Applying for your first step on the career ladder can be a daunting process, often involving a painstaking number of CV spell-checks and an obsessive habit of refreshing your email inbox.

However, one hopeful group of female job applicants had to clear a rather different hurdle when they applied to work in a nuclear power plant in the Czech Republic – after bosses told them to strip down to their bikinis to compete for internship positions.

Offering the dubious title of “Miss Energy 2017” to the winning applicant, the energy plant called on recent high school graduates to pose in their bikinis and a hardhat (natch) in front of a cooling tower at the plant.

Taking to their Facebook page to announce the competition, the company wrote, “The girl with the greatest number of likes will get the title of ‘Bouncer of Energy’ and spend two weeks of residency with us.”

The company then shared photos of 10 of the hopeful girls, encouraging users to like their favourite one to help them win the residency position.

Nuclear power plant makes girls compete for internships in bikini competition