Waiter interview questions are nearly always the same: what experience you have, how you handle several tables at once, what you do when a customer complains, how you get on with the kitchen, whether you can do the shift and how much you want to earn. You don't need to learn answers by heart, because what works best is talking about things that have really happened to you during a service.
Putting "waiter, two years' experience" on a CV says very little. But if you describe how you got the service out on the day a colleague didn't turn up, the person interviewing you already knows how you work. In this guide we go through the most common questions, with sample answers you can adapt to your own experience.
These are the ones that come up most often in guides for waiters and for people who hire them. If you go in with an answer thought through for each one, you've done most of the interview already.
Almost every question can be answered the same way: what happened, what you did and how it ended. Thirty seconds per answer is plenty, and if the interviewer wants more detail, they'll ask for it.
The answers below are only examples. Swap them for what has happened to you, because a copied answer is easy to spot.
You don't need to go through your whole CV. Say where you've worked, in what kind of restaurant and what you were responsible for.
"I've been working front of house for three years. For the last two I've been in a 60-cover restaurant with a terrace in summer. I looked after about 12 tables and at the end of the shift I also cashed up."
If you haven't worked front of house yet, talk about what you have done: your placement, the services you worked at college or a season somewhere.
"I did my placement in a four-star hotel, on breakfasts and in the restaurant. That's where I learnt to set up a buffet and look after tables at peak times."
With this question they want to know whether you follow a system when you're rushed off your feet.
"The first thing is that every table knows I've seen them, even if it's just an 'I'll be right with you'. Then I group jobs together: if I'm going to the bar, I bring back what two tables need. And if I can see I'm not going to keep up, I tell a colleague before the customer notices."
They're hoping to hear that you listen, apologise without arguing, offer a solution and tell whoever needs to know. And that you never blame the kitchen in front of the customer.
"I listen to them right to the end, apologise and offer to change the dish. I tell the kitchen calmly, let the manager know and then go back to the table to check everything is fine."
The worst answer is "that never happens to me", because nobody believes it. It's better to describe a real mistake and what you learnt from it.
"It happened to me with a table of eight: I put through the wrong dish. I went to the table before they asked, explained and asked the kitchen to rush the right dish through. Since then I repeat the order out loud on big tables."
There's only one acceptable answer here, because the customer's health is at stake. Spain's Royal Decree 126/2015 requires allergen information for unpackaged food as well, and the EU list covers 14 groups, from cereals containing gluten to molluscs.
"I don't take the risk. I tell the customer I'm going to check, look at the allergen chart or ask in the kitchen and come back with the answer. I never say 'I don't think it has any'."
Tell the truth, in a few words and without running anyone down.
"It was a seasonal contract and it ended in September." Or: "I was working split shifts six days a week and I'm looking for hours I can keep up in the long term."
Before the interview, look at the salary in the ad and the pay tables in your collective agreement. Give a figure or a range and ask what it includes: the number of payments a year, tips and meals. Talking about money in an interview is normal, so don't be shy about asking.
The trade is the same, but each kind of place will ask you about different things:
Before the interview, spend two minutes looking at the place's website and menu. "Which dish would you recommend?" is an easy question if you've read the menu and a very awkward one if you haven't.
The interview is useful for you too. When they ask whether you have any questions, make the most of it, because you're also deciding whether you want to work there. Two or three questions are enough: what a normal shift is like, how many of you there are per shift, how tips are shared out, how far in advance the rota comes out or who's going to show you the ropes in the first week.
You aren't obliged to answer if they ask about your marital status, your religion, your political views or your health. Spain's Workers' Statute (the Estatuto de los Trabajadores) prohibits discrimination in employment on those grounds, and Law 15/2022 states that the employer may not ask you about your health.
You can change the subject politely: "I'd rather not go into that. What I can tell you is that I can do the shift." And if the question made you uncomfortable, bear that in mind when you decide whether you want to work there.
We created QIU because looking for work shouldn't mean sending off applications and then waiting for a reply that often never comes. QIU is an interview portal: you fill in your Talent Card in about five minutes, go into a room that fits your profile, choose a day and time and have your interview by video directly with the person who makes the decision.
Before you book you see the salary for the role. For example, the waiter room in Madrid shows between €24,000 and €28,000 a year, and the interview is about twenty minutes with the person who runs the team. For you, QIU is free.
You can see the open rooms in opportunities. You can only book in the rooms that fit your profile, and we let you know as soon as one comes up.
For the video interview all you need is a quiet spot and a charged phone. Look at the camera when you speak. Dress as you would for an interview in person.
If you're the one doing the hiring, here we explain how to hire with QIU.
It depends on the place, although a first interview tends to be short. On QIU, the interview for a waiter in Madrid lasts about twenty minutes and is by video.
Clean, plain clothes, tidy hair and well-kept nails, with nothing too eye-catching. If the interview is by video, make the same effort as you would for one in person.
It's a good starting point. Talk about your placement and the services you've taken part in, what you learnt and the shifts you can do.
You can say: "That hasn't happened to me, but this is what I would do." It's better than making up a story, because anyone who has spent years on the floor will notice straight away.
Prepare three services you remember well: one that went very well, one that was difficult and one that was out of the ordinary. With those three stories you can answer almost every question on this list.
And if you'd like to go straight to the interview, without sending applications or waiting to hear back, create your profile on QIU and choose your time in the rooms that fit you.
