Summertime can only mean one thing - hiring season is in full swing.
Across the country, major corporations and small businesses are gearing up to bring on interns and employees for the summer months. And how are they finding their target demographic? By hitting up the social platforms that Millennials frequent the most often, of course.
If you're ready to do away with standard job apps and spice up how you reel in summer hires, take a page from brands flexing their recruiting muscle via social media.
McDonald's
Where they're hiring: Snapchat.
What's their strategy? As reported by the USA Today, McDonald's has 250,000 positions to fill this summer and they're using Snapchat to attract Millennials into saying "I'm lovin' it!" with their hiring process. Applicants can apply with Snaplications, 10-second video submissions where applicants explain what makes them the perfect fit for the job.
The videos are sent directly from your smartphone to the fast-food chain to streamline the process. While it's too soon to know just how successful using Snapchat will be for McDonald's, it's a smart and savvy way to reach a generation that prefers to communicate through social.
ESPN
Where they're hiring: Across all social platforms with an extra emphasis on LinkedIn.
What's their strategy? As one of the most popular brands among Millennial consumers, ESPN thinks like a Millennial with their recruitment process.
Anne LaBeaume, Senior Manager of Disney Campus Recruitment, revealed on Forbes that they use social to connect with potential interns and to pull data from LinkedIn profiles and resume submissions. They also illustrate what life working at ESPN is like through video.
Millennials have long valued company culture and the ways that they can contribute and leave an impact to the brand's bottom line. Videos are created for the company website and social platforms to give applicants a glimpse at what the company stands for and what working there is like.
Havas
Where they're hiring: Instagram with a focus on Instagram Stories.
What's their strategy? The first rule of going into advertising is that creativity is a must - even during something as seemingly mundane as the job application process.
At Havas Chicago, interns have been brought on to work for the agency through social for several years. Jason M. Peterson, CCO of Havas Worldwide, credits social media contests on platforms like Snapchat and Instagram for finding great interns who understand the importance of creating "insta-content."
Speaking of said content, the next time you're looking for an internship give Instagram Stories a second look. Havas' recent Winternship program asked candidates to sell the freezing winters of Chicago via Stories. Hopeful applicants had six days to form a strategy and two days to post their Stories with applications promoted through the rest of their social platforms.
While the exercise was definitely all about thinking outside of the box, it also provided applicants with a sneak peek at the kind of hands-on experience they'd receive working at the company.
GrubHub
Where they're hiring: Snapchat.
What's their strategy? An oldie but an effective goodie, in 2016 the online food ordering brand recruited interns that had mad "Snapchat Skillz." Applicants followed a two-step process to apply: snap GrubHub with your best doodle and apply at a Google link provided by the deadline. Easy peasy - just don't forget to include your name.
While brands may be utilizing social platforms to hire employees now more than ever before, some application aspects, like full names and references, will always be a necessary part of the process.
These are just some of the innovative and creative ways big brands are using social platforms - where younger users are spending most of their time anyway - to boost their recruitment efforts.