McDonald's Australia Graduate Programs & Internships

What it does: McDonald's sells burgers, chicken sandwiches, various types of fried chicken, breakfast items, french fries, desserts, and soft drinks. It also offers salads, wraps, and other localized meals

Mission: To provide people with great food and great service at great value for money

Size and presence: In Australia, it has 1020 restaurants and 105,000 employees across restaurants and management offices (2020)

Best known for The biggest fast food chain in the world

The good bits: One of Australia’s largest employers to give young people their first job (Employer of Choice four years running)

The not-so-good bits: A fast-paced environment, can be very hectic for those who work in the kitchen

The Story of McDonald’s Australia

The history of McDonald’s began in 1954, at a burger outlet in California. A milkshake machine salesman named Ray Kroc received an order from the outlet and he was impressed by their menu which was simple and cheap but tasted good.

Ray made them an offer to open new McDonald’s stores and give them an amount of the gross sales for the use of their name and idea. Ray opened his first store and began to build the business by granting franchises to local entrepreneurs. By 1960, he had already opened 200 restaurants throughout the USA. Today, McDonald’s has more than 36,000 restaurants in over 119 countries.

McDonald’s Australia opened its first restaurant in 1971 in the Sydney suburb of Yagoona. It works across three elements of business: the company, the franchisees, and the supplier partners. At the heart of McDonald’s Australia business is a franchise business with more than 80% of the restaurants owned and operated by franchisees, while the remaining 20% are owned and operated by the McDonald’s Australia company.

Culture & vibe

For many young Australians, McDonald’s is their first job. As one of the largest employers in Australia, they offer a supportive working environment, world-class training programs, and the opportunity to develop a long-term career with McDonald’s.

McDonald's is a good first job opportunity because it teaches responsibility in a job setting, as well as different skills that will be utilised in your future professional lives and allow you to understand how the workplace functions.

In serving great food and providing great customer service, they prioritise health and safety. They have over 1020 restaurants in Australia, so there are some things that will be different from restaurant to restaurant. However, an important part of living their values is prioritising diversity, equity and inclusion across their business. McDonald’s also facilitates learning and sharing in its restaurants. 

Recruitment process

The careers in McDonald’s consist of restaurant careers and corporate careers. To apply, you just need to click on the Job Search button on the page of the vacancy you are interested in. After selecting the role suited to you, you need to complete an online application form.

The hiring process is straightforward. If you have the right to work, you may be invited to an interview. Some of the interviews are individual (typically lasting for around 15 minutes), whilst others are organised with a number of applicants in a group interview setting (may take up to an hour).

The interviews may also be conducted by phone, virtually, or in person. If you nailed the interview, you will receive the offers of employment. However, as part of their onboarding procedures, McDonald’s Australia also carries out criminal background checks and visa checks (both initial and ongoing).

Career prospects

McDonald’s equips those who work with them with technical and soft skills that give them the foundations to forge a career within McDonald’s and beyond. They offer nationally recognised and award-winning qualifications in retail and food service. Internally, they offer a range of scholarships and training programs to help their people build their professional skills and future career opportunities.

McDonald’s also promotes its employees. They value talent and aim to encourage employees to remain within their business. Almost half of their Executive Team started in restaurants. There are no limits to how far or fast the employees can progress.

Benefits

McDonald’s provides the following benefits for their employees:

• Wellbeing program: 5 Ways of Wellbeing in the Restaurants as employee safety is a key priority
• Discounts at major retailers: MyBenefits program gives all employees product discounts from over 1000 retail
• Traineeships
• Performance Reviews: feedback is critical, and staying in touch with the manager is key
• Flexible scheduling: opportunities for all employees to work flexibly
• Rewards and recognition
• Discounted meals: 20% off
• Learning and development: the opportunity to grow and progress by learning transferable work and life skills

Social Contributions

Some of their contribution to the society includes:

• McDonald’s Australia is a part of the McDonald’s Flagship Farmers programme, which develops and demonstrates excellence in the three sustainability areas: economic viability, ethical practices, and environmental safeguarding. The Flagship farmers and producers make sure that their employees are paid fairly and provided with the necessary training to do their jobs safely.
• In 2005,  on McDonald's 50th Anniversary, McDonald's Australia raised more than $715,000 for CARE Australia through its restaurants to provide immediate and long-term assistance to those affected by the Tsunami
• Ronald McDonald House: provides essential care and support for families, only steps away from the hospital where their child receives the medical care they need
• Ronald McDonald Family Room: located in Women’s and Children’s Hospitals, near the child’s bedside, where carers can make a drink or a meal, take a shower, or simply rest.
• Ronald McDonald Family Retreat: gives families with a seriously ill child (or those grieving the loss of a child) the opportunity to spend needed time together.
• Ronald McDonald Learning Program: helps students catch up on missed education, making the return to school less stressful. The EDMED program also ensures teachers are well-equipped to support seriously ill children returning to school
• RMHC Hospitality Cart: provides boredom busters (books, games, arts and crafts for children) and essential items like toiletries to provide rapid, mobile care and connection with families whilst in hospital
• Ronald McDonald Care Mobile: delivers the best care across remote and rural NSW, enabling assessments and early intervention services for children in the areas.

In addition, customers also can help by donating at their local restaurant.

Sources

The following sources were used in researching this page

• modernslaveryregister.gov.au
• careers.mcdonalds.com.au
• mcdonalds.com
• indeed.com