Company: McDonald-s
Date: 2015-05-26
Overall rating: 3/5
Employment status: former
Experience level: Junior

Challenging
Pros: McDonald's was my very first job, and I have to say I'm glad it was despite everything else. I worked there for nearly 3 years, and I learned a lot of valuable and versatile skills--cash handling, communication, etc. If you survive long enough to be "good" at the job then you will have emerged as a pretty well-rounded employee.
Cons: -Hours aren't really that flexible. I started working at McDonalds when I was sixteen years old, and  even though they promised that they would work around my schooling and extra curricular activities, they did mediocre at best. Whenever I tried to  change my hours, they were very difficult about it. A lot of times, I had to miss volleyball games and practices because my managers wouldn't change my hours even after I constantly spoke with them. Also, whenever I requested days off, that was a struggle as well. You could only request one day off a month, but that was very difficult considering that I was a very busy student and had a lot of activities. However, I did work for a franchise and not corporate McDonalds. So that might make a difference.
-Poor management. I'm sure this can be true of any company, but when I was working at McDonalds, I experienced a lot of problems with the management. Depending on whether or not they liked you, most of them acted very unprofessional. Some wouldn't allow you to go on break when you were supposed to; sometimes, I would be assigned to a whole day of taking out the trash and lobby cleaning, even though I was one of the best drive thru workers (simply because a particular management worker didn't like me). Point is, since McDonalds basically hires everyone, you're going to interact with a lot of different personalities--not all of them good. 
-Pressure- Forget all the assumptions you had about working at McDonalds. Working there is NOT--I repeat, NOT!--for the faint-hearted. If you cannot work under pressure, then you don't belong there. If you can't think and work quickly, you don't belong there. If you can handle coworker and customer's harsh words, then you don't belong there. Seriously, McDonalds is tough work. You have to work fast and under pressure--and as a team. A lot of times I would be paired with lazy workers and the pressure would almost be unbearable because there is a lot of stuff that you have to do at once. Take my word for it, working at McDonalds is no joke--regardless of what everyone thinks.
Short-handed staff- I worked a lot of evening shifts during my time at McDonalds. And most of the time, around 8 o clock, we would be down to 3-5 workers at max. I recommend that if you don't want to have this kind of pressure or responsibility, work mornings from 7-3. Honestly, those times were the best because even though it was busy, there was a lot of help.
Minimum opportunities for advancement and raises--Working at McDonalds, I was supposed to be considered for a raise every six months. Well, in my 3 years of working there, I only got two small raises. And trust me when I say this, I was jipped--all my coworkers were scammed of what they deserved. There was this one girl I worked with, and she was literally the best worker. She got everything done, fast and orderly. And they didn't give her a raise at all and said that she didn't deserve it. Management doesn't care. Trust me.