Lessons I Learned from Jobs Before My Education Career - Working at McDonalds

Lessons I Learned from Jobs Before My Education Career - Working at McDonalds. This is episode 813 of Teaching Learning Leading K12, an audio podcast. Did you have a job or two before you entered your career field? Maybe you started in high school and then college before finally entering the path that you were ultimately focused on achieving. Just to be clear, when I say a job, I do mean working for someone other than your father or parent or guardian. Actually, having a boss and getting an official paycheck - you know one where taxes are removed from your gross pay? My second job that fits this description was at a McDonald's. I started out on the front counter, and I was not fast enough for the cash register, so I was moved to the grills. I was very thankful for that move. I cooked hamburgers, fries, chicken McNuggets, breakfast sandwiches and prepared other stuff. What I discovered that I was very good at was being focused on closing the lines down, cleaning the cooking surfaces, and the equipment. I was put on a team of others who were very good at closing. This one assistant manager loved having us as his closing team because we saved him from having to use too many overtime hours. Working at McDonalds I had many lessons that have stayed with me forever. On this episode I share some of what I learned. A recurring theme from the grocery store that appears at McDonalds is that "you always have something to do." Join me as I reflect on being a team member, owning the job, being flexible, and what you could do when you had down time. So, did you have a first job that created lessons that impact you and your job today? What were those lifelong lessons? It would be great if you shared those lessons with me. If you go to my website there is a box that lets you contact me. There also is a place that you could leave me a voice message. Thanks for listening. Please share. It would be awesome to hear from you. Next episode: Working at a plumbing supply warehouse. I get to drive trucks! - Cool! All the best! Steve Images - McDonald's Sign and McDonald's Hamburger and Fries Length - 24:26

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Lessons I Learned from Jobs Before My Education Career - Working at McDonalds is an episode from Teaching Learning Leading K-12 by Steven Miletto.

This episode is 24:26 long.

This episode was published on Jan 30, 2026.

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