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Five Reasons Fast Food is Still a Good First Job



As a new dad, I am constantly thinking about how I can help mold my daughter into be a strong, capable woman someday. It probably won't surprise you, but I'm not fully sold on the education system doing that. I loop college in with that category. There is still a place for education, but when I think about what helped shape me, formal education played a relatively small role in that.

 What helped mold me the most was just getting out there and working. I've worked in a number of different positions now. I've been a sales associate at Bath & Body Works (true story), a traveling intern for Christ in Youth - Know Sweat, a help desk specialist for Lincoln Christian University, and more.

 But my first job (if you don't count my manual labor work for my dad's HVAC business) was working at a Steak 'n Shake. I worked there for about a year in high school, primarily manning the drive thru, but I did have my hand in everything at one point or another. I worked the prep station, made those infamous shakes, swept floors, and even flipped patties once.

 I wasn't a fan of the job, but I honestly didn't hate it either. It helped teach me some fundamental things about work, and most of the people I worked with were pretty friendly. Given that most places (like offices) won't allow employees under 18 or even 21, I still think fast food is a good first job. Here are five reasons why.

1. The stakes are low. Fast food restaurants are good training grounds for people entering the workforce because making a mistake is not a big deal. If you immediately start in an office setting and make a mistake, that mistake could potentially have huge ramifications. If you accidentally burn a patty or mess up somebody's order, the most likely negative consequence is a scolding from your manager. That's really not all that bad in the grand scheme of things.

 2. You regularly work directly with end users. The end users, of course, being the customers. We all have to work with end users in any industry, and we all know this can be a sub-optimal experience at times. You're inevitably going to run into difficult people, and this definitely happens in the fast food world. The good news, thinking back to the first point, is that the stakes are low. Worst case scenario: a customer storms out or drives off angrily after yelling at you. At least you can develop skills to handle these people that you will carry with you the rest of your life.

 3. You work with a diverse group of people. Fast food definitely attracts some characters. Because of the low barrier of entry, you will definitely encounter all kinds of people in the fast food industry. Some people are super nice and some people are... well... they're not super nice. I worked with other high schoolers like myself, folks who had been there for years and years, and even a couple reformed convicts. That last group admittedly scared the crap out of me initially, but I found some of them to be extremely nice and helpful. I am grateful for having had those interactions.

 4. You can learn from the best and from the worst of your coworkers. Let's be honest: fast food doesn't necessarily attract the best people. I worked with some pretty lazy people, and I found that I could learn what NOT to do from these folks. On the other hand, there do exist some great workers in the fast food industry. At Steak 'n Shake, I worked with a gentleman who had special needs that worked well in this repetitive environment. He was constantly busy doing something. If he wasn't serving folks, he was sweeping floors or wrapping utensils in napkins. His work ethic was definitely admirable.

 5. You learn to appreciate other jobs. Fast food might be a good first job, but I definitely would never want to go back to that environment. Of course, there's the low pay, but there are other factors beyond that. Having that greasy feeling after ending every shift, having little to no influence in decision-making, and having to wear that paper hat that never fit my giant cabeza! It made me work hard at all my subsequent jobs knowing that I always wanted to be in a better spot.
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