In this article, we will be sharing some of the questions with answers that you might be asked in your interview as a Cleaner.
1. Why Are You Interested In This Role?
I completed my diploma last year and have been working in a small motel downtown. I believe that this opportunity would provide me with exposure and more skills. I have served as a cleaner in my previous role as well but with good soft skills regarding customer service, I was also fulfilling the duties of a room attendant. I did my research before applying to your organization to understand the role and requirements. I do understand that I have limited exposure till now but I am a quick learner and can grow in this role.
2. What Are The Roles Of A Cleaner?
The duties are a mixture of different responsibilities like:
- Sweeping the floors of lobby, rooms, and corridors,
- Cleaning bathrooms and public areas,
- Vacuuming the carpets,
- Room Dusting,
- Disposing of the trash and placing empty bins in the rooms and public areas,
- Stocking the bathroom and room with required supplies,
- Window Cleaning and
- Notifying the management if any repair or maintenance is required.
3. What Are The Qualities That A Cleaner Needs To Be Successful?
As a cleaner, one needs to have the following qualities or skills:
- Attention to detail,
- Organizational skills,
- Multitasking,
- Efficient Working with or without supervision,
- Team player,
- Quick learning to use gadgets,
- Understanding of safety and health standards for to use of chemicals,
- Physical stamina and strength and
- Communication skills.
4. What Major Challenges Did You Face During Your Last Role? How Did You Manage Them?
As you know that COVID-19 hit the hospitality industry in the worst way and ever since cleaning and sanitization is the priority of any public area. Now when public spaces have opened to normal capacity, the new variants of COVID-19 keep emerging and challenges keep coming at us. I believe that it has created a sense of awareness in our guests too who are also concerned about the cleaning aspect. We have faced a shortage of staff from time to time due to rising cases. To manage the load, teamwork is required so that teams are not burdened to manage the load in any way.
5. Describe Your Daily Routine As A Cleaner?
On routine, my shift starts around 7 in the morning as and I change into my uniform. I take over from the previous shift and check which rooms need to be cleaned in the first shift and which are being assigned to new guests. I first mop the lobby area as it has the most dirt and I move on to rooms with my team members. Once I vacuum the rooms, the housekeeping staff changes the bedsheets. I move on to cleaning the bathroom and stock it with toiletries. As I finish the rooms in the corridor, I assist my teammate in cleaning the corridors and windows. I also maintain the status board of the rooms for the next shift just like I take over from them.
6. Describe Briefly About Your Experience?
Initially, I started working as a part-time cleaner in an office space. Even though my duty was after office hours, I was responsible for a variety of tasks. I stocked all toiletries in the bathrooms and emptied the bins by sorting them into recyclable and non-recyclable categories. Cleaning became my therapy and it helped me gain focus on my life. I worked there until I completed my diploma and then started working in the motel. This was my first job in the hospitality industry and it taught me well.
7. What Kind Of Strategies And Mindset Are Required For This Role?
For this, good customer service is the key because a happy guest makes your repute in this industry. To provide great service to all guests, I focus on maintaining positive behavior with a warm attitude. I pay attention to detail to ensure that areas are clean and guests can relax easily without any worry. If I get to interact with the guest, I make sure that I am friendly to them.
8. What Is The Biggest Challenge You Foresee In This Job?
Rude customers are a challenge to this industry. Sometimes, guests are pissed off for no reason and take out their frustration on the cleaning or housekeeping staff. I do not like dealing with rude customers who are only criticizing for no good reason. I am working on improving my attitude towards rude customers by ensuring to remain calm and do not let them demotivate me. Another challenge that I foresee in this role is time management. I am not sure about the current cleaning staff present here. I can manage long working hours if informed on time because I am also planning to continue my further studies. I can manage my schedule as I will be taking online courses.
9. How Do You Stay Motivated At Work?
My motivation is a happy guest at the checkout counter. I challenge myself with new tasks to ensure that I am not getting bored doing repetitive work. Those are my personal challenges like mopping the corridor in ten minutes instead of fifteen but quality to be maintained. It may sound funny to you but these small tasks keep me occupied.
10. Describe A Time You Failed In This Role And The Lesson You Learned?
Due to weather, a transit flight got canceled and its passengers were assigned to stay for a minimum of 24 hours at the motel. I was in charge of floor mopping that day. One of the passengers slipped on the floor while I was placing a wet floor sign. He was rude and abusive and I felt humiliated and left the area. Later on, he spoke to my supervisor about my behavior. My supervisor was a great guy he helped me identify my behavior issue easily and taught me to deal with such matters in a polite manner. I learned to continue working passionately in my role.
11. Why Do You Feel You Are Qualified For This Role?
I have experience working in the motel and as well as office in my past. I have developed cleaning skills and I am ready to join you in this role. I have interacted with customers and ensured their satisfaction through my services. I also know how to operate machinery at work and clean several types of flooring. I am young and physically fit to complete shifts.
12. Share With Us Your Greatest Achievement
I won the title of the best employee of the month for 4 months consecutively. Since the motel was in tourist areas, I got a chance to serve a lot of international guests throughout the year. In the peak season, we had to manage extra load and entertain the guests with the best facilities. I have learned to multitask during that time and always made guests happy that we got great reviews on Google and several trips booking websites. Ever since, pandemic ended and people have started planning their vacations again; I got trained by the hospitality ministry training program for post-COVID rules and regulations. I ensure that our services are up to the mark and guests checkout happily from their rooms.
13. What Is Your Experience Like With Demanding Clients?
Customers, Clients, and guests are never wrong. I make sure that I show patience and listen to them patiently. I ensure that I do not argue with them on any matter and offer the solutions in my professional capacity. If there is any other issue, I inform my manager regarding it so that management can solve it on their own.
14. On Duty, A Guest Is Angry. What Will Be Your Approach?
I do not interact with the guests directly unless they approach me with some task or assistance. I report their issue to housekeeping staff as they are trained for customer service better than a cleaner. If they approach me directly, I would listen to them and guide them to speak to a specific person or request them to wait while I call the housekeeping staff. If still the guest is ranting, impatient, and getting angry, I would request them to give me a chance to look at the problem and maybe sort it out on my own. Once I will meet with my supervisor, I will inform him as well.
15. In Cleaning, Which Activity Do You Enjoy The Most?
The mopping floor is my favorite of all! I believe that it involves good physical strength and keeps me active as well. In my free time, I am always trying to learn about new chemicals or mopping solutions that are available on the market. I think my speed has increased over time as well.
16. Are You A Team Player?
I am a friendly person that can easily bond with mates. Cleaning is mostly done without supervision as the main focus is on housekeeping duties at the hotel. I enjoy working with my fellows in a happy environment where we assist each other in a load of shifts on a busy day.
17. As A Cleaner, What Is You’re Your Key Strength?
Multitasking is my key strength i.e. essential for this role. I am organized in my duties as I handle cleaning supplies and always label them before putting them in my tray. While using any chemical, I make sure that I am fully focused as it is essential for my own safety and my staff and guests.
18. While Cleaning, You Might Across Private Information Of The Guests. What Is Your Duty In This Regard?
All guests staying at the hotel have privacy rights and I need to respect that. If I have any such information related to guests, I ensure that I keep information private and do not share it with unauthorized persons.
19. Which Is The Easiest Place To Clean In A Hotel?
I would vote for the kitchen! It’s a private area and only authorized persons are allowed to enter the premises. It’s mostly floor mopping when it comes to the kitchen and cleaning the countertops. Sometimes, sinks are part of the duty. I use kitchen-safe chemicals on the premises to ensure that it does not harm the food that will be prepared. As per protocol, kitchens are only cleaned during close hours as the rest of the time, food is being prepared and chemicals can easily travel.
20. Which Area Of the Hotel Is Hardest To Clean?
Bathrooms are hard, especially the toilet area. I have seen people flushing unnecessary items that clog the sewage and lead to a major problem. Due to the humid environment in the bathrooms, stains are hard and require some tough chemicals to make them clean and shine.
21. What Is Your Knowledge Regarding Chemical Safety?
While cleaning with any chemical, I make sure that I am handling it safely. I prefer using labeled containers and ensuring safety throughout the process. To store the chemical, proper ventilation should be ensured in the area. In hotels or motels, chemicals should not be placed near HVAC as fumes can easily travel through vents.
22. While Cleaning, What Health And Safety Procedure Do You Follow?
Since cleaning requires attention to detail, cleaners are the first ones to report any worn-out carpets or floors in the hotel area. Such issues can cause slipping of the staff and guests too. If I see any such condition, I have to immediately report it to the concerned so that it can be timely fixed. Sometimes appliances placed in the rooms have electric short-circuit issues so I keep a check around. As per protocol, I ensure that all emergency exits and aisles are clear all round the clock and every day. For the public spaces like the lobby and corridors, I put out safety signs like Wet Floor in the front so that people using it can be careful while crossing the area. Sometimes, such areas have to be rescheduled for cleaning due to traffic. I will easily switch to other duties if that’s the case and complete the task when called back.
23. At Your Duty, Which Cleaning Chemicals Do You Regularly Use?
I have used detergents and ammonia solutions, depending on the cleaning activity. I have an understanding of different surfaces and which chemicals work best on which type. If I am not sure about the chemical, I always consult my team or supervisor to avoid any damage to hotel property. While using strong chemicals, I wear safety gear including masks and glasses. Once I am done cleaning, I wipe it out with clean water to ensure no residue is left behind. For window cleaning, I am a true fan of using Windex as it leaves the window crystal clear in no time. For flooring, I use Clorox as it leaves the shines behind and does not damage the surface at all. Other tools I mostly use include dust extractors and floor buffers as per the requirement. If you have any specific chemical or solution that you use in your hotel, I am happy to go through its manual and discuss it with my new teammates as they have experience in using it more than me. I am a fast learner and can easily adapt to new things.
In my role, I always refill my chemical supplies and products at the start of the shift so that I am not bothered by empty bottles during my shift timings. I also record the inventory and update it accordingly. If I am short of any cleaning supplies, I inform the manager beforehand so that they can be ordered on time. As a cleaner, it’s my duty to ensure I am well stocked for at least the next 3 shifts.
24. What Type Of Flooring Is Used In Hotels?
Mostly marbles are used in the hotels and rooms have carpeting. As a cleaner, it is my duty to understand the different types of flooring used so that relevant chemicals can be used for cleaning purposes. In my experience, I have knowledge regarding statuary marble, calacatta marble, and Carrera marble. Apart from marble flooring, few hotels also use wooden and vinyl flooring. I have been trained in several types of floor cleaning without damage.
25. What Is Your Plan For The Next 5 Years?
Currently, I am looking for a role where I can stay for a longer time period that can give me good exposure and polish my skills. I believe in few years, I will be working as cleaning supervisor where I can manage my team and train them to perform better with cleaning equipment and chemicals. If hired here, I will be staying for a good time period to gain more knowledge in this field.
Conclusion
In this article, we have listed basic and technical interview questions that are required for the position of Cleaner. Be confident about your skill and experience and don’t forget to smile. We wish you all the best in acing your interview. Let us know in the comments below what questions you got asked in your first round of interviews.
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