Janitor and custodian phone screen questions
Custodial work is often done at night, alone, in someone else's building. The screen confirms the experience, the floor equipment, the night schedule, and that the candidate can be trusted with keys and alarm codes.
Eight questions, and what to listen for
Ask them in this order. The first two sort the pool; the middle ones show judgment; the last ones settle logistics before anyone books an interview.
- 1
Tell me about your cleaning or custodial experience: what kinds of buildings, and what did a shift include?
Listen for: Building type (office, school, medical, retail), square footage or number of floors, and tenure.
- 2
Which floor machines have you used: auto-scrubbers, buffers, burnishers, carpet extractors?
Listen for: Named equipment. Strip-and-wax experience is a real plus for school and retail accounts.
- 3
How do you use cleaning chemicals safely, and where do you look if you are unsure about one?
Listen for: Reading labels, correct dilution, not mixing products, checking the safety data sheet. Mixing bleach and ammonia is the classic wrong answer.
- 4
How do you make sure nothing gets missed when you are cleaning a large area alone?
Listen for: A route, a checklist, working top to bottom. Habits matter more than speed.
- 5
You find an office door unlocked and a laptop left out at 11pm. What do you do?
Listen for: Leave it, lock what they are authorized to lock, report it to the supervisor. Touching or moving belongings is a red flag.
- 6
Are evening and overnight shifts workable, and how many hours a week do you want?
Listen for: A direct answer that matches the account.
- 7
Can you stand, walk, bend, and push equipment for a full shift, and lift up to 40 pounds, with or without reasonable accommodation?
Listen for: A plain yes or a stated limit. Do not probe for reasons.
- 8
Are you able to pass a background check for client buildings, and when could you start?
Listen for: A quick yes and a date. Most client contracts require it.
Red flags on the call
- Unfamiliar with basic chemical safety
- Would move or handle a client's belongings
- Night shifts not workable for a night account
- No transportation plan for late shifts
Keep it short
Five questions, four to six minutes. Janitor and custodian candidates are usually applying to several jobs at once; a screen they can finish between shifts gets finished. Save the deeper questions for the interview, where the candidate has already answered these once.
Ask whether the candidate can perform an essential task with or without reasonable accommodation; do not ask about disability or medical history. Avoid age, family, religion, national origin and other protected characteristics. See the EEOC's hiring-question guidance.
Run this exact screen for every janitor and custodian who applies
Create a role in PhoneScreen with these five questions, share the link, and every candidate gets the same screen the moment they call. You read the scorecards. First 10 screens are free.
- 1Tell me about your cleaning or custodial experience and what a shift included.
- 2Which floor machines have you used?
- 3How do you use cleaning chemicals safely?
- 4Are evening and overnight shifts workable?
- 5Are you able to pass a background check for client buildings, and when could you start?
Common questions
We staff dozens of buildings. Can we screen once and place people anywhere? +
Yes. Use one custodian screen for the pool, and add custom variables like preferred area or shift so you can match candidates to accounts from the results list.
Should we ask about floor care if most accounts are light office cleaning? +
Keep the question. Floor care skills are scarce, and a candidate who can strip and wax is worth routing to the accounts that need it.
Screening for staffing agencies · More roles: manufacturing production worker, machine operator, forklift operator, caregiver, CDL truck driver, line cook · Why the same questions for everyone