A secret Apple job advertisement has been discovered hiding online on a web page that invites the keen-eyed finder to apply for a role at the company.

Known for its secrecy around its products, the iPhone maker has given recruitment a clandestine twist by stashing away the listing for an engineer on a publicly accessible server that hosts Apple customer data.

It was found by chance by Zack Whittaker, a security editor for technology website ZDNet, who was attempting to analyse traffic data sent between iPhone apps and advertisers.

He was using a tool called Burp Suite and found that of the outgoing streams of connections several of them were linking to 'blobstore' servers, which Apple uses to host iCloud data.

Whittaker entered the address into a browser to access the us-west-1.blobstore.apple.com server and to his surprise found the message "Hey There! You found us" of the secret job posting.

It went on to say: "We are looking for a talented engineer to develop a critical infrastructure component that is to be a key part of the Apple ecosystem" and explained the role was looking for someone who loves designing, implementing and supporting highly scalable applications and web services. The individual will be dealing with "exabytes" of data within a fast-paced group with plenty of Apple-sized resources.

Critically, it asks for someone with a "strong attention to detail", which is why it was probably hidden away as anyone who found it may have been a shoo-in. Unfortunately for Apple the secret stunt wasn't found by an engineer looking for a job and the web page has since been deleted. Although after Whittaker tweeted out his discovery there's no doubt the company will have been inundated with applicants.

This is not the first creative way companies have advertised job opportunities. In 2011, GCHQ offered the chance for wannabe spies by challenging applicants to crack a cryptic code. It was said that 50 people were able to solve the mystery for a chance to apply for the £25,000 role.

More recently, Dyson also sought to find sharp-eyed, creative thinkers by hiding a secret key inside a video to take applicants on a series of mental challenges. Those who passed got the opportunity to visit the Dyson HQ and talk directly to executives.

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