Local McDonald’s plans to hire 500

By Ashley Luthern | April 9, 2011 at 12:00a.m.

YOUNGSTOWN

A local McDonald’s franchisee is planning to hire 500 new employees through the company’s nationwide initiative April 19.

H.L.W. Fast Track Inc. owns 23 McDonald’s franchises from Cleveland to Western Pennsylvania, with the majority located in the Youngstown area, said Terrell Washington, who is training to be a franchisee with his father, Herb Washington.

“We are hiring all positions: crew, management, midmanagement. All our open positions will be staffed using the national hiring day,” Washington said.

The company already is accepting applications online at www.McDonalds.com/Careers and scheduling interviews, he added.

“A lot of [applicants] who are doing it in advance are getting called in before the national hiring day,” Washington said.

Three local hiring headquarters will have open interviews from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. April 19. The headquarters are at the following McDonald’s locations: 1110 Boardman-Poland Road, 3630 Belmont Ave. and 5526 Mahoning Ave.

Prospective applicants can bring in a r sum or other materials but are not required to do so, Washington said.

“This is the first time McDonald’s has done hiring on such a grand a scale. Before, it was just on the local level,” said Laura Hegedus of Stern Public Relations, which represents McDonald’s.

The national goal of the initiative is to hire up to 50,000 new employees in a combination of seasonal, full- and part-time positions, depending on individual restaurants, she said.