Teens looking for a job at McDonald’s in the U.S. need only a smartphone and the Snapchat app to apply for a position within the company.
The Golden Arches is expected to hire 250,000 employees this summer — more than last year —and is using the popular social media app to lure in younger applicants.
“The summer months are a busy time of year for us,” a McDonald’s spokeswoman told CNBC.
The company declined to specify how many employees were hired last summer.
Starting Tuesday, Snapchat users will encounter 10-second video ads featuring McDonald’s restaurant employees talking about their experiences within the company. Users can then swipe up on the screen to visit the McDonald’s career page within Snapchat. Once there they can apply for jobs at their local restaurant.
McDonald’s first used the Snapchat application, or “snaplication,” in Australia in April.
“We’re always looking for new and innovative ways to find job seekers,” Jez Langhorn, senior director in HR for McDonald’s USA, said in a statement. “We thought Snaplications was a great way to allow us to meet job seekers where they are — their phones.”
The company said that more than half of the hires in its company-owned restaurants are between the ages of 16 to 24 years old and, for many, McDonald’s is their first job. The company will also be using Spotify and Hulu to reach millennial workers.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that less than a third of teenagers will have a job between Memorial Day and Labor Day.
The increase in hiring at McDonald’s comes as the burger chain is trying to win back customers and boost sales by improving its customer service. Part of that effort includes slowly adding self-service ordering kiosks, craft burgers and table service to its stores since last November.
In these refurbished locations, McDonald’s employees will now spend more time in the front of the restaurant, delivering food directly to the tables and offering traditional dining hospitality.
In addition, the company has been rolling out third-party delivery nationwide in partnership with Uber. McDonald’s expects 3,500 stores to be equipped for this service by the end of June.
Delivery has become a key priority in fast food, but hiring a fleet of drivers can be a huge undertaking for chains. While McDonald’s is skipping the need to recruit drivers by using third-party vendors, delivery may boost sales and require more people to make the food and monitor the orders.