THE recruitment of 350 people for McDonald's across the Tweed and Gold Coast has started with a rush of applicants.

Michelle Orton-Dessaix, who is the licensee of four stores (Tweed Centro, Coolangatta, Burleigh Heads and Marina Mirage) said she had already employed staff from the recruitment campaign.

"We hired five this week between the Coolangatta and Tweed restaurants, and four at the Burleigh Heads store," Ms Orton-Dessaix said.

"I don't want to have too many trainees at once.

"There has been a lot of interest in the recruitment drive from people of all different age groups."

McDonald's wanted to employ 350 people of all ages before July to work in restaurants across the Gold Coast and the Tweed.

Ms Orton-Dessaix was looking for 30-40 staff across her restaurants.

"For me, we have had a better year because three of my stores are in tourist areas," Ms Orton-Dessaix said.

Ms Orton-Dessaix said the rise in business for her stores meant she needed more staff of all ages.

"We need a very mixed kettle of fish. We have such a wide variety of hours where we need workers," she said.

Ms Orton-Dessaix knows first-hand about the opportunities available at McDonald's after starting as a crew member before climbing the ladder to management and the purchasing her first license about 10 years ago.

McDonald's Cavill Ave licensee Tania Balhatchet said the recruitment drive was a great opportunity for the Gold Coast community.

"McDonald's restaurants provide nationally accredited training opportunities and employees who progress to management level will receive training to achieve a Certificate II and III in Management," Ms Balhatchet said.