Hiring new employees for your restaurant can be challenging. Unlike in other industries, in the restaurant business, your employees are in direct contact with customers. Consequently, your employees’ performance will have a bearing on the overall performance of your restaurant. This is why you must be very extra careful while hiring candidates. How do you select the best candidates for your restaurant? This article will discuss some restaurant interview questions you should ask to gauge various aspects of their employability. With these answers, you will get to know which candidates suit your restaurant business and which ones don’t.
8 Interview Questions You Should Ask
#1 Why Do You Want to Work in the Restaurant Business?
It is probably the ultimate question you should ask candidates during an interview. Overall, this question will help you understand if the candidate is suitable for the restaurant industry. The answers of the candidates will show a lot about their relevance to your industry. Obviously, different people will answer this question differently. For instance, some may say, “I like to see people feel happy as a result of the work I do.” Others may say, “I’ve heard the salary is excellent here.” So, now you know why it is one of the best restaurant interview questions. In the second example, you will know that the candidate has come for the pay only. So, you should not consider them.
#2 What Do You Do Outside Work?
You might think of this question as overrated and somewhat irrelevant. Nevertheless, it is indirectly related to the performance of your employees. Having a healthy lifestyle is vital for workers in the service industry. They should be able to recharge outside of work timings. As a result, you will see a rise in their performance when they are at work. This question will let you know if the candidate understands the importance of lifestyle when they aren’t working. This simple fact makes this question a vital one to ask during the interview. A candidate’s response will be useful to you on various parameters. Also, if you run a quick-service restaurant, the dynamicity of your employees is even more critical. And their performance at work is directly related to their life outside it. This is where the question will come to your help again.
#3 What Do You Understand by “Hospitality?”
This is another highly important question you should ask your interviewees. The answer to this question can give you useful insights about the candidate. Primarily, it will provide you with an approximate understanding of the candidate’s behavior. Of course, this behavior applies to their work. For instance, you will perceive the way they will treat your guests in your restaurant. Note that the dictionary definition of hospitality is “the friendly and generous reception and entertainment of visitors, guests, or strangers.” So, the answer to the candidates should be something similar to this. For sure, they should express themselves in their own words. You may notice something different from what you expect. It means the candidate may not be the best option for your business. Briefly, the question about hospitality is one of the most important restaurant interview questions you should ask.
#4 What is Your Favorite Experience of Customer Service?
The employees you will recruit will serve customers. Considering you are a restaurant owner or manager, most of these employees will directly interact with your clients. So, you have to know about their opinion regarding customer service. In other words, asking them about their favorite customer service experience is one of the crucial restaurant interview questions. This question will help you in two ways. First, you will know what the “excellent service” means for the candidate. Second, you will notice their excitement about the service they produce. So, you will see if they are really proud of what they do. Are they being sincere while talking about it, and more. That is why asking this question will give you lots of insights about the candidate.
#5 How Do You Handle Conflicts Involving Your Colleagues?
Conflicts are inevitable in all businesses. What you have to do as a restaurant owner or manager is to ensure they are at the minimum level. This will impact a lot on the performance of your restaurant. Basically, happy employees mean happy customers. So, the question about handling the conflicts becomes one of the basic restaurant interview questions. First of all, the answer to this question will help you understand if the candidate is a team player. It requires excellent teamwork in a restaurant business. Having an individualistic worker will influence your restaurant’s performance negatively. And it won’t matter if you run a full-service restaurant or a different type. Also, by asking this question, you will know how the candidate handles the problematic situation. How responsible they find them themselves in such circumstances will be another insight you will take. Lastly, you will know the maturity level of the candidate. So, now you understand the importance of this question.
#6 What is Your Negative Experience of Customer Service?
Knowing the answer to this question is no less important than any other question. By asking this question, you will know what the candidate understands by inferior customer service. Also, note that it is not easy at all to respond to this question. Additionally, the candidate will tell you how they cope with the problems. Do they bring excuses? Or do they take responsibility for the mistake? These factors directly make this question one of the critical restaurant interview questions. Besides, the way the candidate talks about their negative experience is also essential. By paying attention to that, you will understand how they feel when they talk about their negative experiences.
#7 How Good Are They with POS Systems?
We cannot think of restaurants without POS Systems today. Having a POS system will help restaurant owners manage their operations efficiently and increase profits. Possessing a perfect POS, such as Sygnio’s restaurant POS will even boost the profits for restaurants. So, as an integral part of the restaurants, it is a must for your employees to know about the way POS systems work. For example, they should know about table-side ordering, table management, and more. So, make sure that you ask this question to each candidate of your restaurant.
Conclusion
Recruiting employees for restaurants has never been easy. You have to make sure that your employees respect and value your restaurant. Apart from this, they have to respect your customers, as well. It is no secret that your revenue will be generated through your customers. So, asking the correct restaurant interview questions is a must. For this, we classified seven restaurant interview questions you should ask your interviewees. There is no doubt that these questions will help you hire the personnel you want. If you found this article useful, you can share it in your social accounts. So, your friends benefit from it, too. You can also check our page for more related articles.
