Is Working in Fast Food a Career or a Transition Job?

Helen’s Place LLC: HPLNews Update: July 2, 2022

In the U.S., fast food jobs were once considered entry level or temporary for young people in high school or college. However, since the 2008 recession, for some who lost higher paying jobs, and for many students dropping out of high school or college, fast food jobs are now considered by many to be respectable, career jobs in the food service industry, and should pay a living wage of $15.00 an hour or more.

While it’s true that some people are content to work their shift and go home or to a second job, and some find the opportunity to move up to store managers or switch to better restaurants, others will be frustrated because they never wanted to work in the food industry in the first place, and took the job only because it was the easiest or only job they could find at the time.

This later group may feel isolated in a dead-end job, and not know what to do to change their life. Some are turning to career counselors at junior colleges as good sources of help to find a way out of the job they feel trapped in;

Perhaps there’s a better way in the first place.

While it’s true that Americans are shifting their thinking about what a career job is, they also are embracing change in high school to get students to work programs that provide exposure to a wide range of entry jobs.

A student interested in a teaching career for example, might be placed in a children’s after school program to better understand if they are suited to working with children. Or a student interested in architecture might be placed with a homebuilder to show houses and provide various home plan layouts, to give them exposure to architectural design.

There are many tie-ins to job opportunities and careers that students would prefer to fast food, if given the opportunity.

Increasing numbers of people now believe that the days of expecting a child to go to college to figure out what they want to do in life, puts too much stress on a student, results in wasting money on college courses that lead nowhere, and increases the dropout rate.

It’s apparent to many, that now is the time to provide work life experiences and exposure to various jobs in high school, so that a student can start narrowing down the list of career choices to have greater success picking a start to a career path. School to work programs and trade organizations can play major roles in helping students decide.