Applicants storm local store seeking supersized jobs at McDonald's

While neither snow, nor rain, nor gloom of night can keep from the postman from his appointed rounds, neither could lightning, thunder or hail keep job applicants from the Greencastle McDonald's Tuesday on the restaurant giant's first-ever national hiring day.

While nationally McDonald's was hoping to supersize its workforce by hiring an additional 50,000 employees in one day at its 14,000 sites, the local restaurant was targeting 50 applicants and about a dozen new hires.

That was the word from Bobby Hopper, who coincidentally was promoted himself Tuesday morning to area supervisor for Jedele Enterprises, which owns six area McDonald's stores -- Greencastle, Cloverdale, Mooresville, Brazil (in the Pilot gas station) and two units in Crawfordsville. Hopper will maintain ties with the Greencastle store as its area supervisor, while a new general manager will be promoted or hired for the local restaurant.

Despite the storm, a handful of people were already waiting to participate in the application process when it began at 8 a.m. in the glassed-in party room at the local restaurant. By the end of the lunch hour, they had taken 38 applications and were expecting 50 by the end of the evening.

"Actually we were very busy during the storm," Hopper said. "A lot of people probably came in on their lunch break and applied for a job. Most of them were very local, of college and career age, about 18 to 30. Some were looking for part-time jobs, some were looking for full-time.

"And we're interested in them whether they're career-minded or just looking for a couple of hours a day," Hopper added, "from crew up to managers."

"People were really excited," noted Cheyenne Maddox, a recent McCafe hire who served as hostess for the event.

She helped usher applicants to the room where Jennie Taylor, the local hiring manager who has been employed for five years at McDonald's, helped them sign up on line and interviewed those who completed the process and had time to continue.

At lunchtime, she had a half-dozen or more people waiting to get on the computers.

"I've just been talking to them and getting to know them a little," Taylor said of the interviewees. "Once we figure out our needs here, we'll be calling them back (for a full-fledged interview)."

Taylor herself started with McDonald's at age 17. Now 23, she agrees with Hopper about the experience helping her grow as a person.

Hopper said many of his younger hires come in as introverted teenagers but often blossom into adults as they learn to deal with the public in a very public setting.

"We provide something for them (in terms of employment and a paycheck) and the experience provides something for them whether they are career-minded or just short term, and they, in turn, provide something back to us."

The Greencastle store currently employs 68 people, counting managers and part-timers. Hopper said Tuesday's hiring-day effort should mean 8-12 new additions.