Bartender interview questions
Behind a bar, the hard parts are the ones nobody can rehearse: the refusal, the till that is down, the last half hour. These questions go there first.
| Question | What to listen for |
|---|---|
| What kind of bar have you worked, and how busy did it get? | The type of venue and the scale. A sports bar on a game night and a wine bar are different jobs. |
| Talk us through refusing service to somebody. | Early, calm, offering water or food, and telling the duty manager. Somebody who has never refused anybody has either been lucky or is not noticing. |
| A group is buying rounds for somebody who is clearly had enough. What do you do? | Refuse the round rather than the person at the bar, involve the duty manager, and keep it quiet. Listen for judgement rather than rules recited. |
| How do you keep a round straight when four people order at once? | A sequence and a call back, with the drinks lined up in order. Memory alone falls over at four. |
| What do you check before a keg goes on? | Connections, gas, line check and a taste. Vague answers here mean somebody has watched rather than done. |
| How do you keep the bar tidy through a rush rather than after it? | Clear as you go, glasses back, bin runs between serves. The bar at 9pm tells you the answer. |
| The till is down at the end of the night. What happens? | Report it, count it again with a second person, and write it down. Not making it up out of tips. |
| Tell us about a time you had to get a manager involved. | A real example. Knowing when something stops being yours to handle is most of the job. |
| What is your approach to upselling without being pushy? | Reading the table rather than a script. Suggesting the better thing, not the dearer thing. |
| How do you close a bar down so the next shift can open it? | Specifics: lines, fridges stocked, glasses through, floor done, till counted, nothing left for the opener. |
| What do you do in the last half hour before close? | Last drinks called, glasses collected, the floor started on, and watching who is still here. |
| This role runs to 1:00am on Friday and Saturday. Can you work those finishes? | Yes or no, clearly. This is a question about the shift, and the answer either fits the roster or it does not. |
| How would you get home after a 1:00am finish? | A plan that works at that hour. Somebody with no plan will be the person asking for an early finish in week three. |
| What would you like to ask us? | Questions about the venue, the shifts or the team. |
What is in the file
- Template, blank, with each section down the side and room for the answer.
- Example, the same sheet filled in for The Anchor Hotel.
- How to use, with the steps and the mistakes below.
How to fill it in
- Read the bartender job description first, and cut any question the job does not actually need answered.
- Ask every candidate the same questions in the same order, so the answers can be compared rather than remembered.
- Print the blank sheet and write what each person said beside the question, during the interview rather than after it.
- Score at the end against the job description, not against who you liked talking to.
Common mistakes
- Questions about age, health, pregnancy, family responsibilities, religion, race or union membership, which are not about the job and carry real risk
- A different set of questions for each candidate, which makes the decision impossible to explain later
- Asking about availability and then rostering outside it in the first fortnight
Sources
The official pages this wording was read against, on 21 October 2026.
- Fair Work Ombudsman, Hiring employees
- Fair Work Ombudsman, Protection from discrimination at work
- Fair Work Ombudsman, Job ads
- Fair Work Ombudsman, Find my award
When a spreadsheet stops being enough
Roster Flow shows a late finish beside the next day’s start, so the Friday close and the Saturday open stop being two rows nobody put together.
Questions
What is on the bartender interview questions?
14 sections down the side, running from what kind of bar have you worked, and how busy did it get? to what would you like to ask us?. The example beside them is filled in for The Anchor Hotel: fourteen questions about the bar, responsible service, cash and the late finish.
Does the bartender interview questions work anything out for you?
No. It is a document with 14 sections to answer in your own words, not a calculator. Nothing on it is a formula.
Can I use the bartender interview questions in Google Sheets?
Yes. Open bartender-interview-questions.xlsx from Google Drive, or use File, then Import, then Upload with bartender-interview-questions.csv. The document and its example come across either way.
Is the wording in the bartender interview questions ready to use as it is?
The bartender interview questions is a starting point for The Anchor Hotel or any business like it, to adapt rather than sign. The wording was checked against the official sources on 21 October 2026, it is not legal advice, and it has not been through a workplace relations professional.