DENVER--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sep. 14, 2016-- Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE: CMG) today announced its second-annual National Career Day, taking place on Wednesday, September 28, 2016 during which it seeks to hire 5,000 new employees, topping its 2015 goal of 4,000.

Managers of each U.S. restaurant location will hold open interviews for up to 100 applicants from 8-11 a.m. and 3-5 p.m. on September 28. Interested candidates are invited to register for an interview at the Chipotle location of their choice by visiting www.nationalcareerday.com.

Chipotle currently employs more than 60,000 people, and people who are hired into entry-level crew positions have the potential to quickly be promoted into management positions. Over the last year, the company has promoted more than 11,000 people from hourly crew into management roles. Through National Career Day, interested applicants will have the opportunity to interview onsite with a manager and jumpstart their career with one of the nation’s fastest growing restaurant companies.

“We are constantly looking for great people to join our team. Regardless of your background or experience, you can succeed at Chipotle if you are willing to work hard to create an excellent guest experience, and have a passion for making the people around you better,” said Monty Moran, co-chief executive officer at Chipotle. “With the success of last year’s National Career Day, we hope to hire 5,000 new people during National Career Day to join our team and start their career at Chipotle. Working here isn’t just a job, but a career where employees learn how to make others better, run a successful business, master culinary skills, and most importantly, become true leaders, of teams of top performers.”

With a company culture that values character over experience (no experience is required to apply or be hired), Chipotle bases its hiring on a specific set of 13 Characteristics that indicate an applicant’s potential for success within the company. These traits include being conscientious, respectful, hospitable, high energy, infectiously enthusiastic, happy, presentable, smart, polite, motivated, ambitious, curious and honest.

Unlike most companies in the traditional fast food and fast casual industries, Chipotle offers all employees significant career advancement opportunities, as well as compensation and benefits above industry standard. By developing career skills internally, more than 90 percent of the company’s restaurant managers are promoted from within. The highest performing managers have the additional opportunity to be promoted to Restaurateur, which offers benefits such as a company car and six-figure earning potential. Many people have been promoted from crew or general manager positions to executive roles, or even officer roles, within the company.

Chipotle also offers a highly competitive benefits package to all employees, including paid sick leave and vacation time; tuition assistance; heavily discounted undergraduate and graduate classes and college programs through its partnership with Guild Education; health, dental and vision insurance; a 401(k) matching program; employee stock purchase program; and the opportunity for twice-annual merit increases and an annual bonus. A full look at the career path and benefits can be found on Chipotle’s Career site: http://careers.chipotle.com/career-path.

For Chipotle’s first National Career Day, nearly 65,000 people registered for interviews and Chipotle extended job offers to more than 4,000 people throughout the week of National Career Day.

For more information and to register for an interview, please visit www.NationalCareerDay.com.

ABOUT CHIPOTLE

Steve Ells, founder, chairman and co-CEO, started Chipotle with the idea that food served fast did not have to be a typical fast food experience. Today, Chipotle continues to offer a focused menu of burritos, tacos, burrito bowls (a burrito without the tortilla) and salads made from fresh, high-quality raw ingredients, prepared using classic cooking methods and served in a distinctive atmosphere. Through our vision of Food With Integrity, Chipotle is seeking better food from using ingredients that are not only fresh, but that — where possible — are sustainably grown and raised responsibly with respect for the animals, the land and the farmers who produce the food. In order to achieve this vision, we focus on building a special people culture that is centered on creating teams of top performers empowered to achieve high standards. This people culture not only leads to a better dining experience for our customers, it also allows us to develop future leaders from within. Chipotle opened with a single restaurant in 1993 and operates more than 2,000 restaurants, including 24 Chipotle restaurants outside the US and 14 ShopHouse Southeast Asian Kitchen restaurants, and is an investor in an entity that owns and operates four Pizzeria Locale restaurants. For more information, visit Chipotle.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160914005403/en/

Source: Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc.

Chipotle Mexican Grill
Chris Arnold, 303.222.5912
carnold@chipotle.com