McDonald's Is Hiring

 Recently, McDonald's had a nation-wide hiring campaign with which it garnered much publicity. The day of the hiring I witnessed three people being interviewed. The manager used a table next to us to do the interviewing. Our table continued our usual, very important, conversations in which we solve the world problems. The interview table was directly in my line of sight and I got a good look at the candidates. I could not hear what was said but I recognised the manager's body language as doing her duty in interviewing all candidates that show up. She was very patient and her dedication to the interviewing was commendable.

The first candidate was a young, overweight, black girl who had dressed for the interview. She appeared nervous, and kept wringing her hands. I could not tell what the manager thought. The second candidate was a white, overweight, unkept, snarly haired girl. She smiled with enthusiam at all through her interview. The third candidate was a skinny, black man with an unusual haircut. He never looked at the manager, always looked down at the table. To me, his clothes were dirty but they were neat.

The next time I was in McDonald's I asked the manager how many people she had hired from the interviewing day.....her answer: None. That was all she would say and went back to work. I don't know if there was an opening, or if it was all a publicity trick.

I told the others at the table that getting a job at McDonald's would be easy and I could get a person a job if they would follow my instructions. There was more than somewhat sceptisism. To present my case, I told them I had a surefire method to getting a job at McDonald's even if there were no openings. There were a few gafaws at this statement. I said I was serious and offered to tell how it could be done - they wanted to know. So I told them. Every work crew has somebody that is a problem to the manager. Either they come in late, will not work the hours the manager wants, will not come in on Saturdays or Sundays, do the work grudgingly, work slow, have sanitary problems, do only a part of the whole job, require an inordinate amount of time away from work, require excess supervision, etc. etc. Knowing this give an in to help a manager succeed in the job. All managers want to succeed and need workers that truly want a job. Every manager has a few favorites and they are the ones that help the manager succeed.

Knowing all the above is key to getting a job. It is necessary to let a manager know you are the kind of person that they want on their crew. How to do that?  I can get a job for someone that truly wants to work. But, the candidate must be motivated to get the job. Here is how it is done: Target a manager for whom you want to work. Show up every day on that manages shift. Walk outside to see if there is anything that needs to be picked up, if so make the outside clean. Keep track of everything that is done and write it down on a 3 x 5 card, i.e. 1) picked up three cups 2) picked up five napkins 3) picked up spilled french fries 4) picked up two empty bags. Put your name on the back of the card. Print on the back of the card: I am looking for a job. Return every day and do the same. Fill out the card even even if the lot is clean. Say on the card: Lot found clean today, nothing to be done. Turn in that card also. Before the manager has ten cards the person will be hired.

A tip of the hat to Mark twain.