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How to Hire Better Employees: 10 Interview Questions Restaurant Operators Should Ask Before Hiring Anyone
Deciding on whether to hire (or pass) on a job candidate is one of the most important decisions you make. The difference between making a good or bad hiring decision is huge in terms of your team's morale, employee problems, guest service and even your own sanity. There is no substitute for a thorough, probing interview to give you lots of information with which to make a more intelligent hiring decision.
Following are 10 interview questions for probing prospective restaurant employees. Use them and then listen carefully to their responses. They'll give you an opportunity to gain valuable insights into the type of person they are and employee they are likely to be.
1. Tell me about yourself.
It's always good to start every interview with an easy, unintimidating question to get the candidate to feel more comfortable and open up. Look for eye contact, smiles, communication skills and watch to see how well these line up with your job requirements. Especially with servers and counter positions, you've got to see signs of an extroverted, happy, service-oriented personality.
Negative response: Inability to be very descriptive or think of much to say. Not much to say. Poor eye contact. Acting embarrassed or overly shy.
Positive response: Expressive and enthusiastic descriptions of their hobbies, family, past work experiences, accomplishments or achievements. Sense of humor. Ability to laugh at them self.
2. Tell me about your very first job.
Not their last job - as they will already have a well-rehearsed response for you - but their first one. Find out how old they were, what they did, how much money they made, then ask three things they learned on that very first job. Studies have shown what people learn and the values they acquire on their very first job are traits and values they often exhibit to some degree, on future jobs the rest of their lives.
For example, my first job was mowing lawns in the neighborhood at age 13. What if I told you the three things I learned were to look always look for rocks, make sure I had enough gas and never mow wet grass? Not much there in the way of values and work habits. But what if I said I learned how important it was to always do a good job, to show up when I said I would and to always make sure the person paying me was satisfied before I left? That's a much better response which indicates desirable traits to have in any position.
If you're interviewing a candidate whose first job was working at McDonald's:
"What did you learn at McDonalds?"
Negative response: "I learned how to flip burgers."
Positive response: "I learned how important it was to take care of the customer."
3. Describe the best manager you ever had. (or, give me a description of an ideal manager)
Negative response: Nebulous descriptions like "they were always nice", "didn't get down on me", "never gave me a problem", "wasn't too hard."
Positive response: "gave specific instructions.", "you always knew what was expected.", "was tough but fair", "was fun to work for", "was a good trainer", "he/she taught me a lot."
Pay careful attention to the way they describe their best manager. Do you or your other managers have the same type of management style or characteristics? If not, this prospect may not be a good fit for your restaurant.
4. In a typical restaurant, for every dollar in sales, how much profit is left after all the expenses are paid?
What you're looking for is if they have any concept of business, particularly the low margin realities of the restaurant business. Most employees believe this is a highly lucrative business that restaurant owners make lots and lots of money. This perception effects their attitudes, work habits and their propensity to help you control costs and reduce waste.
Negative response: "I don't know", "probably a lot", "50 cents", "all of it?"
Positive response: Anything close to reality, which is, on average, about a nickel out of every dollar in sales.
5. Do you consider yourself to be an honest person?
Negative response: "no" or a hesitation before answering "yes."
Positive response: If they answer "yes" which most will, of course, ask for a specific example of when they exhibited their honesty. This is the real test. If they can't come up with a credible example, you may not have gotten an honest response to the question.
6. What's the most important job in any restaurant?
Negative response: If then have nothing to say, no opinions or if you can tell they're trying to make something up.
Positive response: Responding with a specific position and explaining why the position or functions of that position are important.
Best response: "taking care of the customer" If they get anything close to mentioning the customer you've probably got a winner.
7. How much money do you need to make?
You might as well get this on the table and discuss it because if their expectations are way beyond what the job they're applying for will pay, then you don't have a good match.
Negative response: A figure unrealistically high or just a vague reply.
Positive response: "I need to make $XXX a week" If you know they can actually make this in your restaurant or can work up to this amount within a reasonable time frame, you may have a good candidate. Very important to be honest, open and set realistic expectations in this area or you're just setting yourself up for more turnover.
8. How often do your wear a seatbelt?
This may sound like a strange question but it will give you some insights into a person's concern for safety and attitude regarding obeying rules. How likely is someone going to follow your safety rules, or any instructions for that matter, if they choose to ignore one of the most basic of all laws.
Negative response: "no", "some of the time", "I don't know". This is a strong indication of an arrogant, know-it-all, don't-tell-me-what-to-do attitude.
Positive response: "yes"
9. Do you enjoy serving other people?
There's no getting around it, you're in the hospitality business and you've got to have people on your staff who truly enjoy taking care of people.
When you ask this question you'll undoubtedly get a "yes" response. Follow up with, "give me some examples of times when you've done a good job of serving someone and why you liked it."
Negative response: Silence or "I can't think of anything right now" or an attempt to make something up on the spot.
Positive response: A specific, believable instance where they took care of someone else and a description of the positive feelings they experienced because of it.
10. What's the funniest thing that's ever happened to you?
If there's one trait that's important for all of your employees to have in this business is a sense of humor. It's so much better to be surrounded by a team of people who take their jobs seriously don't take themselves too seriously.
Michael Hurst, past NRA president and owner of 15th Street Fisheries restaurant in Fort Lauderdale, FL, would ask this question to every applicant. He said what he was looking for was not so much what they said but for the gleam in the eye and change in expression that meant they had thought of something humorous.
Negative response: a blank stare or "I can't think of anything".
Positive response: Any story that exhibits an appropriate, good-natured sense of humor and the ability to laugh at them self.
