Bikini hiring contest for nuclear plant interns gets toxic reaction

PRAGUE (CNN) It’s normal to expect a certain level of scrutiny when a company wants to hire an intern. That scrutiny is not usually based on swimwear.

A Czech nuclear power station seemed to focus more on looks than qualifications when they used a swimsuit contest — yes, swimsuit contest — to hire interns.

CEZ’s Temelín station posted photos of 10 high school graduates posing in bikinis and hard hats on its Facebook page last week. According to the post, the woman with the greatest number of likes was supposed to be crowned “Miss Energy 2017” and score a two-week internship with the company.

“We think photographs are very tasteful,” the company wrote in a comment on the post. “The combination of beauty and the industrial environment gives an interesting result.”

Shockingly, people were not thrilled.

“You find the number of likes under half-naked picture of a young lady as adequate and/or tasteful criterion for a career opportunity that is promoted as ‘professional?'” one Facebook user commented.

The plant, which is listed on CEZ’s website as the largest power resource in the Czech Republic, apologized two days later on Facebook. The company wrote that all 10 women would be offered internships.

“The purpose of the competition was to promote technical education,” the post read. “But if the original vision raised doubts or concerns, we are very sorry.”