Loathed as we are to admit it, when ‘Snapchat’ first bound onto the scene a couple of years ago, it was our firm belief that it was no more than a simple fad – a flash in the pan of technology of little or no use to anyone that would disappear down the plughole of obscurity like so many of its overhyped predecessors – how very wrong we were.

Our own clairvoyant incompetency aside, no one could have predicted the range of ‘useful’ applications to which this unlikely product would find itself applied – most improbable of all perhaps, was as a replacement for the traditional job application.

But it seems that particular frontier has finally been crossed by pub Chain ‘Sober Lane’ which is opening a new location in Dublin and is only accepted applications via…you guessed it…Snapchat.

Under current Snapchat specs that means that prospective pint pullers had just 10 seconds to impress the employer with a selfie or video which took the place of more traditional recruitment methods (you know… an application form or CV).

We must admit we find ourselves rather torn over what to make of this novel approach to attracting job candidates – on the one hand anything which seeks to shake up the (more often than not) mind-numbing monotony of applying for a job has to be a good thing… but on the other we can see a significant possibility for unfairness and bias to come into play. Here’s our thoughts – we will let you make up your own mind.

Pros

• It’s fun and has the potential to encourage job seekers to take a creative approach
• It could encourage job seekers to really think about the role they are applying for and how they can best demonstrate their suitability within a very short space of time.
• It’s more engaging for employers than sifting through CVs or application forms

Cons

• In a time of high unemployment it trivialises people’s search for work – a search which for many is anything but trivial.
• It seems to fall into the same category as silly and intelligence insulting questions like “If you were an animal, what animal would you be?” and so forth.
• It is perhaps unfairly playing on the fact that it is currently a ‘buyers market’ for employers
• We could question is it possible to fairly gauge someone’s suitability for a role based on a 10 second snapchat?
• If a dispute should arise, there could be issues with regards the destruction of candidate application information.

There is method of course in this unusual approach, the pub’s owners Ernest Cantillion argue that with most of the pubs in Dublin selling the same products “The only thing that’s really different is your staff” and using Snapchat for initial applications would allow prospective candidates to show some personality and ability to entertain customers.

Of the 2000 Snapchats received the best included a candidate speed mixing cocktails and a chef speed preparing lunch.

We would love to hear what you think about this break from traditional recruitment, tell us your thoughts via twitter @theemployable .