McDonald’s started soliciting Snapchat job applications in Australia earlier this month, local media reports. The fast food restaurant chain is reportedly asking applicants to send 10-second snaps as part of their job applications. Apart from being ten seconds long, the snaps should also feature a special McDonald’s live filter that shows the applicants wearing a virtual McDonald’s uniform, the report reveals, adding how the Australian branch of the Oak Brook, Illinois-based company is referring to those snaps as “Snaplications.” The novel request isn’t meant to replace the actual interviewing process but is only intended to serve as a prelude to the conventional interview, presumably to allow McDonald’s to filter through initial applications more efficiently while simultaneously looking for outroverts, i.e. people who are comfortable enough to use social media.
Shaun Ruming, Chief Operating Officer at McDonalt’s Australia confirmed as much, saying that the company is looking for applicants who have a “bubbly personality,” something that McDonald’s believes Snapchat users do. The idea itself was apparently conceived by Ruming who learned about Snapchat from his 14-year-old daughter, then decided to contact Snap in an effort to collaborate and launch an online application campaign using the company’s social media platform. The two firms came up with a solution that has applicants send the aforementioned “Snaplications” to McDonald’s which the company’s human resources department reviews and gets back in touch with everyone who seemingly fits its personality criteria. Approved applicants will receive a message on Snapchat with a link to download the actual job application form and proceed with the regular application process.
In a statement given to local media, Ruming explained that the campaign is not only meant to help the company recruit new talent but was also designed to reflect on the fact that McDonald’s is the largest youth employer in Australia, largely thanks to its innovative efforts. The campaign officially started on Friday, though it’s currently unclear how long will it last and how much McDonald’s ended up paying for it. Regardless, the initiative marks yet another step in Snap’s efforts to differentiate Snapchat from other social networks and provide marketers with a unique advertising platform.