I'm smart but I can't even get hired at Walmart or McDonalds

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I applied to both of these, but I never got an interview. Now, I am waiting until age 18 to apply for Victoria's Secret, so I can teach people how to properly size their undergarments.

I used to work at two different McDonald's, one in NY and one in Rhode Island. When I went to L.A., I figured getting a McDonald's job would've been a walk in the park. Nope. I applied from store to store and was shocked that I couldn't get it. They all said the same thing, "No openings."

Last edited by redrobin62 on 05 Oct 2013, 3:10 pm, edited 1 time in total.

It's harder to get unskilled than skilled jobs. There's more competition for it so they can be more selective. The kinds of jobs I usually work require some kind of skill such as typing at a certain speed. BTW - most of these have paid minimum, a little above, or less (1099 MISC).

Last edited by EsotericResearch on 05 Oct 2013, 12:52 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Intelligence hardly factors in to employment decisions. The main things that employers look at are work experience, accomplishments, and personality. At minimum wage jobs, they typically don't really look at any of those things, they just grab a few resumes off of the massive stack of applications and hire the first people who seem like they will actually show up for work, and won't steal from the company. Many of those unskilled jobs will have 100+ people applying for a single position.

what has happened to our society when the unskilled jobs are more sought after than the skilled jobs?

Intelligence is not so much a factor at McDonald's as is a cheerful disposition and a willingness to follow orders. Managers are trained (at "Hamburger University") to recognize potential employees who have both of these qualities.

So in other words, McDonalds is just like the military but for the "cheerful disposition" part.

Not quite, but close. It's more like the Infantry (or the Bosun's Mates) except for the "cheerful disposition" part.

Still, better to be working for Mickey D's, than to be working for Wally's world. Management at Walmart is quite inhuman. I won't shop there unless I can't find it anywhere else, or if something breaks late at night and there's no other stores open. (especially when the flapper on the toilet is shot and the water won't stop running.)

Also, low-skill jobs don't want too many "smart" people.

Wal-Mart wants to pay so little and treat worker like they are disposable that they have no benefit from hiring smart people. Most "smart" people quit as soon as they find something better. Yeah, they'll hire a few smart people on the hope they will move up into management, but there's not enough promotion room for every worker they hire. Better to hire mediocre people who will stay because they can't find anything better.

What do you buy midnight at Walmart to fix the flapper problem?

I ended up buying an entire flapper assembly to fix the half-bath by the den.

When I was 17 I applied to MacDonalds and got invited to a group interview where they sat us all down in a room and played a propaganda video about how wonderful MacDonalds is to animals and the environment. And there was two tough looking security guards in the room standing and watching us as if making sure we were accepting what it said. It was so bizarre and made me think MacDonalds is a military organization.

After that we had individual interviews and I told them that I didn't want the job after all.

(This was in the 1980's so it may have changed a bit since)

If you are smart get some training in IT or go to college.

The only job interview I ever had was at KFC and I didn't get hired.

Ya wait till 18 then try for that. Might be even tougher to get a job at Victoria's Secret though.

Finding work anywhere just plain sucks because intelligence is worthless. BS and fake people skills are all that matters.

When I was 22 and over a year out of university (and finding zero jobs) I decided my look at a career at the big box retailer I worked at. I started to speak up and being naive I thought that showing off my intelligence would make management drool with excitement and what a fine worker I was. Instead, I seem to get in trouble constantly and was framed for giving away product at 80% off. It took me a long time that I was one of about 10 people in 3 years they couldn't fire so they made their job as miserable as possible in order to get them to quit. Another reason why a general "degree" at a university is a waste of money. Unless you know what you are doing, don't bother wasting time or money because being "smart" can be a liability more than an asset.