In-N-Out outranks Apple on best places to work list

SURELY taking orders and flipping burgers at a fast food joint is worse than working at Apple, right? Apparently not.

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YOU wouldn’t think that flipping burgers could be desirable after turning 18. On the other hand, working at one of the world’s most innovative companies, complete with typical Silicon Valley perks, is what everyone wants, right?

No necessarily.

A report from US jobs site Glassdoor ranked the top 50 American best companies to work at. Google came first. Boston Consulting Company was second.

But what took everyone by surprise is entry number eight — In-N-Out burger. In-N-Out, founded in California, is famous for its delicious burgers (arguably, Shake Shack on the US east coast is better), but working for a fast food restaurant is hardly the dream.

According to The Huffington Post, In-N-Out stands out from its fast food compatriots in an industry dogged by poor pay and poor treatment of its employees. HuffPo wrote that the starting wage at In-N-Out is $US10.50 per hour while the national median for fast food workers is $US8.94.

Apple is notorious for its demanding work culture.

One review on Glassdoor said the company offered great pay rates, fantastic hours and a comfortable atmosphere.

In-N-Out comfortably beat out Apple (28th on the list), which is notorious for having a demanding working environment with a difficult work/life balance and a culture of secrecy.

A Quora forum gave some insight into life at Apple:

Justin Maxwell: “Apple’s security policy extends to blogs, to speaking engagements, to what we talk about with our spouses.”

Anonymous: “Generally speaking it is a pressure cooker and all communication is one directional. Paranoid management, disrespect, constant tension and long hours sum up most of the real culture in operations. Work longer and harder, don’t complain or try to fix any of the myriad broken systems or processes, and don’t forget that there are 10 people lined up outside to take your spot.”

But of course the money that comes with working at Apple, as well as the cache it lends to your professional experience, may just trump the line on your resume that says you worked at a burger joint.

Originally published as In-N-Out outranks Apple on best places to work list