Housekeeper interview questions

What this hire must get done

Write the scorecard before you interview, then hire against it. Set the bracketed targets from your own numbers.

What to tell candidates before the interview

Say the hard parts plainly. People who wouldn't stay drop out early, and the ones who stay knew what they signed up for.

• Say the job is in clients' homes, often with no one there, and walk through your rules: rooms or items that are off-limits, no side work for clients, and how to report breakage. If reporting a break doesn't cost the housekeeper pay, say so.
• Name the schedule: [days and start time], about [how many] homes a day, and whether they clean alone, as a team of two or both.
• Describe the physical work: kneeling to clean tubs and floors, carrying the vacuum and caddy up stairs, and using cleaning products with the gloves you supply.
• If housekeepers drive between homes, say whose car and how mileage is paid. Driving between homes during the day is work time under federal wage rules, so it's paid. Say you'll check their driving record [after a conditional offer], once they've signed a consent form.

How to run the interview

1. Same questions, same order. Ask every candidate the questions below and the same follow-ups. It is the only way to compare people fairly.
2. Two interviewers. An owner or manager and someone who does the work. Take notes on what the candidate says, not on how you feel about them.
3. Score right after each answer. 5 sounds like the strong answer, 3 like the mixed one, 1 like the weak one. Use 2 and 4 for answers in between.
4. Rate alone, then compare. Compare candidates question by question, and talk only after everyone has scored. Big gaps are worth a conversation.

1. Situational · Speaking up

   You're dusting a bookshelf in an empty house and knock a framed photo to the floor. The glass cracks. The client won't be home until tonight. What do you do?

   Breakage is certain in this job. What matters is whether the office hears it from the housekeeper or from an angry client.

   Follow-ups

   • What do you do with the frame and the glass?
   • Who do you tell, and when?
   • What would you say if the client called you about it next week?

   5Strong

   Picks up the glass carefully, takes photos, sets the pieces where the client will see them, and calls or messages the office before leaving. Adds it to the visit notes and lets the office tell the client, as your policy says.

   3Mixed

   Reports it honestly, but only at the end of the day, or leaves a note for the client without telling the office first.

   1Weak

   Hides the pieces, turns the frame to the wall, glues it, or says nothing unless the client asks.

2. Situational · Trust in the home

   The checklist says to dust the main bedroom. The dresser top is covered with cash, opened mail and a jewelry box, and a laptop sits open. What do you do?

   It shows whether the candidate knows where cleaning ends and a client's private things begin.

   Follow-ups

   • What do you touch, and what do you leave alone?
   • How would it change if the home notes said this room is off-limits?
   • What do you write in the visit notes?

   5Strong

   Leaves the cash, mail, jewelry box and laptop exactly where they are, without touching, opening or reading anything, and dusts only the bare surface around them, or skips the room if the notes say so. Notes what they couldn't clean and tells the office about anything that looks wrong.

   3Mixed

   Leaves everything alone and skips the dresser, but leaves no note, so the client may wonder why it wasn't dusted.

   1Weak

   Stacks the cash and mail to make room, opens the jewelry box, or touches the laptop.

3. Behavioral · Trust in the home

   Tell me about a time someone trusted you with something that wasn't yours, like a key, a cash drawer, a neighbor's house or a friend's car. How did you handle it?

   How they've treated other people's things is good evidence of how they'll treat a client's home, and examples from any job or home life count.

   Follow-ups

   • What rules did you set for yourself?
   • Was there a moment when a shortcut would have been easy?
   • How do you know the person would trust you again?

   5Strong

   Gives a specific case and names rules they kept without being told: went only where needed, put things back as found, and told the owner about anything odd. The person trusted them again.

   3Mixed

   Has a real example but stays general, like "I'm just honest", with few details of what they actually did.

   1Weak

   Can't give an example, or the story includes using the thing for themselves.

4. Technical · Checklist discipline

   Walk me through how you'd clean a full bathroom, from the moment you walk in to the moment you leave.

   Anyone who has cleaned their own bathroom has an order. A good order shows care and saves redoing work, even before you train them.

   Follow-ups

   • Where do you start, and why there?
   • How do you keep the toilet cloth away from the sink and counters?
   • How do you know you're done?

   5Strong

   Works top to bottom and dry before wet: dusts high spots, sprays and lets cleaner sit while doing other things, keeps separate cloths for the toilet, cleans the floor last while backing out, then checks the room against the list.

   3Mixed

   Covers every surface but in no set order, such as mopping before wiping counters, so they redo work, and doesn't check the list at the end.

   1Weak

   Can't describe an order, or uses the same cloth on the toilet and the sink.

5. Behavioral · Checklist discipline

   Think of a time a boss, teacher or customer pointed out something you'd missed. What had you missed, and what did you change?

   Supervisors will find misses on inspections. You want the person who builds a habit from feedback, not the one who argues.

   Follow-ups

   • What did you say back at the time?
   • What habit, if any, came out of it?
   • How did they know you'd fixed it?

   5Strong

   Repeats the feedback plainly, didn't argue, fixed it, and built a habit, like a final walk-through or a written list, so it didn't happen again.

   3Mixed

   Fixed that one thing, but can't name anything they've done differently since.

   1Weak

   Argues it wasn't their fault, or can't recall ever missing anything.

6. Technical · Chemical safety

   A bathroom with no window has mildew in the shower and a ring in the toilet. Your caddy holds a bleach spray, an acid toilet cleaner and a glass cleaner that lists ammonia. How would you use them?

   Bleach mixed with ammonia or acid cleaners releases dangerous gases, and a small closed bathroom is where it happens.

   Follow-ups

   • Which of these should never meet, and why?
   • Where would you look if you weren't sure what's in a bottle?
   • What would you do if your eyes started to burn?

   5Strong

   Keeps bleach away from the other two: bleach on the shower mildew only, the acid cleaner only in the toilet, never bleach in that bowl. Runs the fan, props the door, wears gloves, checks the label or safety data sheet when unsure, and gets to fresh air if fumes hit.

   3Mixed

   Knows not to mix bleach and ammonia but isn't sure about bleach and acid, so would use one product and ask the office before using the other.

   1Weak

   Combines cleaners to boost them, or uses bleach and the acid cleaner on the same toilet in the closed room.

7. Situational · Clients and the office

   A client you clean for every week says, "I'll pay you cash to clean my mother's place on Saturdays. No need to tell your company." What do you say?

   Side deals pull clients and income away from your company, and a no handled well keeps the client happy.

   Follow-ups

   • How do you say no without hurting the relationship?
   • Who do you tell, and why?
   • What if the client asks you to trade today's bathrooms for cleaning out the garage?

   5Strong

   Thanks the client, explains they can't take side work from clients and that the office would be glad to book it, then tells the office about the request so it can follow up. Treats extra or swapped tasks the same way: the office decides.

   3Mixed

   Turns the offer down politely but never mentions it to the office, so the company loses the chance to book the work.

   1Weak

   Takes the cash job, or says they'll think about it.

8. Situational · Speaking up

   You let yourself in to clean and find the back door open, broken glass on the floor and drawers pulled out. No one answers when you call out. What do you do?

   Housekeepers sometimes walk into a break-in, a hurt client or a hazard. Teach your emergency procedure on day one; whatever it says, 911 comes first when someone is hurt or in danger.

   Follow-ups

   • Who do you call first, and from where?
   • What do you touch before help arrives?
   • What if instead the client is home and seems hurt or confused?

   5Strong

   Stops, touches nothing, gets out to a safe spot and calls 911, since someone could still be inside. Then calls the office and waits where the police or the office say. For a hurt client, calls 911 first, stays with them, then calls the office.

   3Mixed

   Gets out without touching anything and calls 911, but doesn't call the office until later, so the office can't reach the client or warn the next home.

   1Weak

   Walks through the house to look around, starts tidying, or cleans as usual.

9. Situational · Teamwork and time

   It's your fourth home of the day and you're running forty minutes behind. The kitchen and two bathrooms are left, and the next client expects you soon. What do you do?

   Late days happen. The office can only warn the next client if the housekeeper speaks up early.

   Follow-ups

   • What exactly do you tell the office?
   • What would you never cut short, even running late?
   • What could you have done earlier in the day?

   5Strong

   Tells the office right away how far behind they are and why, so it can warn the next client, then finishes the rooms to the checklist instead of rushing. Asks the office before leaving anything for another visit.

   3Mixed

   Finishes the home well, but tells the office only once they're already late to the next one.

   1Weak

   Quietly skips tasks to catch up, or rushes and hopes no one checks.

10. Behavioral · Teamwork and time

    Think of a job you shared with someone who worked at a different pace or in a different way than you. What did you do?

    Teams of two split rooms and share a car all day. Friction that isn't talked through shows up as missed rooms and late finishes.

    Follow-ups

    • How did you split the work?
    • What did you say to them, and when?
    • How did the job turn out?

    5Strong

    Gives a specific case, talked it through early and kindly, split the work so both paces fit, and the job got done well without blame.

    3Mixed

    Got the job done by quietly picking up the slack, without ever raising it.

    1Weak

    Complained to others, let the work slip, or blames the other person entirely.

Work exercise: checklist clean and client role-play

Stage a bathroom corner in your office with a made-up room checklist, dust and smudges, personal items like mail and a watch, and one item already chipped. Use new spray bottles of water with printed labels, one marked bleach and one marked ammonia glass cleaner. Give each finalist [15] minutes to clean to the list, then [five] minutes of role-play where you, as the client, ask them to skip a task. A trial clean in a real home is paid work.

Use made-up materials, never real customer work, and keep it to the time shown. Follow your own safety rules for anything hands-on.

Reference check questions

Tell finalists you'll call a former manager, and get their permission first. Ask about what they did, not whether they were nice.

• Did you trust them to work where no one was checking? What made you sure?
• When they broke something or made a mistake, how did you find out: from them or from someone else?
• On the days you checked their homes, how did their work and their finish times compare with the rest of your team?
• Would you hire them back, and would you send them into your own home?

Questions to skip, and what to ask instead

Ask only what the job needs. Questions that touch age, health, family or pay history can break federal, state or local law, even when you mean well.

• SkipCan you really be on your knees scrubbing tubs all day at your age?

  AskPut it the same way to everyone: the job includes [kneeling to clean tubs and floors, carrying a vacuum up stairs and lifting up to twenty-five pounds]. Can you handle those parts of the job, with or without reasonable accommodation?

• SkipAny run-ins with the police I should know about? Our clients need to trust you.

  AskTell candidates you check backgrounds only [after a conditional offer], because they'll be alone in clients' homes. If you use a screening company, the FCRA says to give them a written notice that stands alone, with nothing else in it, and get their signature before you order the report. Some states and cities also limit when, or whether, an employer can raise a criminal record.

• SkipWhat did your last cleaning company pay you?

  AskName your pay first, [pay range] plus [tips or bonuses], and ask whether that works. You can also ask how past cleaning jobs paid them: by the hour, by the home or with bonuses.

• SkipWho watches your kids if a home runs late?

  AskHomes start at [your start time] and the last one usually ends by [your end time], [weekdays and some Saturdays]. Will that schedule work for you?

Common mistakes when hiring a housekeeper

• Rewarding speed over the list

  A candidate who boasts of cleaning a whole house in an hour may be skipping baseboards and door tops. Score the order of work and the reporting, not the clock. Speed comes with practice in your homes.

• Taking years of cleaning as proof of trust

  Experience shows they can clean. It doesn't show how they act in an empty house with cash on the dresser. The trust questions, the role-play and a reference who handed them a key tell you more.

• Leaving the house rules for day one

  If a new hire first hears about off-limits rooms and side deals when a client offers cash, you're counting on luck. Say the rules in the interview and watch how the candidate reacts.

Housekeeper interview FAQ