic) Relationship Status: Having tea with Cthulhu
#12: Jan 14th 2011 at 7:45:10 AM

I sacked groceries for two years in high school. [lol] Minimum wage, no breaks even if they're scheduled in because customers have a sixth sense and when it's your slotted break time is when they'll rush to the checkout lanes en masse... and a lifelong deep need to sack your own groceries because you see your fellow sackers do retarded things like mixing meats and fruits.

edited 14th Jan '11 7:45:58 AM by Bur

Kino Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: Californicating
#13: Jan 14th 2011 at 7:51:22 AM

I did that in HS too. We usually closed at 6pm on Saturdays; at 5:50pm you'd have 10 people come in with cards trying to do last minute shopping. Fuck those guys.

Bur from Flyover Country (Living Relic) Relationship Status: Having tea with Cthulhu
#14: Jan 14th 2011 at 8:10:16 AM

Lucky! Ours was one of the 24 hour ones and I can't count how many times I drew short straw and got the 'til 11 pm shift.

pvtnum11 OMG NO NOSECONES from Kerbin low orbit Since: Nov, 2009 Relationship Status: We finish each other's sandwiches
OMG NO NOSECONES
#15: Jan 14th 2011 at 8:21:58 AM

Blue Ninja 0: Yeah, I had thought to mention I was 17 (and fixing to turn 18) when the OP was born, but did see the point. Did I mention I found some more stray gray hairs this morning?

Anyway.

I have a friend who worked at Safeway for a few years. She loathed it. Funny thing is, I like Safeway here. But I agree with the smell of hot oil bit. It gets old when I'm cooling stuff with it; you'd come home pretty much saturated with the smell of it. But as far as the customer service bit? Be nice, as a customer. People in the service sector like it when customers treat them like human beings.

Happiness is zero-gee with a sinus cold.
Yuval Since: May, 2013
#16: Jan 14th 2011 at 6:11:03 PM

I did that in HS too. We usually closed at 6pm on Saturdays; at 5:50pm you'd have 10 people come in with cards trying to do last minute shopping. Fuck those guys.

We get people in at 8:55pm on our late close nights to do last minute browsing. Not emergency shopping; just browsing. "I thought I'd get in my car, drive halfway across town, and show up at an unsociable hour just to have a look around." And then they don't leave even when it's closing time and we're standing right behind them jangling the door chains, because apparently having a nice leisurely nocturnal browse is just so important to them.

We close at midnight over the Christmas period and, sure enough, they start popping in at 11:50.

I will eat every customer.

edited 14th Jan '11 6:11:41 PM by Yuval

Barkey Since: Feb, 2010 Relationship Status: [TOP SECRET]
#17: Jan 14th 2011 at 6:42:57 PM

I worked at Del Taco for a few years, was an assistant manager when I quit and enlisted.

It was ok work, some aspects of it sucked, but I had a really good crew.

The pay is dirt up until you hit actual management, but that's to be expected.

Any moron can do the work, but it takes a sense of urgency to actually run a drive-through efficiently. A drive-through positioned at a busy spot can be a huge challenge to run quickly.

I'm glad I did it, it made me appreciate what I have and the job that I do. I appreciate fast-food workers and do everything I can do be an easy customer to deal with. I get really pissy when teenagers go "eww, I don't want to work fast food!" when there's no other job opportunities for them around, it's wasn't a demeaning job for me, though I can't take the smell of raw chicken anymore. I can still eat at Del Taco though, because I know the ingredients aren't shit, since I made the food for a long time.

cutewithoutthe Góðberit Norðling Since: Nov, 2010 Relationship Status: Star-crossed
Góðberit Norðling
#18: Jan 14th 2011 at 6:49:46 PM

You can shelve books and get paid? Does every library have this?

And thanks for making me feel young tongue

Pykrete NOT THE BEES from Viridian Forest Since: Sep, 2009
NOT THE BEES
#19: Jan 14th 2011 at 6:56:37 PM

I go "eew, I don't want to work in fast food", but that's more because during the summer when I actually have the time my allergies are flaring up like crazy and I don't want to give anyone a sneezeburger. tongue

CaissasDeathAngel House Lewis: Sanity is Relative from Dumfries, SW Scotland Since: Oct, 2010 Relationship Status: Pining for the fjords
House Lewis: Sanity is Relative
#20: Jan 14th 2011 at 7:00:51 PM

I was lucky in that I managed to get a job as a bank teller as my first job, though that started about a week after I finished high school (UK so we don't graduate from them, year progression is automatic). Any service job gives you a few rough moments at least until you get used to the idea - in a bank in 2004/5? I had people coming up to me acting as if I had the power (and demanding I use it) to overturn the entire company's charges policy. My employer being the 5th largest bank on earth. Not. Going. To Happen.

Glad I did it, it gave me a great understanding of personal finance, and I'm still in the sector. I also learned how to use loopholes to cheat my employer out of lots of cash, entirely legally (I had an interest free student overdraft for 2k with my employer, and lived off the money I made working during the holidays, and my student loan. I had a savings account with the same employer, so took the entire overdraft and put it in the savings account. Essentially, I was borrowing £2000 from my employer, and they were paying me interest on it for 5 years. Entirely legitimate, though I was advised by colleagues at my level against letting senior managers know I was doing that.) Still one of my shrewdest moments, I've now paid back the overdraft from job earnings and the several hundred pounds interest is my profit.

More relevantly to this topic, you will need to be able to deal with a few asshole customers. The blog at notalwaysright.com has some sadly all too true example of this in practice. It's not too hard though, really, and these places can be a good first step in the door.

edited 14th Jan '11 7:01:29 PM by CaissasDeathAngel

My name is Addy. Please call me that instead of my username.
Nika-senpai The Golden Girl from Mitakihara Since: Nov, 2009
The Golden Girl
#21: Jan 14th 2011 at 8:25:44 PM

I work at a bagel shop that is a merger of a deli and a bakery.

Some of my duties include:

  • packing up dozen/half dozen bags of bagels
  • making sandwiches or cream cheese bagels
  • answering customer questions about how this and that tastes, how long the bagels stay fresh etc.
  • operating the cash register
  • answering the phone if my manager won't
  • directing questions I can't answer to my manager
  • restocking stuff like bagels, drinks, creamer, paper bags blah blah
  • washing dishes, wiping tables

And when you're on closing shift, you also have to:

  • sweep and mop the entire store
  • sanitize cutting boards, counters
  • put away all perishables
  • turn off signs, throw up coffee and old soup, lock the door

Except my manager is a paranoid bastard so he won't give us a key, so in the end he locks up completely by himself.

In my year and a half in there I've only had a handful of shitty customers, we're not such a big chain so everyone loooooves the merch and they're always happy and polite. My boss is the worst, he and his wife fight, he yells at her, us, in front of customers etc. doesn't speak proper English, thinks he's the king of the world because he owns a store and he can take advantage of the young people and fresh immigrants who apply there. Seriously. This guy has never hired anyone over 25. Unless they were in the country for less than a year and barely spoke English. Then he'd yell at them for barely speaking English. Also, we don't get breaks. At all. And he and his wife take a huge cut of the tips, but they used to steal all of them so that's better than before I guess. He did that until another coworker bitched him out something fierce. The only good thing left is that they have flexible hours. Also, I know I will never get a raise because he only gives those out to bribe people, like did the above coworker to make him stay and work full-time. And last year, he hired too many part timers and I used to get 3-6 hrs a week. I make minimum wage.

It sucks, dude. Don't get stuck with a shitty manager.

The good news is, you can stick it out for six months, and then with that experience find a job in retail, which should be much better.

I would say, the hierarchy of shitty jobs goes like this:

fast food < grocery stores < department stores like Wal-Mart < smaller stores and cool stores like Best Buy.

The first three can get ridiculously busy. Especially at the checkout line, if you're a cashier. But it's always better than smelling like stale oil, y'know? Also, naturally, Sears and The Bay is a lot nicer to work in than Wal-Mart.

To close it off, my husband used to work at Staples. He also worked in a variety of other places, such as a paper mill, a factory at an irrigation company, shovelling snow at an army base, Red Lobster, Mc Donalds, etc. Except for maybe the snow removal, which paid literally hundreds, XD he says Staples was the best place to work. :3 I guess it had the best balance between pay and nice people. It was busy during back to school and etc. but his managers were nice and he was eligible for a raise from time to time.

At this point, I am tired of working for my cranky Korean boss and I want to apply to cute clothing stores so my employee discount won't make me fat but rather cute. And I heard that best Best Buy and Loblaw (semi-fancy grocery store) gives benefits to part timers which is like totally awesome.

Sorry for writing a complete essay, but I couldn't leave all my complaints out. Catharsis and all that.

Shine
cutewithoutthe Góðberit Norðling Since: Nov, 2010 Relationship Status: Star-crossed
Góðberit Norðling
#22: Jan 14th 2011 at 8:33:12 PM

[up]No, that Wall of Text was informative, thankyous!!

Instead of Arbys, I might just see if Walmart is hiring....

TuefelHundenIV Night Clerk of the Apocalypse from Doomsday Facility Corner Store. Since: Aug, 2009 Relationship Status: I'd need a PowerPoint presentation
Night Clerk of the Apocalypse
#23: Jan 14th 2011 at 8:38:29 PM

Food service sucks but it is easy to get and makes you some early cash until you have skills and experiences to get better paying jobs. It took me five years starting with a temp job at toys r us to get a decent paying job.

Stick with it at least a year or two if possible. Employers like employee's who stick around for at least a couple years.

The work can be down right arduous and boring but it can be handy in some shape or form.

Pro-tip. Never ever sabotage food. If you do and get caught you can get into some serious trouble. Sabotage a police officers food or public servants food even more trouble yet.

Even if they are being total shit heads always be polite. Managers are more inclined to believe your side of a blow up if you demonstrate consistency in manners even when under pressure.

Who watches the watchmen?
cutewithoutthe Góðberit Norðling Since: Nov, 2010 Relationship Status: Star-crossed
Góðberit Norðling
#24: Jan 14th 2011 at 8:41:11 PM

Haha don't worry I'm not apart of a Fight Club, so I won't be doing that.

BlueNinja0 The Mod with the Migraine from Taking a left at Albuquerque Since: Dec, 2010 Relationship Status: Showing feelings of an almost human nature
The Mod with the Migraine
#25: Jan 15th 2011 at 12:20:25 AM

You can shelve books and get paid? Does every library have this?
I don't know where you live, because it depends on the size of the library. I worked for a county-wide district with a county population of over two million - there were at least twenty library branches, and I was one of five people at my branch. We got 3-6 hour shifts, always the very end of the day (which meant working until 10pm on school nights sometimes), and no more than 20 hours a week (because going over meant we wouldn't be "part-time" workers). But I loved every minute of it.

And thanks for making me feel young
Thanks for making me feel like an old man. tongue

That’s the epitome of privilege right there, not considering armed nazis a threat to your life. - Silasw
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