DESPERATE ARCHITECTS BEGGING TO WORK AT McDONALD'S

ARCHITECTS, bankers and accountants have applied for jobs at a McDonald's that hasn't even opened yet.

Highly qualified professionals are looking for E9.31-an-hour work at the fast food outlet in Ennis, where unem- ployment has risen by 73 per cent in the past 12 months.

The restaurant is still being built but a poster at the site attracted 500 applicants for 50 jobs.

Kieran McDermott, who owns the franchise, said: 'In ten days we had 500 job applications and the jobs were advertised nowhere other than the banner we put up.

'We have had ...

Bankers and architects among 500 ‘McJobs’ CVs

By Gordon Deegan and Stephen Rogers
UNEMPLOYED bankers, accountants and architects are among hundreds of applicants for staff jobs in Ireland’s latest McDonald’s outlet.

Such was the volume of interest in the so-called McJobs, franchisee of the McDonald’s in Clare Kieran McDermott said he was forced to take down the banner advertising vacancies at the site.

“We have had applications from bankers, accountants and architects to work at the Ennis outlet. I had to do a double take on the CVs. It’s no joke.”

Construction work is ongoing on the outlet, which is due to open around Easter and Mr McDermott said he had to remove the ‘Now hiring’ banner after 10 days due to the volume of applications.

“In the 10 days, we had 500 jobs applications and the jobs were advertised nowhere else except for the banner we put up.”

Mr McDermott said the applicants have come from all sectors. “They are very skilled, very employable and very enthusiastic.”

He said the situation is in marked contrast to when he opened the McDonald’s outlet in Shannon in late 2002.

“Then I had to seek the employees, now it is a different situation,” he said.

Ennis-based recruitment expert Dermot Daly, managing director of Key 2 Recruitment, said he was not surprised that professionals such as architects and accountants would be applying for jobs in McDonalds.

“Jobs in those professions aren’t there at the moment and people are taking whatever they can get. Nobody knows when the recession is going to turn around so these people are looking for any kind of part-time or short-term work.”

Mr Daly said professionals are willing to take work that they wouldn’t have considered in the past and for substantially less money.

“There are jobs still there, but companies are prepared to wait for the exact match,” he said.