CHARLESTON — With summer around the corner, McDonald’s USA and its independent franchisees are gearing up to hire approximately 250,000 restaurant employees across the country, including the Tri-State area, between the months of June and August.

More than half of the hires at company-owned restaurants are projected to be between the ages of 16-24 years old, and for many, a first job. For young job seekers, ths is good news since, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, less than a third of teenagers will have a job between Memorial Day and Labor Day due to less traditional summer job opportunities being available.

To aid hiring efforts, McDonald’s is leading the way with a modern approach to recruiting, Snapchat. ‘Snaplications,’ a term coined by McDonald’s, is a first-to-market hiring tool in the U.S. that allows job seekers to be served an ad and opportunity to begin the application process for a job at a McDonald’s restaurant through the Snapchat app. McDonald’s used a similar Snaplications execution in Australia earlier this year, and the company is also utilizing platforms such as Spotify and Hulu to reach potential job seekers in a new way for the brand.

“We’re always looking for new and innovative ways to find job seekers,” Jez Langhorn, McDonald’s USA HR senior director, said. “We thought Snaplications was a great way to allow us to meet younger job seekers where they are, their phones.”

Beginning today, Snapchat users nationwide may be served 10-second video ads of real restaurant employees talking about the benefits of working at McDonald’s. Viewers can then swipe up to instantly visit the McDonald’s career webpage in Snapchat to explore the opportunities offered by McDonald’s and apply to their local restaurant if they so choose.

“McDonald’s is a great place for your first job, or to start a career in the restaurant industry. We offer restaurant employees flexible schedules, professional skills and education opportunities,” Katie Foster, local owner/operator and People Lead for McDonald’s of the Tri-State, said. “Using Snapchat is a unique way to make young people aware of the employment opportunities available at McDonald’s.”

McDonald’s and its independent franchisees strive to offer a work environment that sets employees up for success at McDonald’s and beyond with education programs such as ‘Archways to Opportunity,’ which gives employees an opportunity to earn a high school diploma, receive upfront tuition assistance for college courses, access academic advising courses and learn English as a second language.

Job seekers can visit www.McDonalds.com/careers to learn more and apply.