McDonald’s upped the ante on hiring last month, launching a way to start applying for a job by voice.
“Alexa, help me get a job at McDonald’s” gets you to the fast food giant’s Apply Thru skill, which asks a few questions, then text’s a link to the actual application. It also works with Google Assistant enabled devices with a less intuitive, “OK Google, talk to McDonald’s Apply Thru.”
McDonald’s says it’s the world’s first voice-initiated application process, but, like every other technological advance in hiring, you can bet it won’t long have the field to itself.
Though it’s a little clunky — it skips the need to hunt for a McDonald’s job application, but you still have to fill it out by hand — it has certain a coolness factor, which is not something usually associated with fast food. That alone might encourage it’s typically young adult, entry-level candidate targets to apply.
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“We must continue to innovate and think of creative, and in this case, groundbreaking ways to meet potential job seekers on devices they are already using, like Alexa,” said McDonald’s Chief People Officer David Fairhurst.
Voice-activated applying may be the most innovative of Made at McDonald’s, the company’s latest recruiting initiative, but later this year it will launch a career navigation app in the US. According to the company, it will “allow eligible employees and the communities in which McDonald’s serves the chance to explore careers at McDonald’s and in other industries like healthcare and IT.”
