Busser 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.

• Give the schedule: [dinner, weekends and holidays], about how long shifts run, and that slow nights can mean an early cut.
• Say what the job is: carrying bus tubs through a full dining room, wet floors, the sanitizer buckets you'll be trained on, and closing side work before anyone clocks out.
• Explain busser pay in writing: [the hourly rate and the busser share under your tip policy].
• If bussers can move up to food runner or server, say how and what it takes.

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 · Reading the floor

   A four-top has paid but is still talking, water glasses full. The host has a party of four waiting and asks you to start clearing around them so they get the hint. What do you do?

   Hint-clearing turns a good meal into a bad review. This shows whether they can be honest with the host instead of pushing guests.

   Follow-ups

   • What do you say to the host?
   • How can you tell a table is about to get up?
   • What could you do to speed up a different table instead?

   5Strong

   Leaves the guests alone apart from anything empty, tells the host honestly how close they look to leaving, points out a table that's on dessert or just got the check, and has a tub and fresh setup ready to reset the moment the four-top stands.

   3Mixed

   Doesn't hint-clear, but just tells the host no without giving any read on timing or another table to watch.

   1Weak

   Starts stacking plates and wiping around the guests, or hovers at the table.

2. Situational · Turning tables

   On a full Saturday, three tables in your section stand up within a minute of each other, and the host has a waitlist of six parties. How do you handle the next ten minutes?

   This is the busser's main job at the busiest moment. It shows whether they reset in the order the door needs and keep the host in the loop.

   Follow-ups

   • How do you decide which table first?
   • When do you tell the host each one is ready?
   • Who could you ask for a hand?

   5Strong

   Asks the host which table fits the next party and starts there, clears each in one trip, wipes the table with a cloth from the sanitizer bucket, brushes off the seats, sets it to standard and tells the host as each is done. Asks a free runner for help.

   3Mixed

   Resets all three correctly, but works them as they stood up rather than by what the host needs, and tells the host only after all three are done.

   1Weak

   Wipes with a dry or grubby rag, leaves crumbs on the seats, or leaves the host guessing.

3. Situational · Spills and broken glass

   You're carrying a full bus tub past a booth, and a water glass slides off and shatters next to a family with a toddler who are still eating. What do you do?

   Broken glass beside a table is a cut risk and can land in food or drinks. The next two minutes decide whether anyone gets hurt.

   Follow-ups

   • What do you do with the bus tub?
   • What happens to the food and drinks on that table?
   • How do you make sure you got every piece?

   5Strong

   Sets the tub down out of the way, checks no one is hurt, asks the family to stay put, keeps people back while they get a broom and dustpan, never bare hands, checks under the table and seats, and tells the server so anything glass could have reached is replaced.

   3Mixed

   Clears the glass safely and has the server replace anything near it, but says little to the family and leaves the server to smooth things over.

   1Weak

   Picks up glass by hand, or cleans the floor and leaves the family's food and drinks as they are.

4. Situational · Food that comes back

   Clearing a table, you pick up a basket with four rolls nobody touched. A coworker tells you to put them back in the warmer, since they're still good. What do you do?

   Food that has been at a guest's table can carry germs from hands, coughs and sneezes, and food codes, Minnesota's among them, bar serving it again. A new busser hears "it's still good" in the first week.

   Follow-ups

   • What else that comes back from a table goes in the trash?
   • What would you say to your coworker?
   • What if your coworker pushes back?

   5Strong

   Throws them out and says simply that anything that went to a table can't be served again, even if it looks untouched. Knows the same goes for butter from a dish, lemon wedges and open sauces, and brings it to the manager if the coworker keeps doing it.

   3Mixed

   Throws them out, but can't say why, and isn't sure whether the butter or the lemon wedges go too, so asks the manager.

   1Weak

   Puts them back in the warmer, or saves the ones that look untouched.

5. Situational · Backing up servers

   Your server is buried: one table needs drink refills, another wants extra plates to share an appetizer, and food for a third is sitting in the window. You're between resets. What do you do?

   Bussers who only clear and reset leave servers drowning on a busy night. This shows whether they pitch in where it helps most and know their limits.

   Follow-ups

   • Which of the three comes first, and why?
   • What do you tell the server, and when?
   • When is running that food not your call?

   5Strong

   Grabs the share plates and refills on one trip, tells the server the food is up, and runs it only if they know the seats and it isn't an allergy plate. Lets the server know what's done so nothing gets done twice.

   3Mixed

   Helps with plates and refills, but doesn't tell the server the food is waiting in the window.

   1Weak

   Waits to be asked, or stays on side work while the section falls behind.

6. Behavioral · Backing up servers

   Describe a time you made someone else's work go better without getting the credit, at a job, in a sport or on a group project.

   Good bussers make servers look good. This shows whether they've done support work and taken pride in it.

   Follow-ups

   • How did you know what they needed?
   • What happened because of your help?
   • How did you feel about not getting credit?

   5Strong

   Names who they helped and what they did, explains how they spotted the need before anyone asked, and can say what came of it. Talks about it with pride, not resentment.

   3Mixed

   Has a real example, but helped only after being asked, or can't say what difference it made.

   1Weak

   No example, or describes resenting the person they helped.

7. Behavioral · Turning tables

   Tell me about a task you did over and over, at work, at home or as a volunteer, where the details mattered every time. How did you keep from skipping steps when you were busy?

   The fiftieth reset of the night needs the same sanitizer wipe and seat check as the first. This shows whether they have a habit that holds when they're rushed.

   Follow-ups

   • What step was easiest to skip?
   • How did you catch your own misses?
   • What happened when a step got missed?

   5Strong

   Names a specific routine, like closing a store or setting up for an event, describes a check they used, like a set order or a last look, and owns a time they slipped and what they changed.

   3Mixed

   Did the task reliably but has no habit or check beyond trying hard.

   1Weak

   Admits skipping steps when busy, or has no example.

8. Situational · Reading the floor

   As you crumb a table, a guest quietly asks you for a to-go box and the check, and mentions the steak was cold. Their server is across the room. What do you do?

   Guests often tell the nearest person, not their server. A busser who passes on the complaint lets the server or manager fix it before the guest leaves.

   Follow-ups

   • How do you answer the guest in the moment?
   • Who hears about the cold steak, and from you in what words?
   • Why not let it go, since the guest is leaving?

   5Strong

   Thanks the guest, brings the box, tells the server right away about the check and the cold steak so the server or manager can respond, and doesn't promise anything about the bill themselves.

   3Mixed

   Brings the box and tells the server about the check, but leaves out the complaint because it isn't their table.

   1Weak

   Ignores the comment, argues with the guest, or promises to take the steak off the bill.

9. Situational · Turning tables

   Halfway through a busy Friday, you reach into your side station for silverware and it's empty, with no backup rolled. A rack of clean forks and knives is sitting at the dish pit, and two tables are waiting to be reset. What do you do?

   A side station that runs dry mid-rush slows every reset after it. This shows whether they fix the shortage for tonight and stop it from happening again.

   Follow-ups

   • How do you handle the clean silverware?
   • What do you tell the manager about the empty station?
   • What would you check before doors open next time?

   5Strong

   Grabs enough clean silverware for the two tables, touching only the handles, resets them, then rolls or racks a batch in the next lull or asks a runner to. Tells the manager the station opened short, and checks it against the par list before doors next shift.

   3Mixed

   Gets the tables set with clean silverware and restocks the station in the next lull, but doesn't mention that it opened short, so it happens again.

   1Weak

   Sets the tables without silverware, takes it from another server's station without a word, or grabs clean forks by the tines.

Work exercise: clear and reset a staged table

Stage a four-top with used plates and glasses, a bread basket with untouched rolls, crumbs on a seat and a small puddle of water on the floor beside it; no broken glass. Show every finalist your house setup once, in the same words, with a photo of the finished table. Give them [5] minutes to clear, wipe, reset and tell the interviewer playing the host it's ready. A longer trial on the floor is optional, and you pay at least minimum wage for it.

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.

• How fast and how thorough were their resets on a full night, and did their side station start each shift stocked?
• How did servers feel about working a section with them?
• When something spilled or broke, or food came back from a table, did they follow your rules when no one was watching?
• Would you schedule them for a packed Saturday again? What would give you pause?

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 be on your feet for eight hours without a break?

  AskRead every candidate the same duties: [carrying bus tubs up to thirty pounds, moving around the dining room all shift, and bending to clear and wipe tables]. Ask whether they can carry out those duties, with or without reasonable accommodation. Breaks follow [your policy and state law].

• SkipAre you planning to have a baby soon? We need people all summer.

  AskSay what the job needs, [weekend shifts from Memorial Day through Labor Day], and put the same schedule question to every candidate. Federal law bars treating someone differently because they are or might become pregnant.

Common mistakes when hiring a busser

• Hiring for speed alone

  A fast busser who wipes with a dirty rag or saves the bread costs you more than a slower one who doesn't. The timed reset shows you both speed and care in five minutes.

• Passing over the quiet candidate

  Bussing rewards noticing things: the empty glass, the wet floor, the guest who's ready to go. A shy candidate who answers the situations well can outwork the one who interviews well. Score the answers, not the personality.

Busser interview FAQ