Housekeeping is defined as the effective management of home chores and household duties involved in day-to-day life, some of these home affairs may involve cooking, cleaning, paying bills, maintaining a clean and safe environment. This housekeeping can be done in a house, or in a hotel, or other remote locations such as commercial buildings and that is why it can be categorized as domestic, global, local, and commercial, or institutional.
A housekeeper is a person who is responsible for creating a provision of safe and comfortable environment and is employed for engaging in taking care of and running the household/domestic activities. When an employer interviews a suitable candidate for this job, he looks for some specific skills, professional knowledge, and experience, so this article is an aid to be prepared for the common interview questions asked in a housekeeping interview.
Best Housekeeping Interview Questions
Question 1. What are the duties of a housekeeper that you are aware of?
Answer: “The duties of a housekeeper are
- To keep the household organized, neat and tidy, so that it can look aesthetically appealing and clean throughout the day
- Replacing toiletries, bedding, making beds
- Maintaining a schedule
- Give the guest a desirable environment to stay in
- Maintaining communication with the supervisors
- Undertaking the responsibility for minor repairs
- Coordinating with other members of housekeeping staff and so on…”
Question 2. What do you understand by ideal housekeeping?
Answer: “An ideal housekeeping to me means keeping my work area neat and sanitized. It should be appealing to the eyes of the guests or the owners and should provide them with safety and comfort. A person who can maintain such a level of orderliness is an ideal housekeeper which I why I think that I will be the best person suitable for this job as I have all these qualities in me.”
Question 3. What according to you does effective housekeeping result in?
Answer: “According to me, an effective housekeeping can result in
- Increased safety and decreased hazards
- Better hygiene through sanitation
- Less property damage through maintenance
- More effective use of space and efficient use of available resources by reducing wastage”
Question 4. What do you mean by institutional housekeeping?
Answer: “Institutional housekeeping can be also called commercial housekeeping and it means working and maintaining environments such as commercial buildings including resorts, hotels, motels, and inns.”
Question 5. What is the goal of housekeeping?
Answer: “The ultimate goal of housekeeping is to use quality equipment to ensure cleanliness at your workplace throughout the day by creating a clean and safe environment to live in.”
Question 6. What is your favorite housekeeping duty?
Answer: “My most favorite housekeeping task is to make beds and doing the laundry. From my previous job as a hotel housekeeper, I enjoyed most of the time involved in arranging rooms and making beds, that was my favorite part of the work as it is my most creative duty. I like creating aesthetically pleasing rooms, and the look of a clean room with fresh sheets is so therapeutic to pleasing to eyes.”
Question 7. What are your strengths related to housekeeping?
Answer: “My strengths are that I am a very organized person myself which helps me manage and prioritize things in a better way. I have 2 years of experience which makes this job easier for me. I have excellent time management skills and I can perform all the duties quickly and effectively. I know how to maintain orderliness. These are the greatest strengths I have been a housekeeper.”
Question 8. How did you get into this career as a housekeeper?
Answer: “I was basically unemployed before 3 years. Then I had a talk with a friend and he told me about choosing housekeeping as a career option. I researched about this and the most rewarding part was that all the duties included in the requirements of this job fulfilled my interests as I have exceptional cleaning skills, and then I decide to pursue it as a career and I worked as an in-house housekeeper for 2 years.”
Question 9. What skills do you have that are relevant to this role?
Answer: “To become a housekeeper, I have relevant skills like
- Time management skills
- A reasonable level of fitness required to do this job
- Awareness of health procedures
- I am a reliable and trustworthy employee
- I can work independently as well as in a team”
Question 10. What is the most rewarding part of being a housekeeper?
Answer: “For me, the most rewarding part of this job is to wake up each day knowing that you are responsible for satisfying your customers by providing them with an environment and a fresh atmosphere that they desire. When guests praise you for the work that you do for them is the most rewarding part of this job. It gives a great feeling and makes me happy.”
Question 11. Tell me about a time when you had to deal with an angry guest.
Answer: “There was a day at my previous job, a guest was really angry on everything I did, maybe he was having a bad day but he was constantly yelling at me for small things, I tried to calm him down as I do not believe in arguing or stretch a negative conversation. I listen to his queries and ensured him to take care of everything and make everything as quick as possible. He eventually thanked me for my work when he was leaving.”
Question 12. What would you do if you see a co-worker talking inappropriately to a guest?
Answer: “I would immediately talk to my manager or the supervisor about the misconduct.”
Question 13. How would you react if you are asked to perform tasks that are not a part of your duty?
Answer: “I enjoyed doing different tasks and I will be okay with it if it happens once or twice but if it keeps happening constantly I would bring that to the notice of my manager and patiently discuss it.”
Question 14. How do you take criticism?
Answer: “I do take criticism and work on it if it sounds constructive and I believe that I can improve in certain tasks I perform. However, I am aware of how I perform my job and I don’t let any negative criticism from a person who is trying to bring me down.”
Question 15. Are you familiar with chemical cleaning precautions?
Answer: “Yes, I do have knowledge and experience with chemical cleaning and I know what precautions are necessary to take while using such chemicals using ice cleaners. However, I am ready to learn some new procedures during my training course and I know that before using any chemical cleaner there is a need to read all the instructions that come with it.”
Question 16. How well can you multi-task?
Answer: “ I am aware that the housekeeping work requires multi-tasking and I am pretty good at it as I have experience in working in this field from past 2 years. I am still trying to increase my efficiency by multitasking as it helps you do all of your tasks timely. It is a very important skill that each housekeeper must-have.”
Question 17. How do you keep records of the daily task that are done and yet to be done at a workplace?
Answer: “I actually create a checklist for myself in my notes each time I have assigned some duties as it helps me stay organized and I take to differentiate between the completed tasks and pending ones and track my progress for the day. It has increased my work efficiency a lot.”
Question 18. Tell me your least favorite cleaning job.
Answer: “I do not have a least favorite cleaning task but I do not like when I have to involve in back to back same tasks, I like switching between cleaning and organizing tasks as it gives you a bit of a change in between the work.”
Question 19. How do you communicate with your guests?
Answer: “Being in this field for more than 2 years, I have excellent hospitality skills and I know how to greet my guests, take their orders, and obey them. I know there is conduct while you talk to the guests. I am aware that the guests desire a welcoming environment and I know how to anticipate their needs.”
Question 20. What are the best housekeeping practices to attract repeat visits?
Answer: “I believe that cleanliness is one of the factors that attracts guests to revisit as it provides great customer satisfaction. By performing tasks immediately and giving fast service with available resources can also be a major factor of attracting revisits.”
Question 21. How do you handle work stress?
Answer: “I rarely feel stressed as I try to stay motivated and maintain a balance between stress levels. I also use music as a stress buster on tough days. I am habitual of working under pressure and it helps me stay focused and do my job better.”
Remember, always ask the doubts and questions at the end of your interview to show that you are really interested in this job. Thorough preparation will surely help you ace that interview. Each of your answers should demonstrate that why the employer should hire you and highlight your qualities.
Download the list of questions in .PDF format, to practice with them later, or to use them on your interview template (for HouseKeeping interviews):
References
https://muse.jhu.edu/article/746353/summary
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