Janitor 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.

• Name the posted schedule plainly: [Monday through Friday, evenings from 6 p.m. until the building is done], any weekend floor work, and whether the route covers more than one building.
• Say that most nights they'll work alone in an empty office building, with a supervisor reachable by phone, and walk through what they'd do if something felt wrong.
• Explain the checks: [your background check] at [the stage your state and city allow], and that some clients, like schools or government buildings, run their own checks or issue badges before a cleaner can start there.
• Tell them they'll be trained on each chemical, the floor machines and your bloodborne pathogens steps before using them, and paid for that time.

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 · Security and client privacy

   You're cleaning a [dental office] alone after hours. Someone in scrubs knocks on the locked glass door, says they work there, left their phone inside, and asks you to let them in for one minute. What do you do?

   The person is usually telling the truth, which is why this is the test. The cleaner doesn't decide who gets into a client's building.

   Follow-ups

   • What do you say to them, word for word?
   • What if they press a work badge against the glass?
   • Who do you tell, and when?

   5Strong

   Stays friendly, keeps the door shut, and says the site rules don't allow them to let anyone in. Offers to call the site contact or the supervisor so the client decides, and notes the time and what happened in the night report.

   3Mixed

   Keeps the door shut and says no politely, but doesn't call anyone or write it down, so the client never hears about it.

   1Weak

   Lets them in because they seem to work there, or because of the badge.

2. Situational · Security and client privacy

   While emptying the trash at a [law office], you find a folder of papers in a bin that looks like it fell in by mistake. What do you do?

   Client papers are private, and a cleaner who reads, tosses or takes them can cost you the account.

   Follow-ups

   • How do you decide what counts as trash?
   • Where do you put the folder?
   • Who do you tell?

   5Strong

   Doesn't read it, toss it or take it. Sets it aside where the client's instructions say, or where it was found if there are none, notes it in the night report, and tells the supervisor so the client decides. Empties only what's clearly trash.

   3Mixed

   Leaves the bin unemptied so nothing is lost, but writes nothing in the night report, and the office hears about a skipped bin instead.

   1Weak

   Dumps it with the trash, or flips through it to decide.

3. Situational · Working alone

   Around [midnight], cleaning alone on the [third] floor, you hear a door close and footsteps in an office suite that should be empty. No one else is on tonight's site list. What do you do?

   It tests whether the cleaner keeps themself safe and lets the right people decide, instead of going to see who it is.

   Follow-ups

   • Where do you move to, and who is your first call?
   • Your supervisor says it might be an employee working late. What do you do before you go back to that floor?
   • What do you write down?

   5Strong

   Doesn't go look or call out. Moves away toward an exit, calls the supervisor or the client's after-hours contact per site steps, and calls 911 if there are signs of a break-in or they feel unsafe. Goes back only once it's cleared, and notes the time.

   3Mixed

   Moves away and calls the supervisor right away, but isn't sure when they'd call 911 themself instead of waiting for the supervisor to decide.

   1Weak

   Goes to see who it is, or keeps working and mentions it at the end of the night.

4. Situational · Working alone

   The fire alarm goes off while you're cleaning on the [fourth] floor. You don't smell smoke, and it's probably a false alarm. What do you do?

   Alone at night, no one will tell the cleaner to leave. The answer shows whether they treat every alarm as real.

   Follow-ups

   • How do you get out?
   • Who do you tell once you're out?
   • What do you tell the firefighters when they arrive?

   5Strong

   Stops work and leaves right away by the stairs, not the elevator, using the site's exit route. Calls the supervisor once outside, waits at the meeting spot, and tells firefighters they were inside and whether anyone else was in the building.

   3Mixed

   Leaves by the stairs right away, but doesn't call the supervisor or stay to tell firefighters, so no one knows they got out.

   1Weak

   Keeps working because it's probably false, or tries to silence the panel.

5. Situational · Chemical safety

   Your glass cleaner runs out. In the client's janitor closet, you find a spray bottle of blue liquid with no label. What do you do?

   Unlabeled bottles are how products get mixed and people get hurt. The answer shows whether they'd use something they can't identify.

   Follow-ups

   • How would you find out what's in it?
   • Where would you get glass cleaner instead?
   • Who do you tell about the bottle?

   5Strong

   Doesn't use it or smell it. Sets it aside and tells the supervisor. Fills a labeled bottle from your labeled product at the dilution trained, and knows where the safety data sheets are kept.

   3Mixed

   Won't use it and gets the right product, but leaves the unlabeled bottle in the closet without telling anyone.

   1Weak

   Uses it because it looks like glass cleaner, or smells it to find out.

6. Situational · Floors and slip prevention

   You've mopped the lobby and set out wet floor signs. The building's night guard says an executive arrives at [5 a.m.] and hates seeing signs, and asks you to pick them up before you leave. The floor by the elevator is still damp. What do you do?

   Signs come down early because someone asked. It shows whether the cleaner holds a safety step under polite pressure.

   Follow-ups

   • What do you say to the guard?
   • How could you get the floor dry sooner?
   • What would you change about your order of work next time?

   5Strong

   Leaves the signs where the floor is still wet, dries it with a dry mop or as trained, and picks the signs up only once it's dry. Tells the supervisor so the order of work can change, such as mopping the lobby earlier.

   3Mixed

   Leaves the signs up and explains why to the guard, but doesn't tell the supervisor, so the same problem comes back tomorrow.

   1Weak

   Picks the signs up because the guard asked.

7. Behavioral · Floors and slip prevention

   Tell me about a machine or tool you learned to use, at a job, at school or at home, where you had to follow the steps exactly. How did you learn it?

   Floor scrubbers and burnishers are trained on the job. You want someone who learns the steps and follows them, not someone who figures it out by trying.

   Follow-ups

   • What safety checks did you do before you started?
   • What step did you see other people skip?
   • What did you do when something went wrong with it?

   5Strong

   Names the machine, how they learned it, the checks before use, such as the cord, guards or the area, and a step others skipped and why it mattered. Stopped and asked when something went wrong.

   3Mixed

   Has a real example and can say how they used it, but not the safety checks or what they'd do if it broke down.

   1Weak

   Figured it out by trying, or can't name an example.

8. Situational · Restrooms and sharps

   Emptying the restroom trash at a [gym], you see a needle sticking out of the paper towels. What do you do?

   Needles in restroom trash are a real night-shift hazard, and a stick means testing and worry for weeks.

   Follow-ups

   • How do you handle the bag now?
   • What would you do if the needle stuck you?
   • What changes if it's a spot of blood on the floor instead?

   5Strong

   Stops, and doesn't reach in, press the bag down or touch the needle by hand. Follows training: lifts it with tongs into a sharps box only if trained and equipped; if not, blocks off the bin and calls the supervisor. Knows a stick means washing it and reporting right away.

   3Mixed

   Doesn't touch it and calls the supervisor right away, but doesn't write it up, and isn't sure what to do if a needle ever did stick them.

   1Weak

   Pulls it out by hand, or pushes the trash down to fit and carries on.

9. Behavioral · Working alone

   Tell me about a job, chore or volunteer task you did on your own, with no one checking, where it had to be done right every time. How did you make sure it was?

   Most nights no one sees the work until the client walks in. You want someone with a habit of checking their own work.

   Follow-ups

   • What did you use to keep track, like a list or a set order?
   • Tell me about a time you found you'd missed something. What did you do?
   • How did anyone know the work was done?

   5Strong

   Gives a specific task, a set order or checklist they used, how they checked their own work at the end, and what they did about anything they couldn't finish, such as leaving a note.

   3Mixed

   Has a real example and did good work, but from memory, and found misses only when someone pointed them out.

   1Weak

   Did what seemed like enough, with no way to know it was done.

10. Situational · Honest time and notes

    The [dental office] was closed today, so you finish [45] minutes faster than the time your company plans for that building. How do you clock out?

    It shows whether the time record matches the work, the habit that lets you bill and pay correctly.

    Follow-ups

    • What do you tell your supervisor?
    • A coworker on your route texts asking you to clock them in because they're running late. What do you do?
    • What do you do if you forget to clock out one night?

    5Strong

    Clocks out when the work is done and records the real time. Tells the supervisor the building went fast and why, and asks whether there's other work. Says no to clocking in a coworker, and reports a missed punch the next day.

    3Mixed

    Clocks out at the real time, but doesn't tell the supervisor why it was short, so the office has to ask.

    1Weak

    Stays on the clock until the planned time, or would clock in a friend.

Work exercise: walk a night checklist and read two labels

Give candidates a made-up nightly checklist for [one office floor] and a staged area with [five] problems: a fake alarm code on a sticky note by the keypad, a propped stairwell door, an unplugged space heater under a desk tagged "running", a card marking a cracked window, and an empty soap dispenser. In [15] minutes they walk it and say what they'd do. Then hand them [two] made-up product labels, in the languages you train in, and [10] minutes to find each one's dilution, protective gear and mixing warnings.

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 they work alone for you? Would you trust them alone in a client's building at night again, and why?
• Were their time records accurate, and did they work the shifts on the schedule?
• Tell me about a problem they reported in a building, like a leak, a broken door or a safety issue.
• Did a client ever complain about something they missed, or praise them by name? What did they do with that feedback?

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.

• SkipDo you have kids? This is a night job.

  AskThe schedule is [Monday through Friday, 6 p.m. until the building is done, plus some Saturdays for floor work]. Can you work that schedule?

• SkipAny back problems? There's a lot of bending and lifting.

  AskRead every candidate the same tasks: pushing carts and floor machines, bending to empty bins, mopping, and lifting trash and supplies up to [twenty-five] pounds through the shift. Can you do those tasks, with or without reasonable accommodation?

• SkipHave you ever been arrested?

  AskTell everyone the job comes with [your background check] at [the point your state and city permit], and that some client sites run their own. When an outside company runs the check, the FCRA calls for a written notice on its own page and the candidate's signed consent first, and a copy of the report before you turn anyone down because of it.

• SkipIs English your first language? The labels are in English.

  AskHave every candidate do the label task. The EEOC allows a fluency requirement only at the level the job needs, and OSHA lets you add other languages to workplace labels as long as English is there too.

Common mistakes when hiring a janitor

• Hiring for cleaning speed and forgetting trust

  A dirty restroom costs you an apology. An unlocked door or a stranger let in can cost you the building. Weigh the security and working-alone questions at least as heavily as cleaning experience.

• Promising a start date the client can't meet

  Some clients, like schools or government buildings, run their own checks or issue badges before a cleaner can start. Tell candidates at the first interview, and don't promise a start date at those sites until the client clears them.

• Skipping references because it's an entry-level job

  This person will hold keys to your clients' buildings. A short call to a former supervisor about showing up, honesty and working alone tells you more than any cleaning question.

Janitor interview FAQ