Interview Techniques & Questions
Questions and Techniques for potential Hospitality Employees
People who interview often know the typical interview questions. Use these questions and techniques to see the real person you would be hiring.
There are a few techniques and questions you can ask interviewees to see their true colors. When an interviewee comes into your office, they are prepared to answer the standard questions. Asking out of the box questions can help you decide on the best candidate for your business.
1) Before the interview: If you have a reception area (this includes a front desk or host stand), make those workers aware that an interviewee is coming to meet you. By asking these employees input, you are getting a feel for how well the person interviewing will fit in with the company. Take this advice with a grain of salt, however, as people can be judgmental. However, if the interviewee comes in and is rude to these people, this is a sign that the person would not work out in a hospitality role.
2) Watch the person’s reaction to customers. Does the person move out of the way of paying customers? Open doors? These are some ways of gauging someone’s natural hospitable nature. One good way to test this is to have an employee (who doesn’t look like an employee) casually walk past the person and drop something. If the person makes a point of licking it up, it’s probably a good guess that this person has good customer service skills.
3) “Tell me about a memorable service experience you had, either negative or positive.” This question will tell you what level of service this person expects, therefore, what level of service this person is ready to provide. If the answer is trivial or the person does not remember an experience, this may be a red flag. Service people always pay attention to service.
4) “Would you rather create an excel spreadsheet or write a thank you note?” This one is not cut and dry, but typically analytical people have a hard time dealing with issues that arise in hospitality, because their brain functions better in situations where obstacles can be calculated, not improvised. This is not always indicative of a poor service employee: combine this question with one of the first techniques; see if they chat with others while they are waiting or if they have good references.
Combining these questions and techniques is a good way to get insight to how a potential employee will react to your clientele. Don’t nix someone just because they fail in one of these areas, but more than one may be a bad sign. Finally, always trust your gut. Hospitality people have good instincts, and can typically tell who will be a good fit with their company.
