McDonald's Progressive Young Farmer Placement Review

I got exactly what I wanted from placement. It had the right amount of time spent on farm within 2 very different systems and both farms were very well managed in term of livestock and staff. Time spent in processing was enough for me to improve my understanding of the McDonalds Field to Fork process. We went to many event such as OFC as well as insight days to other supplier's with the other PYFs, we were a great group who all got on- these were some of the best times. I wanted to focus more on farms and farmers and this placement is very flexible for the individual.

Again 2 very different part to placement. I lived with 2 families whilst i spent time on farm and they treated me like family. The people who owned the farm and worked on it was great! They valued my opinions and experiences. Whilst in processing, environment was a lot more professional which I am not used to. Despite being based in processing office for 3 month, some people made you feel like you were on a weeks work experience. Other departments were great, valued the work I did.

The placement allows you a lot of freedom and you need to be very independent and socially able to deal with awkward situations, e.g. turning up to departments/farms by yourself and explaining who you are. Support is given through weekly catch up with supervisor and through quarterly reviews with McDonald's. Other PYFs are a really good support network, sometimes much better than the companies or farms as we were all in the same situations. It is a really good informally support provided by the placement. We are really good friends now after placement has finished.

Again dependant on where I was. On farm, it was slow to start with until farmer determines experience level and capabilities. Then i was really busy on farm, especially during the busy periods, harvest and calving. I enjoyed the busy times and this is when you get most responsibility. In processing, it was slower as you were always in a new department, so never got any really work as you were understanding what that department did, which was alot of shadowing. Throughout the whole placement, you are able to set your work load.

On farm, i was given loads of responsibilities including leading teams, organising calf feeding, having my projects. The level of responsibility I had increased at busy times of the year when an extra person was needed. At the beginning of each farm placement, i didn't have much responsibility which allowed me to learn the role quickly. During processing, i held less responsibility as I was not based in a department long enough to being given tasks. However I did help to put presentation slides together and my work was valued and used in customer meetings.

The placement helped me to decided what i want to do after university- farm or industry. It has provided me with lots of contacts to help with my desired path. The experience of one of the farm business structure has helped me to decide on a HRP topic in my final year. And the year project has improved my report writing skills which will help with my final university year. There are lots of transferable skills that are gained from this placement that would help with any career.

Both farm and processing work environment was helpful and friendly. On farm, the farmer and farm workers help me to understand the roles and routines on that particular farm. They were good to work with in a team as well. Processing of an office environment, I never had a desk and 'hot-desked' on free ones in the department I was based in. the was a fun environment was monthly, themed, business meeting for all employees. Mental health and well-being was a big focus whilst I was there.

The placement is well organised. At the beginning of the year, I was given a year diary with dates, location, contacts and brief description of what would be happening. I found this really clear and referred to it many times through the year. The were always agendas provided to all the events we went to and to the insights days. This was helpful in organising transport there and planning clothes needed. Covid-19 disrupted the year plan however clear plans of meetings were provided quickly after lock down happened.

At the beginning of the year, McDonald's sent us on an external Health and Safety training course with the National Farmers Union. This was really useful and realistic course that would actually help during dangerous situations. They also paid for the scholars programme at the Oxford Farming Conference, which helped improve debated and communication skills. As well as networking and communication skills with the other scholars and industry people. Internally there was a lots of training and development on skills, such as a teacher from the McDonald's University taught us how to improve presentation and communication skills. There is many skilled developed during this placement.

There is very little employment prospects within McDonald's however their are opportunities for the supplying companies. If you were really keen for a future career with one of the suppliers (didnt have to be the one you were working for) or even McDonalds would consider you. All that was needed was genuine commitment, hard work and needing to ask them. Personally it was not the carer path for me. However this placement would greatly improve anyone employ ability for any sector.

There are 10 placement roles offered with this placement, working for different supplying companies. For most of the year, we were based all over the UK and Ireland. However we remained in contact through social media. We used to meet during events and insight days (probability 10-12 times) during the year. We would spend a lot of time together, having breakfast, dinner and going out together. These were really good bonding times and I made some good memories.

This is very different for all the placements. For me cost of living was very cheap. McDonald's paid for my hotels during the induction period and insight days on top of my salary. During farm 1, I had a free room in with the family that owned the farm this also included food etc. The was free in return for the hours I worked on the farm as they paid nothing to McDonald's for me. I stayed with this family during my time in processing and paid for this by milking at the weekend. On farm 2, term were similar to farm 1. I didn't do much socialising during placement as I choice to work more hour on farm, so I had free accommodation.

I didnt really do much socialising when I was working, I put everything into the job. However when I met with the other PYFs, we always found a really good sesh. Some of the insight days, was in poor nightlife areas such as Penrith however it was always good companies. Again if you want a good social life and there is no Covid 19, there are many opportunities to go out during the whole year.

There was the opportunity to involve yourself in activities outside of work. However many of these opportunities were cut short this year by Covid 19. this placement is very flexibility to suit the person.