IT Hire Wire

I recently attended a business luncheon in Chicago with Jim Skinner, CEO of McDonald’s as the keynote speaker. His company has certainly been getting some positive attention lately as one of the few consumer-focused companies actually growing in this economy. As I listened to his description of the tactics McDonald’s utilizes to grow their Fortune 500 company around the world, I was struck by the fact this man started his career in his local McDonald’s while in high school. After he graduated and joined the Navy, Jim returned home and took a job as a McDonald’s restaurant manager trainee. From there, he worked his way up to CEO in 2004. Pretty cool story.

I wonder, in our current period of economic uncertainty, what might motivate an IT professional to step off the traditional career path through America’s cube farms and into a quick service restaurant environment? What if you knew that nearly half of the current McDonald’s global executive team had done so?

[Side note for our IT Hire Wire regulars: our video resume guru, Kris Rzepkowski, paid his dues at Chuck E. Cheese's, but thankfully he's here at Hudson now instead of their corporate headquarters!]

Where to start? A quick search on McDonald’s restaurant careers site provides numerous Manager, Assistant Manager, and Manager Trainee openings. Or, if you’d rather jump right into the corporate side, check out their corporate careers site where they offer no less than 7 current IT internship openings. Note: You don’t necessarily have to be attending school or a new grad. for an internship. Remember that time Chandler became an intern on Friends?

A word of advice before you submit your application to McDonald’s (or any company): always research the IT department and its leadership in advance. Look for current initiatives the company is touting, and highlight relevant experience on your resume and/or cover letter. For example, a simple Google search will inform you that earlier this year, David Weick, SVP and CIO, was honored with a Distinguished Career Achievement for developing a global point-of-sale system. On March 25, he was quoted discussing credit card security. Setting aside time to do your homework can make a difference on your application, and even more importantly, during the interview.

So, what sets McDonald’s apart as a global brand? At the event, CEO Skinner discussed several features that have kept the company successful, including talent management and leadership development. With their executive roster prominently populated by former “crew members,” McDonald’s clearly puts their money where their mouth is (or the where customer’s mouth is, in this case).

Supersizing your IT career may not be such a bad idea at McDonald’s.

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Photo by Peter Wynn Thompson for The New York Times

Tags: IT Jobs, McDonald's, untraditional career

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