‘Alexa, help me find a job at McDonald’s’

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People looking for a job at fast food chain McDonald’s can now start their application using Alexa or Google Assistant.

The global chain is hoping to attract new staff with increasingly popular voice-powered assistants taking answers to a few basic questions such as name, job area of interest and location.

With the Apply Thru skill activated on Alexa devices, jobseekers can say: “Alexa, help me get a job at McDonald’s”.

On a device with Google Assistant, users can ask: “OK Google, talk to McDonald’s Apply Thru.”

Once they have provided the information, potential applicants will receive a text message providing a link to continue their application.

“We must continue to innovate and think of creative – and in this case, groundbreaking – ways to meet potential jobseekers on devices they are already using, like Alexa,” said McDonald’s executive vice president and chief people officer David Fairhurst.

“Alexa has many of the qualities we look for on our teams — friendly, responsive and fun. I am looking forward to having our application process simplified with Alexa.”

The experience is available in the UK and Ireland, the US, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Spain.

Using smart speakers is the brand’s latest move into tech, after it recently announced it had bought a voice-based start-up company to make its drive-thru ordering process automated.

It is expected to make the experience faster, simpler and more accurate, McDonald’s said, and could be incorporated into mobile ordering and kiosks.

The company also acquired an AI machine-learning company in March, which will automatically change drive-thru menu panels depending on factors such as weather, time, restaurant traffic and trends.

McDonald’s buys automated digital voice start-up for Drive-Thrus

Chris Price
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