Every venue manager has hired someone who interviewed beautifully and froze on their first Saturday night. The CV was fine, the phone chat was pleasant, and none of it measured the actual job: staying warm and quick when the room is full and the printer won’t stop.
You can’t fully test that before a trial shift. But a well-designed video screen gets you much closer than paper or a phone call, because you can see the person — energy, expression, how they talk about customers — across every applicant, not just the few you had time to ring.
The question set
1. “Tell us about the busiest service you’ve worked — what was your role in keeping it moving?” — 90 seconds. The anchor question. Strong candidates get specific: covers, sections, how the team communicated. Weak answers stay abstract (“it was really busy but we got through it”).
2. “A customer says their meal is wrong and they’re visibly annoyed. Walk us through exactly what you do.” — 60 seconds. Scenario judgement, and the closest thing to watching them on the floor. Listen for the sequence: acknowledge, fix, escalate if needed — and watch the face while they say it. This is the question where video earns its keep over a phone call.
3. “What’s your availability across evenings, weekends and public holidays — honestly?” — 30 seconds. Honestly matters. Availability misalignment is the top cause of early hospitality turnover, and candidates soften it in text.
4. “Do you hold a current RSA? Which state issued it?” — 30 seconds. Compliance gate, done in half a minute. Add RCG if you’re a gaming venue.
5. Optional: “What do you like about hospitality — honestly?” — 60 seconds. For roles where you’re hiring for keeps rather than the season. The answers split cleanly into people who have a real answer and people who need a job — both are fine, but you should know which you’re hiring.
What to look for on review
Resist scoring polish. Some of the best floor staff are awkward on camera for the first ten seconds and then light up when they talk about a real service. Watch the scenario answer twice if you’re unsure — the instinct (defend vs. fix) shows up in the first sentence.
Tag as you go: “weekend PT”, “RSA current”, “barista exp”. When the roster gap opens in November, you’re searching tags, not memories.
There’s a fuller playbook on the hospitality screening page, including how venue groups run branded campaigns per site. And if you’re weighing formats, here’s the honest phone vs video screening comparison.
Start a free trial and have this campaign in front of applicants tonight.