Here’s an approach to recruitment that turns on its head the traditional ways to choose applicants you want to actually meet and interview and, indeed, the interview method itself.

Forbes reports that the Yum! Brands-owned Pizza Hut restaurant chain will be holding interviews on Sunday March 10 during the South by Southwest festival in Austin, Texas, for a social media manager position where each interview will be conducted in a pretty radical way.

[…] The interviews will last just 140 seconds as in the hyper speed, think-on-your-feet social media space, Pizza Hut wants applicants who can actually demonstrate their credentials — not only in real time but in the time it takes to snap and share a twit pic.

“It’s the modern day elevator speech,” said Doug Terfehr, Pizza Hut Director, Public Relations. “The time you have to tell a story, engage a customer or leave a lasting impression on someone socially has shrunk to seconds. We think our open position is one of the best jobs available for people who work in this space. Few industries are as fast-paced as QSR [quick service restaurants] and few brands have as active of a social media presence as Pizza Hut. We can’t wait to meet some of the best and brightest at South by Southwest.”

[…] the company will conduct a another round of interviews via Google+ on March 14, which you might recognize as 3.14 – National Pi Day.

The job itself is posted to Pizza Hut’s jobs website under the formal title “Manager, Social Media & Digital Advertising Job“, saying this under the job description section:

Reporting to the Director of Digital Marketing, the Manager of Digital Greatness will be responsible for guiding the digital team as it strikes up conversations and forms bonds with the Pizza Hut fan base. Using a tool kit of digital advertising and social media, this person must find ways to support Pizza Hut’s national marketing calendar, as well as discover new, innovative ways to drive traffic to pizzahut.com.

Ready for a whirlwind job in QSR retail? Then listen up. This social media maven will be responsible for leading the digital and social agencies on the quest to create breakthrough (and breathtaking) work that brings the Pizza Hut digital strategy to life.

Must be a professional multitasker, serving as a key partner in crime to media and technology. The candidate should deliver success through building, driving and collaborating with all Pizza Hut teams to achieve what everyone wants—results.

This person must be on top of all things digital, including industry trends and cutting-edge digital opportunities. Must be affluent in discovering new ways to make Pizza Hut the undisputed champ within the digital space.

I don’t know about being “affluent in discovering new ways to make Pizza Hut the undisputed champ within the digital space,” but I think Pizza Hut’s overall approach – including using hashtags: I really love #becauseimgreat – will resonate strongly within the young demographic group they’re clearly targeting with this approach (just check the tweets at the hashtag to get an idea).

And watch the video:

(If you don’t see the video embedded above, watch it at YouTube.)

Which social media-savvy young communicator with five years or more digital and management experience under his or her belt, with practical know-how of the way social works in popular culture, wouldn’t want to be known as “the Manager of Digital Greatness”?

Bold, Pizza Hut, and you will get criticism. You’ll also get talked about hugely, online and offline. While it’s not clear what happens after the 140-second and Google+ interviews – there are more links in the hiring chain, right? – I look forward to seeing how you confound your critics.

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