Leaving job after a week

angelinab

Hi,
I started my first day in a really busy fast food place three days ago, and I hate it. It's a 14 week full-time contract. It's always busy and I can't seem to get the hang of things at all (they made it very clear that they expect you to know pretty much everything by the third day). I've been described as 'slow' in the past and I realistically can't see myself getting much better at my job. I feel like I should just give up and look for a different summer job (I'm probably moving abroad in September). I could go into more detail but I just want out.

893bet

Give it a week or two! It will get easier as you get the hang of things!

Keep applying for other jobs.

Miaireland

Honestly, I would give it another couple of weeks. The first two weeks in a job can seem impossible, particularly in the industry you have entered where there is so much to remember and do.

eeguy

You'll never be good at any job after a week.

Give it a few more weeks and see how things go. Personally, fast food jobs are fairly poor places to work.
I used to keep a calendar for Summer jobs, marking off the days until I could quit and go back to college.

Parchment

Stay there - its only for the summer, not for life. Summer jobs are hard to get.

Alanstrainor

I'd agree with others and say stick with it. You can still look for other work if you like, but no point giving this one up before you find something else!

seamus

I remember a similar thread like this with someone saying that they had started in fast food and were finding the environment too stressful after a couple of days.

It sounds like this is perfectly normal for the fast food business; it's fast-paced, everyone is stressed trying to get stuff done, so it can feel like you're a complete spanner in the works when you're still asking questions and moving slower than others.

Whatever they said about 3 days is complete nonsense. There is nobody, in any job on earth, at any level, from cashier to CEO, who knows everything or even feels like they know everything about a job after 3 days.

Forget whatever insults have been said about you before. You're in college, you're not "slow".

Stick with it, it'll always be busy, but you'll feel far more at home by the end of week 3.

Posy

I'd definitely try and stick it out! 14 weeks is not that long in the grand scheme of things!

Have they you working in one particular area? Could you talk to them about how you're getting on?
Maybe you're better than you're giving yourself credit for!

I worked in a fast food restaurant for two summers during college, and part time during the term time. I found the tills very stressful and got confused trying to keep track of all the orders, as people changed their minds, made specific requests like burgers with just ketchup or a cheeseburger with no bun etc. After a couple of weeks I asked could I be moved to the kitchen and was much happier away from the public, just hiding out behind the grill, flipping burgers!



You want to move abroad in September? What if you don't like it straight away? Or if it's hard or you feel homesick? You will have to try and stick it out longer than 3 days!!

Absolutely try and last the summer- it'll fly by, and you'll be much happier with yourself come September that you lasted the course!

Senna

I don't know what the jobs market is like for summer jobs, but you should try your best to stick it out.
The experience people learn in part time summer jobs is invaluable and future employers love to see experience, working in a take away is probably not what you want to do for the rest of your career, but team work, time management, people skills and loads of other soft skills are gained in the fast food industry and all are transferable to any future employment.