We all remember our first jobs. For many of us, it was working at a fast food restaurant, retail store, or some other service industry gig. At the time, we probably thought it was just a way to make some extra cash and not much more. But in hindsight, those first jobs taught us invaluable lessons that have stuck with us throughout our careers.
My first job was at McDonald's. While it may not have seemed glamorous, my time there taught me the power of systems, processes, and standard operating procedures. McDonald's had a detailed SOP for everything, from taking orders, cooking fries, assembling burgers, even cleaning the bathrooms. These SOPs ensured quality control, allowed new employees to get up to speed quickly, and enabled the restaurants to run efficiently at scale. The importance of standardized, optimized processes was ingrained in me during my time at McDonald's.
I've carried these lessons with me throughout my career. In every role I've had in my professional career, I've used these skills to look for ways to streamline operations, helping companies reduce costs, drive efficiency, and improve quality, ensuring employees were working cohesively, and business control were in place. I've built my career off of standardizing, optimizing and digitizing processes and its all because of that first job.
So don't underestimate what you can learn from even the most basic first job. The fundamentals of process excellence, teamwork, customer service, and operational efficiency translate across all industries. We all have to start somewhere, and those first jobs shape who we become as professionals.
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1wCongrats! On 40 years