How to screen bar staff

Must-haves to check first

Decide these before you advertise. Keep the list short - every extra requirement narrows your pool.

• Availability for evenings and weekends Possible knock-out
• Personal licence - required if the role is the designated premises supervisor (DPS) Possible knock-out
• Bar, barista or cellar experience - nice-to-have Nice to have

8 questions to ask every bar staff applicant

Ask everyone the same core questions, in the same order, and follow up where their CV leaves a gap. That's what makes a screen fair and comparable.

1. Which evenings and weekends can you work?Listen for: Availability that matches your busiest nights.
2. What bar experience do you have - cocktails, cask ales, high-volume, events?Listen for: Experience that matches your venue.
3. How do you apply Challenge 25?Listen for: Asks for ID from anyone who looks under 25, knows accepted ID, and refuses politely if in doubt.
4. A customer who has clearly had too much asks for another drink. What do you do?Listen for: Refuses politely, offers water or a soft drink, involves a manager if needed. Knows it is an offence to knowingly sell alcohol to a drunk person (Licensing Act 2003, s.141).
5. How do you keep up when the bar is three deep?Listen for: Acknowledges people waiting, works in order, keeps moving.
6. Tell me about a time you dealt with a difficult customer.Listen for: Calm, polite, knows when to get help.
7. DPS roles: do you hold a personal licence?Listen for: Required for the designated premises supervisor.
8. Are you happy to do a paid trial shift?Listen for: A clear yes.

What not to ask

And for every role, avoid asking about:

• Age or date of birth - unless the law sets a minimum age for the task
• Health, sickness record or disability before a job offer (Equality Act 2010, section 60). The narrow exceptions include asking about adjustments for the recruitment process, and whether someone can carry out a task that is intrinsic to the job - ask about the task, not the condition
• Pregnancy, children, childcare or plans to start a family
• Nationality or "where are you from?" - instead, ask every applicant whether they have the right to work in the UK, and check documents before they start
• Religion, sexual orientation, marital or civil partnership status, or gender reassignment

More on this in AI screening and UK law.

Screening bar staff at volume

If you get more bar staff applicants than your team can phone, the questions above are only fair if everyone gets asked them. BeCareers asks every applicant about your must-haves and these questions in a short conversation - in their own language, at any time of day - and gives you the transcript and a summary. You decide who to interview.

See also: AI screening for hospitality.