What Should I Ask Job Applicants? The Top 5 Screening Questions by Job Type

Screening job applicants

Social distancing during the pandemic has pushed a lot of companies to hire and recruit through digital means. Whether you are conducting a phone interview or are providing job screening questions for an applicant to answer online, you need to make sure you are asking valuable and useful questions to help separate quality applicants from the rest.

We’ve put together our top 5 screening questions by job type. These job types and industries are some of the most common in our gig economy space. The questions we’ve included her are often used by business partners in their custom Jobbler questionnaires in each job post. Feel free to copy and paste your favorites and use them in your next recruiting push.

Why do these screening questions matter?

Many job seekers will get to tell you about themselves in either a verbal introduction or in a basic profile area of an online job application. When you move past the introductions, how can you make sure you’re asking screening questions that provide insight into the candidate as well as their ability to fill your open position?

You’ll gather a lot of information from resumes and profiles, but screening questions can give you the opportunity to ask for more details or reiterate important information in your job post or description. These examples are questions that give even more context to each applicant, which can help you better decide who could be a good fit.


Warehouse / Manual Labor

1. Do you understand you will be required to stand on your feet and lift boxes throughout the duration of your shift?

2. Do you have previous experience in a warehouse environment? If yes, please describe.

3. Do you have any certifications or training that would be helpful in a warehouse environment? If yes, please describe.

4. Are you comfortable working independently once you have been assigned a task?

5. Can you work both efficiently, balancing accuracy with productivity?


Retail / Sales

1. Do you have experience with a cash register/point-of-sales system? If yes, please list the systems you are comfortable using.

2. Are you comfortable handling cash and credit transactions?

3. Do you have previous customer service experience? If yes, please describe.

4. Will you be able to quickly learn about our product or service, then be able to discuss it with customers?

5. Are you comfortable speaking with customers in person as well as over the phone?


Restaurant / Hospitality

1. Do you have experience in a restaurant or hospitality setting? If yes, please list the areas you have worked in (front-of-house, back-of-house, cook, cleaner, host, etc).

2. Do you have any certifications or training that would be helpful in this position?

3. Describe a time you were considered a team player.

4. How would you handle a difficult situation with a customer?

5. What excites you about working in hospitality?


Delivery / Driving

1. Do you currently have access to a reliable car you can use for this job?

2. Do you have previous customer service experience? If yes, please describe.

3. Do you understand that you must track deliveries made and return any undelivered product to our company at the end of your shift?

4. How would you handle a situation where your delivery was late or your customer was upset?

5. How would you manage your time and priorities when completing deliveries?


Brand Ambassador / Event Staff

1. Have you worked as a brand ambassador or event staff in the past? If yes, please describe.

2. Are you willing to be on your feet with a friendly and approachable attitude for the duration of your shift?

3. Will you be able to acquire the uniform described in the job description and wear it for each shift?

4. Do you have previous customer service experience? If yes, please describe.

5. Are you comfortable encouraging customers and guests to follow or post on social media with our brand’s name and hashtag?


Janitorial / Sanitization / Cleaning

1. Do you have experience in a sanitation or cleaning position? If yes, please describe.

2. How do you stay attentive and motivated when cleaning?

3. What cleaning tools or equipment have you used in the past?

4. Are you comfortable working independently once you have been assigned a task?

5. Can you work both efficiently, balancing accuracy with productivity?


Shift Supervisor / Management

1. Have you held a supervisory position before? If yes, how many people were you in charge of?

2. Do you have experience keeping track of timesheets (checking in, checking out, taking breaks)?

3. Do you have any leadership experience relevant to this job? 

4. Can you give us an example of a time when you handled a conflict with a team member?

5. Can you give us an example of how you have addressed an issue with a customer?


Smiling hiring manager

Did you review these examples but still feel like you need someone to bounce ideas off of? Get in touch with one of our Jobble business support team members. We’ll lend our expertise and help you in your search.

Join a Demo

Subscribe to our newsletter

Do you hustle every day? Join us.
Get the latest gig economy news, tips, and trends–and reach
your personal and professional goals!
Loading

Get blog updates

Subscribe to the information that serves you best

[wpforms id="54559"]