Kamala’s secret sauce: Working in fast food sets you up for success

McPresident Kamala Harris? While I’m personally lovin’ the sound of that – despite Harris holding a part-time position at McDonald’s during college – I’m sure she’d prefer the title without the prefix.

If Harris gets the votes this November, she will become the first US president who has worked behind the McDonald’s counter, but she is far from the only successful person to do so. Pink, Pharrell Williams, Shania Twain and Jay Leno have also worn a fast-food uniform before making it big.

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is another, often publicly reflecting on his first job flipping burgers. “You learn a lot as a teenager working at McDonald’s. It’s different from what you learn in school. Don’t underestimate the value of that,” he said in an interview with Wired.

This value, which I like to call the “secret sauce” of working in fast food, has served me well too.

Harris could become the first US president who has worked at McDonald’s.Credit: Bloomberg via Getty Images

As someone who donned my red, Colonel Sanders embroidered polo shirt, black slacks and matching cap to work behind the register of my local KFC for over five years through high school and into university, there’s no doubt that the skills I learnt, many mistakes I made and encounters I had – like those with “extra salt Sally”, a slightly aggressive regular who always demanded blood pressure rising levels of salt – set me up for my future working life.

As the fast food industry’s name suggests, it’s fast-paced and can be intense, especially for teenagers and younger people who, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, make up a significant portion of fast-food employees.

Yes, this can be challenging – impatient customers lining up all the way to the door is never a walk in the park – but it is also formative and greatly beneficial. I may not have Harris’ level of professional responsibility, but like her, I do (usually) remain calm under pressure. If you’re looking for someone who can salt chips while listening to a grown adult melt down over how long they’ve waited for a piece of chicken, you know, just the multitasker to call.

In addition to the fast-food industry’s inherent nature, HR and people strategist Sophie Firmanger says that many foundational skills, like teamwork and time management, lay the groundwork for success in virtually any career.

“Time management is a universal skill, essential for balancing responsibilities in your professional life and teamwork is the backbone of any successful organisation, and problem-solving is critical in leadership roles,” says Firmanger.

Skills like problem-solving and resilience can also be used outside of work, says clinical psychologist and author Dr Rebecca Ray.

“The ability to think on your feet and make quick decisions becomes a real asset when tackling everyday challenges, whether at home or in your personal life and facing demanding customers or hectic shifts builds emotional resilience, which helps in managing stress in other parts of life.”

And that is something I can vouch for. Many of the lessons I learnt working in fast food have proven surprisingly beneficial.

Every job has its shortcomings

No matter how good it sounds, the reality is, whether you’re president, pop star or a parent, there will be downsides to your job.

In my gig, this often involved cleaning the male toilet. This, along with the regular burns inflicted at the corn cob station, taught me very early on in my working life that there will always be tasks that you won’t enjoy doing and, in some cases, may literally scar you for life.

It also taught me that, unfortunately, you must still do them. (Or, in the case of cleaning the toilet, teach your kids how to do it.)

Working in the fast-food industry leaves you with an unexpected set of skills.Credit: iStock

People can be very difficult

The first rule of any customer service job is that the customer is always right. However, as anyone who has ever worked in customer service knows, this isn’t always the case. One former customer was adamant that our cook altered the Colonel’s Secret Herbs and Spices recipe just to annoy her after she complained about a batch of the chicken the week before.

Learning how to manage difficult people professionally and navigating conflict is one of the greatest skills that that job has ever taught me. Because no matter where you work, you will have to deal with tricky, sometimes unpleasant situations (and people) and need to resolve them without completely losing it.

You will work with all sorts of people

While I predominantly worked alongside other students, the team also included members from various age brackets and different cultural, religious, and socioeconomic backgrounds.

Away from the neon bucket of the restaurant, this group never would have mixed. Starting my career, understanding that teamwork is only possible if you embrace the differences of everyone in the team has made me a much more understanding person to work with.

Unexpected skills can become useful

And then there are the skills you never imagined you would use again after you’ve hung up your branded visor.

As I was learning the “first in, first out” system of food storage or how to make a Twister wrap that won’t fall apart, I assumed these skills would be useless outside the fast-food industry.

But fast-forward 20 years, and as I pack school lunches and pack my groceries away (old vegies at the top, new underneath) I realise these skills couldn’t be more valuable. You never know what skill you’re going to need when, only that you come away from these jobs knowing a lot more than when you started.

While it appears Harris has taken many similar learnings with her throughout her career – from McDonald’s to politics – I wonder whether the same could be said of Donald Trump.

As Harris’s running mate, Tim Walz, said: “Can you simply picture Donald Trump working at a McDonald’s, trying to make a McFlurry or something? He couldn’t run that damn McFlurry machine if it cost him anything.”

Now that’s fast food for thought.

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