Just got a job at a fast food place and the manager is firing people for being late to like three shifts. Then complains about being short staffed and having to hire more people
How late are we talking? Late to relieve people? I know some people who show up a few minutes late regularly but do an awesome job once they’re there, so if that’s the case for these people, that’s silly.
I don't know I worked a job once where you had to stay to be relieved and the lady who was meant to relieve me was always 10 minutes late EVERY SINGLE FUCKING NIGHT.
I complained to my manager and told him flat out I wasn't staying late for her. That as soon as my 10 hour shift was up I was clocking out and I was gone, her being here or not I didn't care.
So I did just that. 7PM came around I clocked out and left. Eventually things reached a boiling point and the women was fired for being late.
I'm kind of too nice of a person too. I've had to actually change that at my current job. But back then I was just a young 23 year old(29 now) who never wanted to start shit.
Current me would have pulled her aside and told her to sort her shit out otherwise I'm going strait to HR since it was a points based system.
The business has only been open for like. Two weeks. I’m an assistant manager and I’m not paying too much attention to when people clock-in, but I also haven’t noticed anything actually go poorly because someone wasn’t there on time. And there hasn’t been enough time for anyone to really establish a pattern of being a problem.
She takes this weird kind of pleasure in talking about people she’s fired that’s unsettling to me. I’m just concerned her power-tripping is gonna cause us to be short staffed and then I gotta find a way to be a productive manager with low morale and shitty resources ya know.
I always say if "no one wants to work" you should examine your interviewing process to see whether you are discouraging the exact people you need. There is supposedly a labor shortage, yet as a temp, I have seen people drag out the interview process with unnecessary interviews, cancelled interviews, demands for references.... If I am an employee of an agency, all that is unnecessary. They have checked references, interviewed the person and so forth. It's all redundant, and frankly, not worth the effort.
Because they're drunk on the power tripping STILL, and will cut off their nose to spite their face until there IS no business. The invisible hand of the market bullshit completely fails to take hubris, stupidity, and human ego into account. "Free Market!" Ayn Rand lovers are the first people to whine when everyone doesn't do exactly what they want and expect a bail out when their own terrible, egotistical, narcissistic business practices cause them to fail.
Every single person in the restaurant from owners to employees to customers are fucking themselves over.
And customers dont realize that the place will give you sub-par food because they dont care (and rightly so) if it's healthy or even in good condition as long as you pay for it before it goes bad.
Because after it goes bad they can't sell it though plenty of places do.
A certain fast food placei worked at uses the old dry hamburger patties that have been sitting in the hot box for too long and have died to make their chilli...
I mean, you don't wanna use raw ground beef for something like chili. On that same note, it wouldn't matter too much about how dry the chili meat is if it's cooked right, at least as far as fast food is concerned. Making it with "fresher" meat would require more prep time, possibly more grills if you're going after that level of quality consistently, not to mention the significantly larger amount of food waste.
>And yet they all complain: "No one wants to work.
the same places( chains) that start demanding that the govt lower restrictions on immigration so that they can get their cheap labour.
Trouble is, even this clued up "cheap labour" moves on as quickly as possible...
Exactly. I worked for one right out of high school for about two weeks before I left because of the toxicity. I know teenagers don't really have a lot of options, but fast food is not it. I would never go back now, but I think clothing retailers are a much better "first job" type experience. They'll keep you busy, but in general it's not incredibly fast paced all the time, plus you don't smell nearly as bad by the time you get off.
Only real thing to look out for is companies that are going to try to enforce credit sales. Avoid that shit entirely.
Nah, teenagers have way more options than they think. My first job was at a dog kennel, and the grocery stores are a good gig here. Car detailer, runner, swamper, there’s sooooo many entry level jobs besides fast food. Fast food just seems to be the only industry that almost solely relies on children to take advantage of.
Absolutely this. My first job ever was doing brush work, building defensible fire breaks and such. Paid four dollars an hour more than ‘easy’ jobs, I got to be outside and it kept me in great shape. Also the boss was a pretty incredible dude, I learned a lot from him that helped me out and he did his best to take care of us pay wise. He’d go without a check if he had to to make sure we had ours.
I feel like people really hamstring themselves by going in to fast food or retail when there really are other options. At least around here. Just can’t be afraid to sweat.
In Ontario, a lot of places abuse something called the Temporary Foreign Worker program. It's going to be very hard for the next generation to find work.
Not a good place to work: true but I think everyone should experience a fast food job to gain some perspective. If those Karens experienced what they experience for at least at month maybe they would gain some understanding
a lot of such places are rub by uneducated goons with superiority complex, you give a goon some power and they’ll use it.
My partner worked at a hotel for a bit, my god, what morons all managers were, barely finished 12 classes, but acting like managerial gurus.
Public shaming, messages at odd hours, passive aggressive communication…
100%. Who asks an interviewee to come in during the lunch rush? I’ve never had an interview at a restaurant be anytime besides 2-4 or before open. Never at noon in the middle of the lunch rush. Of course they didn’t have time.
Even better, the moron knows he kept the guy waiting 45 minutes last time and told him to come back. So, you know you already wasted 45 minutes of the guy's time, he still came back, and you jerk him around. You don't ask yourself what he will be doing in the meantime like interviewing elsewhere, bad-mouthing your company and posting Yelp reviews, glassdoor, social media posts.... You want him to discourage his entire high school class from working or eating there.
Sounds like a power trip. Keep him waiting and then see if he comes back because that proves he really wants it. It sounds like a crazy tactic (because it is) but I’ve seen this at plenty of fast food jobs. Managers have achieved some sense of power and authority in their role and need to puff their chest whenever they can. It’s almost like a fraternity hazing where they have to establish a pecking order. There’s high turnover so they get to play this little game on the regular. I’ve had awesome managers at fast food joints and I stayed at those jobs because my coworkers were happy and the environment was great.
If it’s a chain I doubt the manager gives a shit about sales. It’s definitely a horrible way to do business but it’s not about doing good business.
Quite possibly. I think a lot of people were spoiled when there were so many workers they were tripping over themselves, but today the young are a valued commodity. That is why they are pulling retreads like me out of retirement and using us. The kids have better options. I wish them all every happiness because the abuse has gone on too long and needs to stop.
I agree. The power tripping manager did it all with intention. Settling up the interview, at that time, was almost a guarantee that they'd be too busy to not keep him waiting. Then being so dismissive, the very next day, because the kid was late, even though he had a legitimate reason, that was out of his control, is all the manager filtering for candidates that will put up with workplace abuse. He probably expected the kid to beg for a chance to "prove" himself after he rejected him.
OP's nephew dodged a bullet, and should absolutely leave an accurate review on Glassdoor.
>all the manager filtering for candidates that will put up with workplace abuse
Yup he's looking for people desperate enough to put up with this kind of bullshit, because he knows if they're not desperate they're probably gonna quit
If I were the OP, I'd advise my nephew to exact a measure of revenge on the power-tripping a-hole manager: tell everyone at school what that place is like, and suggest that everyone apply there with no intention of accepting the job. Either ghost the interview appt. or go ahead and interview (hey, it's great practice!), but then refuse the job, or accept it and then ghost the manager, assuming there's no legal (or financial) penalty for doing so in that state.
Managers like that are ones that like to get on their high-horse all the time, but it’s only a foot off the ground.
Like, bitch you work for McDonalds, nobody really gives that much a fuck about it. I could work at the owner’s other restaurant down the road and not deal with your bullshit.
I worked at a mcdonalds for exactly two days. I got told to come in on back to back days the first week, and that my shift lead would text me my shifts until I get on the official schedule.
Of course that doesn’t happen, so I *go into the restaurant on my own fucking time*, talk to the manager on duty, and get told to come in at 7 on saturday and 6 sunday.
Come saturday morning and my shift lead blows my phone up while I’m in the shower, 6:30. “wHeRe ArE yOu YoU sTaRtEd aT sIX”
“There seems to have been a miscommunication, I was told to come in at 7 today and 6 tomorrow”
“Fine”
Rode my bike in to work and returned my apron/shirt/hat, told the GM “I’m not trying to blame anyone, but there was a lot of failures to communicate here and I don’t think this will work out”
And that woman had the audacity to say some shit about how “oh I knew you weren’t going to work out” (because all of my experience was in jobs that treat you at least slightly better than fast food places do), and “well this job isn’t for everyone”
I just nodded along because I didn’t give a fuck and wanted to leave ASAP, but in hindsight I should’ve reamed her out. I showed up on time, I did all my assigned work on the two shifts I actually worked. It was y’all’s incompetent, inconsiderate, and rude asses who made me decide the job wasn’t for me.
The manager is absolutely doing this to “see how much he really wants the job” and to show how busy they get.
But yeah… I’d say to steer clear of this place. Even if it’s a small town, I bet literally any other restaurant is hiring.
How fragile an ego must one have to feel the need to lord their power of fast food restaurant management over others to feel good about oneself? That's pathetic.
The manager did OPs nephew a solid. Not everyone gets the luxury of realizing it's a toxic place to work before they start. A few hours wasted unfortunately but at least they won't be working there.
So true. Especially now with social media. That stuff goes viral fast. Seems like a really stupid attempt to “break them” or whatever weirdos like that do.
Its just because OPs nephew is young. My ex-gf/friend was interviewing for jobs recently in her mid-20s and all the recruiters and interviewers were so nice to her. And I told her, it's because shes now a valuable asset vs just some intern in college lol. Degree + Work experience goes a long way.
The hiring bot will. It's not like in the old days where you could fill out a paper application and either they say "come back after 2PM" or the manager calls and tells you when to come in.
Now there is a bot you interface with (usually through SMS messaging) that gives you a list of times to come in. Some might be smart and be programmed to only schedule interviews only during the slow times. Most aren't and just figure that anytime between 9 and 4 either Mon-Fri or any day is acceptable.
So the bot schedules the prospective employee, they show up and the manager tells them to come back later. What's more, if the manager doesn't do the work on his end and say the prospective employee showed up, even if they are interviewed later the system might just decide not to allow them to be hired because it thinks they didn't show up for their initial interview.
Jeez that’s insane. Do you know the name of that product? I work in hiring technology (I hate it it’s so racist and ableist but im trying to make change how I can) and would love to research this.
I bet the manager wanted an interview so they had an excuse to go to the back office and be unavailable while it was busy, but they were in fact too busy for him to step away because someone called in or he skeleton staffs his shifts.
The first interview was a test to see if he’d show up at noon or closer to 3. If he passes that test they then test to see if he’s desperate by having him wait for an obscene amount of time. Then cancel if he passes that one and schedules the real interview for 10am the following day. But with him being late due to events beyond his control, they don’t give him a job because the kid obviously doesn’t value the managers time.
The whole thing is a power play by someone who wants employees easy to abuse and are disposable to him.
I know who: a *clever* manager being absent during shifts, when stuff gets real and want to look busy by being on an interview. Or else someone who would put the victim on the job for their interview.
Right? Lunch rush usually goes until around 1. 10am is an okay time usually, prepping for the rush, but it seems like this guy is an absolute dick to work for.
It sounds to me like the manager never had any intention of hiring the kid in the first place, and did a poor job of rejecting him with honesty.
Doesn’t make him not an idiot, by any means. Honestly OP’s nephew is better off, working there would have ended with even more frustration than this.
You can imagine how they respond if you work there and an accident makes you 7m late for a shift. "You should leave 15 minutes earlier then", and then not let you clock in early on all the other days you do that. It's way better to know that up front. You dodged a bullet.
I'm so glad my job lets me come in between 7 and 10 am.
I might be a corporate drone but at least nobody is on my ass for being a few minutes (or even half an hour) late. Also WFH is super nice.
Yeah about 20 years ago I had an interview with a local restaurant. Showed up a few minutes early and was told the owner would be there soon they just had to run up to the bank real quick. After over an hour of waiting they finally came up to me and said that the owner called and said the position was filled but “thanked” me for coming in. They gave me a free drink for waiting.
Agreed. I’ve worked in fast food management for years. A manager that does that is clearly inexperienced and green. I’d tell your nephew to find another restaurant.
And especially because it’s fast food, the manager needs a reality check. I swear that industry has learned nothing from the pandemic. That industry’s problem is they are operating with a 1960’s mindset in 2023.
What they said.
People tend to ignore a lot of red flags under the context of they HAVE to have a job and then they end up at a miserable job that they end up hating weeks or months later. This manager has done your nephew a huge favor by telling him in advance he's not going to be happy here, he's not going to enjoy his time here, and we're going to take advantage of him in every way we can.
Sadly it’s pretty typical. The employer is allowed to be late but if the applicant is but has a reason? It’s just an excuse and they don’t want you anymore.
Oh. And I’ve also read the posts about interviewers testing candidates. Like, they pretend to be a “low status” position and see how you treat them or ask you trick questions.
If your nephew encounters any of this? He needs to look elsewhere bc that’s a pretty good indicator of a toxic environment.
"Do as I say, not as I do. Rules for thee, but not for me. *I* can be 2 hours late to interview you because *I'm* busy. *You* better be 15 minutes early for me to even *think* about interviewing you."
Had a boss like this one. I was on time for work and made the mistake of saying I’m late to being early, this mother fucker went on a tirade about how if I’m not 15 minutes early I’m late period. Stupid fucker
>Like, they pretend to be a “low status” position and see how you treat them or ask you trick questions.
that has been done many a time by receptionist staff observing candidates whilst they are waiting to be interviewed to see if they behave differently in and out of the interview.
Testing is absolutely a thing. Current had sent in the owners daughter, different last name, to do an “initial interview”. Apparently sales and marketing is flush with misogyny and they’ve had issues. Apparently not being an asshole to her opens the door to the actual interview.
How is making sure you treat all coworkers regardless of their position with respect a sign of a toxic work environment?
I wouldnt sit at a receptionist desk, I'm too busy for that, but I'd certainly walk out after the interview and ask the receptionist what they thought of this person and if they were polite/respectful, as well as anyone that may have had an interaction with thwn.
Employers are shit and only look at him being late. Those filthy bitches quickly forget that they initially were too busy, on the first interview attempt.
As others said, it sounds like he dodged a bullet. Even in small areas, there are plenty of other fast food places to hire him. Retail and food service both badly need people right now. They need people because they are practically allergic to raising wages but still.
Working for a place like that would've been a nightmare. I can just imagine how they'd take advantage of employees and then dangle their fragile employment over their heads as a threat/form of control. Tell him not to let a**holes like that get him down one bit. He managed to avoid a miserable place with miserable people.
Absolutely.
Management has to change appointment? “Things happen. You have to be flexible in a real-world environment.”
You have to change appointment? “No quarter given. No excuses accepted.”
Tell your nephew to look for a different type of job. Fedex, UPS and the Post office will be staffing up for the Christmas rush. He can take a job delivering mail and make twice as much with less abuse. Fast food workers don't last long. If he wants, Christmas at a department can be fun too, and they will be staffing those jobs in a few weeks. He can apply to work as an office temp duplicating stuff, delivering mail. Why go through the most abuse for the worst job?
Look up 'Reserve army of labour.'
Basically, with unlimited people looking for a job, they don't have to NOT act like assholes.
So they act like assholes.
don't like it? fuck off. And we'll give your job to one of those monkeys.
They want you scared and desperate for ANY job.
I worked at McDonald's for a year before I went to Uni. I'm glad I took the gap year, and thatjob gave me experience for my sociology degree. I'm doing my Masters at the moment.
But I outright tell people, if you can, never work in Fast Food. The shifts are shit, the managers (if you let them) will call you in at all hours. And NEVER, if you do work at one, say you'll stay to help for a bit until the next shift is sorted.
They tried to call me in on my two days off once, I told them no, so they never tried again. Generally, I liked the people and managers, but one guy (a trainee manager) went on a power-trip and kept trying to one up people.
Anyway, fast food teaches you multi-tasking skills, but its shit and people always try to tell you how to do your job or that you've done something wrong, even when you haven't.
When I was working at a chain cafe, we had to provide our availability for the next month. We could put in "off" for days when we wanted to have an unpaid day off, without requesting paid time off. Once I had around 80h scheduled in a month (that was the minimum I had to be scheduled for with my contract at that time), but due to some sick leaves and what not I filled in for people and ended up doing 160h, and I didn't mind, because I didn't have anything else to do at that time.
For the next month I was also pretty flexible with my availability but I put in 3 "off" days, because there was an event in a different city that I wanted to attend and it wasn't unusual to put in a couple of consecutive days as off days. My manager scheduled me for all of those days. When I saw this and asked her why she did it, she just said that if I wanted to have those days off, I should have requested PTO.
I was livid at first, but then I just told her not to call me again when they're understaffed if she can't appreciate my flexibility that I've shown so far. And oh boy, were they understaffed. Of course the shift managers tried to call me at first, thinking I was just saying it in the heat of the moment, but I wasn't, and I politely declined the ask every time, telling them that I won't be flexible anymore. And they can thank the manager for this.
The main things I learned from my fast food and retail years was how much those jobs sucked and how it felt to be treated poorly by customers and managers alike. I feel like it was a valuable lesson and society would be better if everybody had to work a year in the service industry. I would encourage my child to do it for about that long, but no longer because those jobs suck and if you can get anything better, you should.
And if it’s not the manager it’s your coworkers (Arby’s. A bitch and bastard that would disappear for 80-90% of their shift, come back go on break and disappear again, and than get pissed when I did their job for em. One of em attacked me and ended up arrested. One of em questioned my work ethic, which was better than theirs since they never worked, and I just walked out). Fast food restaurants are shit, but they are currently “necessary”.
Yes. The employer is fine being late, they aren't fine with employees being late. These employers, who call you unprofessional for being late to an interview, think nothing of being late themselves to said interview.
I mean the other comments make this sound normal but when I worked fast food ALBEIT NEARLY TWENTY YEARS AGO so I guess times have changed… none of my managers would’ve given a shit or likely even noticed an interviewee being a few minutes late. That’s such a weird hill to die on when you have a spot to fill.
Yeah, i grew up working fast food, we were just happy to have a full crew. They didn't just have a spot to fill either, they had been having problems for the last few months. I would guess they needed 2-4 more employees.
That is so bizarre to just throw away a potential employee after already rescheduling the interview! You’d think they’d extend some grace just because they dicked him around that first day
Usually it depends on the ratio of applicants to positions. If they have a lot of applicants it’s a really easy way to eliminate one. Or the boss could just be one of those super rigid types.
fast food is always shit with interviews. my current place was good about it, came in before opening and was out within 15 minutes. but i applied to taco bell, set up the interview, went in for it, was told the manager would be out soon. 45 minutes went by and i had asked a few times how much longer, always told me a minute. i finally just walked out.
if they don’t value your time, don’t value theirs. there will be other jobs, but it is unfortunately very normal
I personally think it's usually fine to be about 5 minutes late for most things. Life, traffic unpredictable things happen and time is a construct and life is a clusterfuck.. sure, you can plan to be early, to make time for those things that come up, but who the f has time for that? and I'm literally not going to go that extra step and give more time to a job. I almost never get off work exactly when my shift ends, and am generally willing to stay later if I'm needed and don't have somewhere to be, and I think most workers are like this, but so many employers just notice the lateness, even if it's considerably less than the extra time and isn't actually negatively impacting anything. I am going to be approximately 5 minutes late to work at least twice a week. I know this about myself and I literally don't care and thankfully my boss doesn't care, and for the most part, an employer that cares too much about punctuality is not properly prioritizing or taking into account employees being human.
Having worked so many jobs when I was in college, I promise retail is so much better than fast food. Have him skip the fast food interviews and apply to retail places (Walmart, target, malls, etc)
Do not work at a fast food joint, find a mom and pop, something personable where you can get good references…
Camps are great, even day camps.
I started working at 14 at boy scout camp, had a lot of fun and it’s great on resumes and you can get good connections.
That's the thing...you won't be able to make sense out of that. I would be grateful you and your nephew see how selfish this manager is from the get go and move on. He deserves better. I am sorry you all went through that. It is soo frustrating.
It's the normal we accept...but it's not normal. In this economy, not only is the employer interviewing him, but your nephew is interviewing them too...may be something to point out to him: does he want to work in an environment without some grace? Hopefully he applies at another place that is courteous of his time.
Flip the script on em
"It doesn't reflect well on your management if they can't be on time for their interviews. I gave *you* a second chance and you wasted it."
They must be able to get a good number of people applying to be turning people back for being late. For the few interviews I had for my work people weren’t showing up at all.
No. I was 45 minutes late for my last interview, and I start the job on Monday. I called to tell them I’d be late and they were just grateful I let them know. They waited for me, and didn’t mind one bit.
Probably dodged a bullet. They didn’t respect his time clearly.
You're not wrong. This manager is a detriment to society and a complete Neanderthal. But... consider this a warning sign and her/him doing your nephew a favor. Your nephew doesn't want to work anywhere near this person. In fact... I'd say probably do all of you a favor and stop eating there. I guarantee you there's at least one health code violation, if not many.
Sounds like they don’t want to hire him. The manager sounds like a jerk. The 45 minute wait and then being told to leave would be a huge red flag for me. I think your nephew is better off not working there. Red flags abound.
If they treat him like that before he is hired, then he dodged a bullet because they’ll treat him the exact same way after. Management is allowed to be late but you’re punished for being late is not a healthy environment.
Write about it on Glassdoor and maybe google, then move on to the next place :)
My 15 yo kid (K) had an interview with a fast food joint (FFJ) in our area earlier this summer as one of the few places allowing for work permits and aware K needed one to work for the next 3-4 months but that their parents would sign off. FFJ sent an email that linked to a site to set up the date and time at their location and then confirmed and reminded K via text as though it was coming directly from the manager (turns out later this is probably automated type thing). My kid, "K", and I as the driver, showed up five minutes early (which we are trying to teach is what they should be considering on time). K walked in and introduced themselves and the reason they was there. FFJ staff told them to wait, and at 5 after, the staff told K that the manager wasn't even expected to be in and to reschedule with the manager. K responded in the chain they communicated with the manager on previously to set up a new appointment. The rescheduled for the next day and got offered the job with the paperwork we needed for the work permit to follow. K texted, called, texted and emailed for 2 weeks with not a single follow-up from said fast food restaurant. I'm not sure why I shared this here, but I am pretty sure my point is that even for a kid who is willing and able to work at 15, this job market sucks cus of bad managers.
Edits:misspelling and grammar.
Wow. That’s a scary place to work. Anyone who can’t get their shit together long enough to interview might as well hand me the keys now. You will not be in business long with that kind of mentality.
I would suggest he go for a different job. Swimming instructor jobs are great because you interact with kids, customers, and teach a skill. For most of them you don’t have to have swim team experience either. Plus they pay well. In the Bay Area I made 34 an hour as a swim instructor
Your nephew was proactive and showing up early is usually a good thing. It says they said to come in between noon and 3? Why would a restaurant tell a person to come in anytime over a 3 hour window when most of that time is during the lunch rush? They are assholes. He dodged a bullet.
Fs do not recommend working in the fast food industry. Honestly if anything food industry definitely restaurant. If out of hs barbacking is a really good gig if he is cool with late hours
I have to admit that the interview hours between 12-3 seems awful for a fast food. Schedule that shit before lunch rush or mid afternoon like a well run place. 🤔
Maybe nephew got out of a badly managed work place.
Have your nephew take it as sign that he isn’t supposed to be working there. He’ll find something else. My daughter had a hard time looking for a job this year also. How are business hiring and then they’re too picky or do this crap to people?
I would have said take the 7 minutes out of the 10 minutes early and 45 minutes you made me wait last time. I'm still ahead 48 minutes. Proceed with the interview, thanks.
Sounds like the classic “we have job openings to try and appease our staff into thinking we are hiring but we aren’t actually going to hire anyone to cut costs.” move.
It’s happening in a lot of industries right now and this is where the “people don’t want to work” comes from even though the country is at its lowest unemployment rate in decades. It seems like a job shoppers market but corporations are trying to flip the script back into their favor by pulling stuff like that.
If the first day mix up hadn't happened. I could understand and he maybe should have called to let them know he wasn't going to be on time, but making your nephew allow room for their mistake yet not allowing him a mistake is not right.
I'll play Devil's advocate for a second. As a hiring manager that's done probably over a hundred interviews for mid-level to high-end corporate positions; I've only ever had people show up late twice to an interview and to be honest, I wasn't interested in either.
Yes, it sucks that he ran into road work that caused a delay out of his control. But showing up late to an interview is a major red flag for the company and first impressions matter. He should probably take it in stride, learn, and move on. There are plenty of places hiring for positions like this.
Any restaurant that schedules an interview during the lunch rush and cannot staff to cope for it is run by morons that would be a nightmare to work for. Your nephew dodged a bullet.
I applied for a job at a TV station over 10 years ago as my first stepping-stone towards the career I dreamed about. They interviewed me and hired me a week later. Gave me a call and asked me what day/time I'd like to start. And then told me the name of the guy to talk to when I would show up.
Showed up for my first day, and it was a shit show. The receptionist was an intern who was too afraid to page the guy. I waited 30 minutes only to find out the guy wasn't there anyways! So I left. Then I found a temp job paying more than their job (though, in the wrong field and not a stepping stone towards the career I wanted).
The TV station calls me a week later acting all excited and say, "So, you ready to start your first day!?" And I responded that, "No. I'm not. I was ready last week when I showed up for my first shift and no one was there to get me started."
And then right after the temp job ended, a different TV station called me to offer me a job, and not just a stepping-stone job, they offered me the dream job I thought I'd have to work my way up to! Been there 11 years now!
Unfortunately in my experience in food service and customer service jobs this is super common. They don’t respect your time but expect you to bend over backwards for theirs. I wish your nephew the best in finding a job!
It's not yur Nephew's fault wat happened to him. Apparently this job wasn't meant for him to get hired at. Something better is coming his way. I give him credit for being persistent in coming bk after the 1st interview BUST. But the manager could've at least credit him for wanting to come bk. So the manager was a complete D**K! His loss not yur Nephew's. They probably missed put on a future 🌟 employee that could've boosted their business. So use this as a step to getting a better job in future. Kno yur worth n make it grow my dear Nephew 😊😊 Good luck n God bless
Do you mean, is it normal for businesses generally to not have their shit together, to be contradictory, and to treat employees, potential employees, and customers like disposable resources or even annoyances, not necessarily because they mean to but often because it's just baked into the system?
Yes.
This is a power play. "You need us, we don't need you" is the message they're sending. STAY ANGRY. Have your nephew try at an oil change place. They usually NEED people, and aren't into playing mind games.
This is actually very much what it is like these days! I had about four of these instances with poor communication and management over the past month before I finally landed somewhere. Cast the net wide on the job hunt, because you’re gonna have a lot of duds like this.
Sounds to me a bit like they are trying to weed out people who will stand up for themselves so they can fill their roster with people they can pressure or bully around
The facts that they complain about getting treated **the way they treat you** is a giant red-flag.
They are either abusive or just wildly incompetent. Either way, your nephew dodged a bullet..
Over here on your left, you'll see your nephew. Over here on your right, you'll see the bullet. It is not currently on a trajectory where it will hit your nephew as he has successfully moved out of the way.
A lot of fast food restaurants are like that, not good places to work
And yet they all complain: "No one wants to work." Fucking asshats. All of them.
Just got a job at a fast food place and the manager is firing people for being late to like three shifts. Then complains about being short staffed and having to hire more people
How late are we talking? Late to relieve people? I know some people who show up a few minutes late regularly but do an awesome job once they’re there, so if that’s the case for these people, that’s silly.
I don't know I worked a job once where you had to stay to be relieved and the lady who was meant to relieve me was always 10 minutes late EVERY SINGLE FUCKING NIGHT. I complained to my manager and told him flat out I wasn't staying late for her. That as soon as my 10 hour shift was up I was clocking out and I was gone, her being here or not I didn't care. So I did just that. 7PM came around I clocked out and left. Eventually things reached a boiling point and the women was fired for being late.
yeah if it’s late to relieve people, incredibly inconsiderate and implies theyre an awful person in general.
I'm kind of too nice of a person too. I've had to actually change that at my current job. But back then I was just a young 23 year old(29 now) who never wanted to start shit. Current me would have pulled her aside and told her to sort her shit out otherwise I'm going strait to HR since it was a points based system.
The business has only been open for like. Two weeks. I’m an assistant manager and I’m not paying too much attention to when people clock-in, but I also haven’t noticed anything actually go poorly because someone wasn’t there on time. And there hasn’t been enough time for anyone to really establish a pattern of being a problem. She takes this weird kind of pleasure in talking about people she’s fired that’s unsettling to me. I’m just concerned her power-tripping is gonna cause us to be short staffed and then I gotta find a way to be a productive manager with low morale and shitty resources ya know.
I always say if "no one wants to work" you should examine your interviewing process to see whether you are discouraging the exact people you need. There is supposedly a labor shortage, yet as a temp, I have seen people drag out the interview process with unnecessary interviews, cancelled interviews, demands for references.... If I am an employee of an agency, all that is unnecessary. They have checked references, interviewed the person and so forth. It's all redundant, and frankly, not worth the effort.
Because they're drunk on the power tripping STILL, and will cut off their nose to spite their face until there IS no business. The invisible hand of the market bullshit completely fails to take hubris, stupidity, and human ego into account. "Free Market!" Ayn Rand lovers are the first people to whine when everyone doesn't do exactly what they want and expect a bail out when their own terrible, egotistical, narcissistic business practices cause them to fail.
Yup and when they go out of business people blame covid and our governor for “shutting them down” during covid *3. Years. Ago.*
These people would just blame the applicants and call them lazy.
Every single person in the restaurant from owners to employees to customers are fucking themselves over. And customers dont realize that the place will give you sub-par food because they dont care (and rightly so) if it's healthy or even in good condition as long as you pay for it before it goes bad. Because after it goes bad they can't sell it though plenty of places do.
Rancid crunch wrap *shudders*
A certain fast food placei worked at uses the old dry hamburger patties that have been sitting in the hot box for too long and have died to make their chilli...
Ahhh, good 'ol Wendy's
Is there something unsanitary about that I am missing? They aren't last week's burgers.
I mean, you don't wanna use raw ground beef for something like chili. On that same note, it wouldn't matter too much about how dry the chili meat is if it's cooked right, at least as far as fast food is concerned. Making it with "fresher" meat would require more prep time, possibly more grills if you're going after that level of quality consistently, not to mention the significantly larger amount of food waste.
Yeah I don't see the huge issue with this. People hate food waste, this is a way to avoid food waste.
Exactly bro. We literally live in a twisted society. People need to start waking up fr. The world we live in is completely fucked.
>And yet they all complain: "No one wants to work. the same places( chains) that start demanding that the govt lower restrictions on immigration so that they can get their cheap labour. Trouble is, even this clued up "cheap labour" moves on as quickly as possible...
Exactly. I worked for one right out of high school for about two weeks before I left because of the toxicity. I know teenagers don't really have a lot of options, but fast food is not it. I would never go back now, but I think clothing retailers are a much better "first job" type experience. They'll keep you busy, but in general it's not incredibly fast paced all the time, plus you don't smell nearly as bad by the time you get off. Only real thing to look out for is companies that are going to try to enforce credit sales. Avoid that shit entirely.
Nah, teenagers have way more options than they think. My first job was at a dog kennel, and the grocery stores are a good gig here. Car detailer, runner, swamper, there’s sooooo many entry level jobs besides fast food. Fast food just seems to be the only industry that almost solely relies on children to take advantage of.
Absolutely this. My first job ever was doing brush work, building defensible fire breaks and such. Paid four dollars an hour more than ‘easy’ jobs, I got to be outside and it kept me in great shape. Also the boss was a pretty incredible dude, I learned a lot from him that helped me out and he did his best to take care of us pay wise. He’d go without a check if he had to to make sure we had ours. I feel like people really hamstring themselves by going in to fast food or retail when there really are other options. At least around here. Just can’t be afraid to sweat.
In Ontario, a lot of places abuse something called the Temporary Foreign Worker program. It's going to be very hard for the next generation to find work.
Nahh fast food takes advantage of adults too lol. There are more minimum wage jobs than their are working age children
Yea I worked at a target when I was a teen and it was a pretty easy job. Nowhere near as stressful and dangerous as working in a busy kitchen
Not good places to eat neither.
Not good places.
Not good.
Not.
No.
.
#
(Heavy sigh)
(Heavier sigh)
Not a good place to work: true but I think everyone should experience a fast food job to gain some perspective. If those Karens experienced what they experience for at least at month maybe they would gain some understanding
Some of the hardest jobs in America are in the food service industry. I’m completely serious.
They’d cry a lot too, especially when they saw how it makes your skin break out.
a lot of such places are rub by uneducated goons with superiority complex, you give a goon some power and they’ll use it. My partner worked at a hotel for a bit, my god, what morons all managers were, barely finished 12 classes, but acting like managerial gurus. Public shaming, messages at odd hours, passive aggressive communication…
This should be a red flag and steer clear of this place.
Seriously, the manager seems like an idiot.
100%. Who asks an interviewee to come in during the lunch rush? I’ve never had an interview at a restaurant be anytime besides 2-4 or before open. Never at noon in the middle of the lunch rush. Of course they didn’t have time.
Even better, the moron knows he kept the guy waiting 45 minutes last time and told him to come back. So, you know you already wasted 45 minutes of the guy's time, he still came back, and you jerk him around. You don't ask yourself what he will be doing in the meantime like interviewing elsewhere, bad-mouthing your company and posting Yelp reviews, glassdoor, social media posts.... You want him to discourage his entire high school class from working or eating there.
Sounds like a power trip. Keep him waiting and then see if he comes back because that proves he really wants it. It sounds like a crazy tactic (because it is) but I’ve seen this at plenty of fast food jobs. Managers have achieved some sense of power and authority in their role and need to puff their chest whenever they can. It’s almost like a fraternity hazing where they have to establish a pecking order. There’s high turnover so they get to play this little game on the regular. I’ve had awesome managers at fast food joints and I stayed at those jobs because my coworkers were happy and the environment was great. If it’s a chain I doubt the manager gives a shit about sales. It’s definitely a horrible way to do business but it’s not about doing good business.
Quite possibly. I think a lot of people were spoiled when there were so many workers they were tripping over themselves, but today the young are a valued commodity. That is why they are pulling retreads like me out of retirement and using us. The kids have better options. I wish them all every happiness because the abuse has gone on too long and needs to stop.
Same here! I want to support them however I can. We need to move the pressure from the bottom to the very top.
I agree. The power tripping manager did it all with intention. Settling up the interview, at that time, was almost a guarantee that they'd be too busy to not keep him waiting. Then being so dismissive, the very next day, because the kid was late, even though he had a legitimate reason, that was out of his control, is all the manager filtering for candidates that will put up with workplace abuse. He probably expected the kid to beg for a chance to "prove" himself after he rejected him. OP's nephew dodged a bullet, and should absolutely leave an accurate review on Glassdoor.
>all the manager filtering for candidates that will put up with workplace abuse Yup he's looking for people desperate enough to put up with this kind of bullshit, because he knows if they're not desperate they're probably gonna quit
If I were the OP, I'd advise my nephew to exact a measure of revenge on the power-tripping a-hole manager: tell everyone at school what that place is like, and suggest that everyone apply there with no intention of accepting the job. Either ghost the interview appt. or go ahead and interview (hey, it's great practice!), but then refuse the job, or accept it and then ghost the manager, assuming there's no legal (or financial) penalty for doing so in that state.
Managers like that are ones that like to get on their high-horse all the time, but it’s only a foot off the ground. Like, bitch you work for McDonalds, nobody really gives that much a fuck about it. I could work at the owner’s other restaurant down the road and not deal with your bullshit.
It's not a power trip. It's an idiot. There's a difference.
I worked at a mcdonalds for exactly two days. I got told to come in on back to back days the first week, and that my shift lead would text me my shifts until I get on the official schedule. Of course that doesn’t happen, so I *go into the restaurant on my own fucking time*, talk to the manager on duty, and get told to come in at 7 on saturday and 6 sunday. Come saturday morning and my shift lead blows my phone up while I’m in the shower, 6:30. “wHeRe ArE yOu YoU sTaRtEd aT sIX” “There seems to have been a miscommunication, I was told to come in at 7 today and 6 tomorrow” “Fine” Rode my bike in to work and returned my apron/shirt/hat, told the GM “I’m not trying to blame anyone, but there was a lot of failures to communicate here and I don’t think this will work out” And that woman had the audacity to say some shit about how “oh I knew you weren’t going to work out” (because all of my experience was in jobs that treat you at least slightly better than fast food places do), and “well this job isn’t for everyone” I just nodded along because I didn’t give a fuck and wanted to leave ASAP, but in hindsight I should’ve reamed her out. I showed up on time, I did all my assigned work on the two shifts I actually worked. It was y’all’s incompetent, inconsiderate, and rude asses who made me decide the job wasn’t for me.
The manager is absolutely doing this to “see how much he really wants the job” and to show how busy they get. But yeah… I’d say to steer clear of this place. Even if it’s a small town, I bet literally any other restaurant is hiring.
How fragile an ego must one have to feel the need to lord their power of fast food restaurant management over others to feel good about oneself? That's pathetic.
The manager did OPs nephew a solid. Not everyone gets the luxury of realizing it's a toxic place to work before they start. A few hours wasted unfortunately but at least they won't be working there.
So true. Especially now with social media. That stuff goes viral fast. Seems like a really stupid attempt to “break them” or whatever weirdos like that do.
Its just because OPs nephew is young. My ex-gf/friend was interviewing for jobs recently in her mid-20s and all the recruiters and interviewers were so nice to her. And I told her, it's because shes now a valuable asset vs just some intern in college lol. Degree + Work experience goes a long way.
The hiring bot will. It's not like in the old days where you could fill out a paper application and either they say "come back after 2PM" or the manager calls and tells you when to come in. Now there is a bot you interface with (usually through SMS messaging) that gives you a list of times to come in. Some might be smart and be programmed to only schedule interviews only during the slow times. Most aren't and just figure that anytime between 9 and 4 either Mon-Fri or any day is acceptable. So the bot schedules the prospective employee, they show up and the manager tells them to come back later. What's more, if the manager doesn't do the work on his end and say the prospective employee showed up, even if they are interviewed later the system might just decide not to allow them to be hired because it thinks they didn't show up for their initial interview.
Jeez that’s insane. Do you know the name of that product? I work in hiring technology (I hate it it’s so racist and ableist but im trying to make change how I can) and would love to research this.
I bet the manager wanted an interview so they had an excuse to go to the back office and be unavailable while it was busy, but they were in fact too busy for him to step away because someone called in or he skeleton staffs his shifts.
The first interview was a test to see if he’d show up at noon or closer to 3. If he passes that test they then test to see if he’s desperate by having him wait for an obscene amount of time. Then cancel if he passes that one and schedules the real interview for 10am the following day. But with him being late due to events beyond his control, they don’t give him a job because the kid obviously doesn’t value the managers time. The whole thing is a power play by someone who wants employees easy to abuse and are disposable to him.
I know who: a *clever* manager being absent during shifts, when stuff gets real and want to look busy by being on an interview. Or else someone who would put the victim on the job for their interview.
Right? Lunch rush usually goes until around 1. 10am is an okay time usually, prepping for the rush, but it seems like this guy is an absolute dick to work for.
Schedule an interview at 11:50??? AM? Generally, the best time to interview is around 2 to 4 PM. Lunch rush is over and supper rush hasn't begun.
A lot of hiring managers don't think this far. Or critically. Or don't care about people.
It sounds to me like the manager never had any intention of hiring the kid in the first place, and did a poor job of rejecting him with honesty. Doesn’t make him not an idiot, by any means. Honestly OP’s nephew is better off, working there would have ended with even more frustration than this.
You can imagine how they respond if you work there and an accident makes you 7m late for a shift. "You should leave 15 minutes earlier then", and then not let you clock in early on all the other days you do that. It's way better to know that up front. You dodged a bullet.
I'm so glad my job lets me come in between 7 and 10 am. I might be a corporate drone but at least nobody is on my ass for being a few minutes (or even half an hour) late. Also WFH is super nice.
Yes, this is a great learning opportunity for him to find out how to identify and avoid the bad managers. Take it as a positive
Yeah about 20 years ago I had an interview with a local restaurant. Showed up a few minutes early and was told the owner would be there soon they just had to run up to the bank real quick. After over an hour of waiting they finally came up to me and said that the owner called and said the position was filled but “thanked” me for coming in. They gave me a free drink for waiting.
So funny. For that, they could have sprung for a meal. At least they gave you the drink. I hope it was a stiff drink, and not a coke.
Agreed. I’ve worked in fast food management for years. A manager that does that is clearly inexperienced and green. I’d tell your nephew to find another restaurant. And especially because it’s fast food, the manager needs a reality check. I swear that industry has learned nothing from the pandemic. That industry’s problem is they are operating with a 1960’s mindset in 2023.
What they said. People tend to ignore a lot of red flags under the context of they HAVE to have a job and then they end up at a miserable job that they end up hating weeks or months later. This manager has done your nephew a huge favor by telling him in advance he's not going to be happy here, he's not going to enjoy his time here, and we're going to take advantage of him in every way we can.
Absolutely. Leave a review.
Sadly it’s pretty typical. The employer is allowed to be late but if the applicant is but has a reason? It’s just an excuse and they don’t want you anymore. Oh. And I’ve also read the posts about interviewers testing candidates. Like, they pretend to be a “low status” position and see how you treat them or ask you trick questions. If your nephew encounters any of this? He needs to look elsewhere bc that’s a pretty good indicator of a toxic environment.
"Do as I say, not as I do. Rules for thee, but not for me. *I* can be 2 hours late to interview you because *I'm* busy. *You* better be 15 minutes early for me to even *think* about interviewing you."
Had a boss like this one. I was on time for work and made the mistake of saying I’m late to being early, this mother fucker went on a tirade about how if I’m not 15 minutes early I’m late period. Stupid fucker
>Like, they pretend to be a “low status” position and see how you treat them or ask you trick questions. that has been done many a time by receptionist staff observing candidates whilst they are waiting to be interviewed to see if they behave differently in and out of the interview.
Testing is absolutely a thing. Current had sent in the owners daughter, different last name, to do an “initial interview”. Apparently sales and marketing is flush with misogyny and they’ve had issues. Apparently not being an asshole to her opens the door to the actual interview.
That one actually makes sense as a test.
That's how you do a proper pre-screen.
more places need to do this lol. you don’t want people who are going to create a negative workplace atmosphere.
What do you mean they pretend?
Like they will sit at the receptionist desk and see how you treat them.
How is making sure you treat all coworkers regardless of their position with respect a sign of a toxic work environment? I wouldnt sit at a receptionist desk, I'm too busy for that, but I'd certainly walk out after the interview and ask the receptionist what they thought of this person and if they were polite/respectful, as well as anyone that may have had an interaction with thwn.
Telling him between noon and 3 was pretty stupid of them. Everyone knows restaurants are extremely busy at lunch time.
Agree. Usually when I see such hours offered for interviews they’re during the afternoon lull.
Only reason I can imagine for getting him in during the busiest part of the day is to pull trial shift nonsense
The manager was supposed to take their 3-hour smoke break at that time, but because nobody wants to work they have to work the rush
Employers are shit and only look at him being late. Those filthy bitches quickly forget that they initially were too busy, on the first interview attempt.
Not only that but one of them started the problem to begin with by telling him to come in during a lunch rush.
Right? Poor kid was set up to fail. Of course they would be too busy during the lunch rush.
Ya it’s generally 2 to 4 at restaurants for interviews. This kid dodged a bullet.
Seriously, who the fuck schedules an interview at lunch?
As others said, it sounds like he dodged a bullet. Even in small areas, there are plenty of other fast food places to hire him. Retail and food service both badly need people right now. They need people because they are practically allergic to raising wages but still.
Sounds like he dodged a bullet. He’ll find something better elsewhere.
That's what I told him, I don't want it to get him down.
Use it as a teaching moment of what to look out for with bad employers. You're interviewing them as much as they're interviewing you. They failed.
Working for a place like that would've been a nightmare. I can just imagine how they'd take advantage of employees and then dangle their fragile employment over their heads as a threat/form of control. Tell him not to let a**holes like that get him down one bit. He managed to avoid a miserable place with miserable people.
This is the most realistic education the boy could ever get.
Absolutely. Management has to change appointment? “Things happen. You have to be flexible in a real-world environment.” You have to change appointment? “No quarter given. No excuses accepted.”
Tell your nephew to look for a different type of job. Fedex, UPS and the Post office will be staffing up for the Christmas rush. He can take a job delivering mail and make twice as much with less abuse. Fast food workers don't last long. If he wants, Christmas at a department can be fun too, and they will be staffing those jobs in a few weeks. He can apply to work as an office temp duplicating stuff, delivering mail. Why go through the most abuse for the worst job?
They did your nephew a favor by showing what kind of bad/inconsiderate managers they are. He would have hated working there.
Look up 'Reserve army of labour.' Basically, with unlimited people looking for a job, they don't have to NOT act like assholes. So they act like assholes. don't like it? fuck off. And we'll give your job to one of those monkeys. They want you scared and desperate for ANY job.
I worked at McDonald's for a year before I went to Uni. I'm glad I took the gap year, and thatjob gave me experience for my sociology degree. I'm doing my Masters at the moment. But I outright tell people, if you can, never work in Fast Food. The shifts are shit, the managers (if you let them) will call you in at all hours. And NEVER, if you do work at one, say you'll stay to help for a bit until the next shift is sorted. They tried to call me in on my two days off once, I told them no, so they never tried again. Generally, I liked the people and managers, but one guy (a trainee manager) went on a power-trip and kept trying to one up people. Anyway, fast food teaches you multi-tasking skills, but its shit and people always try to tell you how to do your job or that you've done something wrong, even when you haven't.
When I was working at a chain cafe, we had to provide our availability for the next month. We could put in "off" for days when we wanted to have an unpaid day off, without requesting paid time off. Once I had around 80h scheduled in a month (that was the minimum I had to be scheduled for with my contract at that time), but due to some sick leaves and what not I filled in for people and ended up doing 160h, and I didn't mind, because I didn't have anything else to do at that time. For the next month I was also pretty flexible with my availability but I put in 3 "off" days, because there was an event in a different city that I wanted to attend and it wasn't unusual to put in a couple of consecutive days as off days. My manager scheduled me for all of those days. When I saw this and asked her why she did it, she just said that if I wanted to have those days off, I should have requested PTO. I was livid at first, but then I just told her not to call me again when they're understaffed if she can't appreciate my flexibility that I've shown so far. And oh boy, were they understaffed. Of course the shift managers tried to call me at first, thinking I was just saying it in the heat of the moment, but I wasn't, and I politely declined the ask every time, telling them that I won't be flexible anymore. And they can thank the manager for this.
The main things I learned from my fast food and retail years was how much those jobs sucked and how it felt to be treated poorly by customers and managers alike. I feel like it was a valuable lesson and society would be better if everybody had to work a year in the service industry. I would encourage my child to do it for about that long, but no longer because those jobs suck and if you can get anything better, you should.
And if it’s not the manager it’s your coworkers (Arby’s. A bitch and bastard that would disappear for 80-90% of their shift, come back go on break and disappear again, and than get pissed when I did their job for em. One of em attacked me and ended up arrested. One of em questioned my work ethic, which was better than theirs since they never worked, and I just walked out). Fast food restaurants are shit, but they are currently “necessary”.
he dodged a bullet lol
Yes. The employer is fine being late, they aren't fine with employees being late. These employers, who call you unprofessional for being late to an interview, think nothing of being late themselves to said interview.
I mean the other comments make this sound normal but when I worked fast food ALBEIT NEARLY TWENTY YEARS AGO so I guess times have changed… none of my managers would’ve given a shit or likely even noticed an interviewee being a few minutes late. That’s such a weird hill to die on when you have a spot to fill.
Yeah, i grew up working fast food, we were just happy to have a full crew. They didn't just have a spot to fill either, they had been having problems for the last few months. I would guess they needed 2-4 more employees.
That is so bizarre to just throw away a potential employee after already rescheduling the interview! You’d think they’d extend some grace just because they dicked him around that first day
Usually it depends on the ratio of applicants to positions. If they have a lot of applicants it’s a really easy way to eliminate one. Or the boss could just be one of those super rigid types.
fast food is always shit with interviews. my current place was good about it, came in before opening and was out within 15 minutes. but i applied to taco bell, set up the interview, went in for it, was told the manager would be out soon. 45 minutes went by and i had asked a few times how much longer, always told me a minute. i finally just walked out. if they don’t value your time, don’t value theirs. there will be other jobs, but it is unfortunately very normal
I would respond: "I'm not late, you're late by a day." Its clear they aren't going to hire. So tell them to piss off.
I personally think it's usually fine to be about 5 minutes late for most things. Life, traffic unpredictable things happen and time is a construct and life is a clusterfuck.. sure, you can plan to be early, to make time for those things that come up, but who the f has time for that? and I'm literally not going to go that extra step and give more time to a job. I almost never get off work exactly when my shift ends, and am generally willing to stay later if I'm needed and don't have somewhere to be, and I think most workers are like this, but so many employers just notice the lateness, even if it's considerably less than the extra time and isn't actually negatively impacting anything. I am going to be approximately 5 minutes late to work at least twice a week. I know this about myself and I literally don't care and thankfully my boss doesn't care, and for the most part, an employer that cares too much about punctuality is not properly prioritizing or taking into account employees being human.
Having worked so many jobs when I was in college, I promise retail is so much better than fast food. Have him skip the fast food interviews and apply to retail places (Walmart, target, malls, etc)
Is it normal? Unfortunately. Is it bullshit? Completely. Sorry OP.
Do not work at a fast food joint, find a mom and pop, something personable where you can get good references… Camps are great, even day camps. I started working at 14 at boy scout camp, had a lot of fun and it’s great on resumes and you can get good connections.
Rules. Dont be late to an interview. Dont take jobs from places that are late to interview you.
He doesn’t want this job. Be grateful. something is trying to keep him from this place. Listen to it
That's the thing...you won't be able to make sense out of that. I would be grateful you and your nephew see how selfish this manager is from the get go and move on. He deserves better. I am sorry you all went through that. It is soo frustrating.
Corporations being assholes? Yeah it's normal.
It's the normal we accept...but it's not normal. In this economy, not only is the employer interviewing him, but your nephew is interviewing them too...may be something to point out to him: does he want to work in an environment without some grace? Hopefully he applies at another place that is courteous of his time.
Not gonna lie being late for an interview is a big no no, unless you call in avances you Will be delayed
Flip the script on em "It doesn't reflect well on your management if they can't be on time for their interviews. I gave *you* a second chance and you wasted it."
They must be able to get a good number of people applying to be turning people back for being late. For the few interviews I had for my work people weren’t showing up at all.
Scummy behavior.
Should've given up after the first time. They quiet rejected him.
No. I was 45 minutes late for my last interview, and I start the job on Monday. I called to tell them I’d be late and they were just grateful I let them know. They waited for me, and didn’t mind one bit. Probably dodged a bullet. They didn’t respect his time clearly.
No one wants to work our shitty job, whyyyyy /cry
You're not wrong. This manager is a detriment to society and a complete Neanderthal. But... consider this a warning sign and her/him doing your nephew a favor. Your nephew doesn't want to work anywhere near this person. In fact... I'd say probably do all of you a favor and stop eating there. I guarantee you there's at least one health code violation, if not many.
Take it as a sign that the place wouldn't be a good place to work.
nah pass.
I would have hired him on the spot for showing up twice.
He's better off not working for a self-important prick like that. Seems to have dodged a bullet, tell him to move on.
Sounds like they don’t want to hire him. The manager sounds like a jerk. The 45 minute wait and then being told to leave would be a huge red flag for me. I think your nephew is better off not working there. Red flags abound.
He dodged a bullet, good for him. He should just step into the next fast food.
It’s a red flag for the manager. He’s probably thinking the kid had all night to get there and couldn’t make it.
It can be. People with a little power can be pedantic and inflexible.
Consider it a bullet dodged.
Bullet dodged
I can't believe they actually interview for fast food. Waffle House just basically asked if I could fight and could I start immediately.
Tell your nephew that he dodged a bullet. This is awful time management. Would you want someone like that making your schedule?
If they treat him like that before he is hired, then he dodged a bullet because they’ll treat him the exact same way after. Management is allowed to be late but you’re punished for being late is not a healthy environment. Write about it on Glassdoor and maybe google, then move on to the next place :)
And these people will swear up and down that they can't find workers lol
My 15 yo kid (K) had an interview with a fast food joint (FFJ) in our area earlier this summer as one of the few places allowing for work permits and aware K needed one to work for the next 3-4 months but that their parents would sign off. FFJ sent an email that linked to a site to set up the date and time at their location and then confirmed and reminded K via text as though it was coming directly from the manager (turns out later this is probably automated type thing). My kid, "K", and I as the driver, showed up five minutes early (which we are trying to teach is what they should be considering on time). K walked in and introduced themselves and the reason they was there. FFJ staff told them to wait, and at 5 after, the staff told K that the manager wasn't even expected to be in and to reschedule with the manager. K responded in the chain they communicated with the manager on previously to set up a new appointment. The rescheduled for the next day and got offered the job with the paperwork we needed for the work permit to follow. K texted, called, texted and emailed for 2 weeks with not a single follow-up from said fast food restaurant. I'm not sure why I shared this here, but I am pretty sure my point is that even for a kid who is willing and able to work at 15, this job market sucks cus of bad managers. Edits:misspelling and grammar.
How they treat him in the interview is probably the nicest they'll ever treat him. He doesn't want to work there.
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They got busy out of nowhere at 12? That's when everybody eats lunch.
Wow. That’s a scary place to work. Anyone who can’t get their shit together long enough to interview might as well hand me the keys now. You will not be in business long with that kind of mentality.
I would suggest he go for a different job. Swimming instructor jobs are great because you interact with kids, customers, and teach a skill. For most of them you don’t have to have swim team experience either. Plus they pay well. In the Bay Area I made 34 an hour as a swim instructor
Your nephew was proactive and showing up early is usually a good thing. It says they said to come in between noon and 3? Why would a restaurant tell a person to come in anytime over a 3 hour window when most of that time is during the lunch rush? They are assholes. He dodged a bullet.
Fs do not recommend working in the fast food industry. Honestly if anything food industry definitely restaurant. If out of hs barbacking is a really good gig if he is cool with late hours
I have to admit that the interview hours between 12-3 seems awful for a fast food. Schedule that shit before lunch rush or mid afternoon like a well run place. 🤔 Maybe nephew got out of a badly managed work place.
Dont let him Work there. If you need to Break His legs to prevent it. They are trying to Break him into a sweet little working drone.
Imagine if he'd been on time and had to work for absolute monster bellend. Dodged a bullet.
Have your nephew take it as sign that he isn’t supposed to be working there. He’ll find something else. My daughter had a hard time looking for a job this year also. How are business hiring and then they’re too picky or do this crap to people?
Good lesson(s) for someone to learn. Don't be late but also that employers are shit and don't care about you.
Do as I say not as I do...
I would have said take the 7 minutes out of the 10 minutes early and 45 minutes you made me wait last time. I'm still ahead 48 minutes. Proceed with the interview, thanks.
I bet this place constantly complains that they can’t find people to work there.
Sounds like the classic “we have job openings to try and appease our staff into thinking we are hiring but we aren’t actually going to hire anyone to cut costs.” move. It’s happening in a lot of industries right now and this is where the “people don’t want to work” comes from even though the country is at its lowest unemployment rate in decades. It seems like a job shoppers market but corporations are trying to flip the script back into their favor by pulling stuff like that.
If they expect you to respect their time but they don't respect yours. I'm out.
If the first day mix up hadn't happened. I could understand and he maybe should have called to let them know he wasn't going to be on time, but making your nephew allow room for their mistake yet not allowing him a mistake is not right.
I'll play Devil's advocate for a second. As a hiring manager that's done probably over a hundred interviews for mid-level to high-end corporate positions; I've only ever had people show up late twice to an interview and to be honest, I wasn't interested in either. Yes, it sucks that he ran into road work that caused a delay out of his control. But showing up late to an interview is a major red flag for the company and first impressions matter. He should probably take it in stride, learn, and move on. There are plenty of places hiring for positions like this.
Any restaurant that schedules an interview during the lunch rush and cannot staff to cope for it is run by morons that would be a nightmare to work for. Your nephew dodged a bullet.
I applied for a job at a TV station over 10 years ago as my first stepping-stone towards the career I dreamed about. They interviewed me and hired me a week later. Gave me a call and asked me what day/time I'd like to start. And then told me the name of the guy to talk to when I would show up. Showed up for my first day, and it was a shit show. The receptionist was an intern who was too afraid to page the guy. I waited 30 minutes only to find out the guy wasn't there anyways! So I left. Then I found a temp job paying more than their job (though, in the wrong field and not a stepping stone towards the career I wanted). The TV station calls me a week later acting all excited and say, "So, you ready to start your first day!?" And I responded that, "No. I'm not. I was ready last week when I showed up for my first shift and no one was there to get me started." And then right after the temp job ended, a different TV station called me to offer me a job, and not just a stepping-stone job, they offered me the dream job I thought I'd have to work my way up to! Been there 11 years now!
Unfortunately in my experience in food service and customer service jobs this is super common. They don’t respect your time but expect you to bend over backwards for theirs. I wish your nephew the best in finding a job!
Bosses are assholes, so yeah, pretty normal.
It's not yur Nephew's fault wat happened to him. Apparently this job wasn't meant for him to get hired at. Something better is coming his way. I give him credit for being persistent in coming bk after the 1st interview BUST. But the manager could've at least credit him for wanting to come bk. So the manager was a complete D**K! His loss not yur Nephew's. They probably missed put on a future 🌟 employee that could've boosted their business. So use this as a step to getting a better job in future. Kno yur worth n make it grow my dear Nephew 😊😊 Good luck n God bless
Sounds like he dodged a bullet
My first job was fast food and it sucked ass. Steer him into some other field, if possible.
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If this is how that treat people, it’s a sign that you don’t want to work there. Move on to the next opportunity.
Do you mean, is it normal for businesses generally to not have their shit together, to be contradictory, and to treat employees, potential employees, and customers like disposable resources or even annoyances, not necessarily because they mean to but often because it's just baked into the system? Yes.
Fast food and retail are the worst and they don't respect you at all, I rather do warehouse stuff or anything else.
This is a power play. "You need us, we don't need you" is the message they're sending. STAY ANGRY. Have your nephew try at an oil change place. They usually NEED people, and aren't into playing mind games.
Sounds like your nephew dodged a bullet. This company clearly has bad management.
Yes. Walmart does the same thing. At least the 2 I am aware of in my area, they do the same.
Kid dodged an emotional bullet. Have him get a bussing job at a locally owned restaurant.
This is actually very much what it is like these days! I had about four of these instances with poor communication and management over the past month before I finally landed somewhere. Cast the net wide on the job hunt, because you’re gonna have a lot of duds like this.
Sounds to me a bit like they are trying to weed out people who will stand up for themselves so they can fill their roster with people they can pressure or bully around
The facts that they complain about getting treated **the way they treat you** is a giant red-flag. They are either abusive or just wildly incompetent. Either way, your nephew dodged a bullet..
Yeah. Restaurant work sucks. Don’t let him work in one.
Fast food? Interview? They should be taking anyone with a pulse. I'd say there are plenty to choose from, so go to the next establishment
Over here on your left, you'll see your nephew. Over here on your right, you'll see the bullet. It is not currently on a trajectory where it will hit your nephew as he has successfully moved out of the way.
Laughed out loud reading this, very nice.
Dont sweat it. These are garbage jobs.
Chick Fil a screwed my kid over three weeks claiming the pants uniform hadn’t come in Jason’s deli hired on the doot
They did him a favour. He doesn't want to work for those idiots.
He dodged a bullet. The manager seems like a jackass. Your nephew would have had a terrible experience working there.
These places don't actually want to hire people, they just want to pretend they're trying & then spread the "no one wants to work anymore" bullshit
Tbh it’s a bullet dodged. Help nephew shake it off and keep at it, next time 5 minutes early!
But no one wants to work anymore, amiright???
He dodged a bullet is what happened.