CINCINNATI — It hasn’t been easy to find employees to fill jobs, especially for small businesses. But those small businesses are getting creative in recruiting talent, specifically with TikTok. The Mac Shack is a Cincinnati restaurant that found success with the social media platform.

What You Need To Know

  • Mac Shack, a local restaurant on the University of Cincinnati's Campus, recently utilized TikTok to encourage more people to apply

  • They said just posting an application on their website wasn't cutting it anymore, and they had to get creative

  • The social media platform also hits their perfect target audience of college students

  • The restaurant has seen success on TikTok, thanks to fun and step-by-step videos

Behind every TikTok video is someone calling all the shots.

At Mac Shack, that’s Maureen Murray. She’s helped gain over 13,000 followers on TikTok for the restaurant.

“Keeping things short and going step-by-step has been really key for us," said Murray, the marketing manager for the restaurant group. "Just cutting things down into little clips and recreating things that people can either try at home if they’re far away or come in and order in the store.”

But for local restaurants like the Mac Shack, it’s been tough to find employees to keep business going.

“Having a post up online of just an application has kind of slowed down for us," Murray said.

Which is why the social media platform has been a way to reach out to potential employees.

“We saw a lot of engagement from UC students, people who are local, and then started getting comments like, 'are you guys hiring? What does being on your team look like?'" Murray said. "So building some videos off of that helps us build a brand but expand mac and cheese videos.”

Jared Cautz, an employee who started in January, said it’s a smart way to reach potential employees, especially being on the University of Cincinnati’s campus

“Everyone’s using TikTok nowadays, and that’s a great way, especially for this age group," Cautz said.

While Murray works hard to come up with ways to showcase a fun working environment, she said just having fun with it is the best advice she can give.

“Trying something new. It’s a little bit scary, but when you can spin it to look really fun, I think that’s something we do a really good job of showing the fun side of the job, showing that it’s pretty easy, step-by-step mac and cheese," she said. "It’s been a cool way to grow the simplicity but also the creativity of our brand.”