Team Member Review, first impressions
Pros
I will start off by saying that your experience at this job will very widely depending on several things. Namely, your previous experience working on your feet for several hours, the manager you've been given, and the members of the team itself. If one or all of these are bad, you will have a bad experience, so I recommend scoping out your local JnB before applying, make sure you're not going to get roped into something you'll regret. I personally feel like I got lucky. The manager at my JnB is a very understanding older woman, the team members are all nice and manage to balance chatter with actually working, and I've been able to adapt to standing, despite this being my first job. This is certainly a 'first job.' It's easy, the pay is low, and they have a low bar for entry. That being said, you're expected to pull your weight around the workplace and slacking off can get you in trouble. If you have any issue with working with grease you'll want to avoid this job, they put all new workers on the Fryer as its the most demanding job and one that's the most important to learn. You are able to learn new positions once you've got the hang of it, though. In terms of benefits and the general mood of the place, I'd say both are fair. They will offer you insurance, and it isn't bad if you have none, but you should avoid it if you already have your own insurance. The work there gets hectic but never grim, you'll only feel as bad as you want to feel. Work life balance is a plus as well, they give their employees two days off with the potential for extra hours and overtime, these two days can either be consecutive or split, depending on the manager. Although I can see the balance suffering if you're in a real need for money, because unless you ask specifically, they're not likely to give you the full 40 hours a week.
Cons
Onto the bad - For all the talk about moving up in the workplace, don't expect extremely fast promotions. Raises are possible, but hard promotions only really come up if someone leaves. The middle management expects you to always be busy, even when there's nothing going on and you've gotten your station cleaned. This also varies depending on your managers, but if you work during the day expect to need to keep busy. Depending on your managers, they may also constantly verbally prod you to hurry up even if you're working fast already, which can grate on the nerves. Breaks are not scheduled, if not having a set break time sounds bad to you, avoid this job. You are expected to ask for a break if you need one during the times when the place isn't busy. The customers can be the best or worst part of this experience, I list them as a con because they can bring no end of grief to someone not used to the hectic flow of fast food, and assuming this is your first job, you won't be used to it. You will also come to hate certain types of customers if you work at a station that handles the food itself. There will be customers who order anywhere from 12 to 50 tacos at once, or any ridiculous number of different food items. And you're still expected to get them out within five minutes. One other thing - When you start off you'll likely become a Fryer first, or get put on the Grill if not. You'll probably suffer from burns every so often, nothing major, but you'll need to get used to being in a heated environment with only latex gloves as your protection from burns.
