A Growing Need for Employees
Five Guys Burgers & Fries, commonly shortened to Five Guys, oversees constant interviewing and hiring to maintain ideal staffing levels within one of the fastest-growing restaurant chains in the United States. With more than 1,000 restaurants nationwide and over 1,500 more in development, the burger chain offers a wealth of entry-level and managerial employment opportunities. The thriving restaurant chain fills each vacancy with the help of an interview process, which job seekers gain access to by submitting the completed documents necessary for formal hiring consideration. Hiring managers use the submitted information to select and contact suitable applicants for interviews.
Open Interviews and What to Expect
While some job seekers wait for days or even weeks before scheduling interview sessions, Five Guys frequently holds open interviews in which candidates meet with hiring representatives immediately when applying for jobs in-person at newly constructed restaurant locations. Hiring managers at some locations also give stronger interview consideration to applicants referred by current employees. Regardless of the method used to attain interviews, prospective workers should attend the meetings expecting to sit with a hiring manager one-on-one and field basic questions for about 10 or 20 minutes. The interview process generally becomes more involved for candidates applying for management positions.
Commonly Asked Questions
Entry-level applicants typically go through one interview during the hiring process. Interviewers assess the depth of responses to questions like, "What do you know about Five Guys?" and "What do expect to learn at Five Guys that you haven't learned at other jobs?" Five Guys hiring managers also like to check for previous restaurant experience and often ask interviewees about the high and low points of former workplaces. Applicants may have to talk about duties performed, goals realized, and problems faced at prior jobs, as well. Behavioral queries obliging candidates to describe what actions they would take in handling certain restaurant situations also serve as popular interview questions.
Questions Candidates for Managerial Roles Face
Prospective managers generally encounter additional questions asked over the course of two or three Five Guys interviews. In addition to facing questions about employment history and dealing with different types of customers, managerial applicants usually must respond to queries delving into leadership abilities and personal styles of management. Questions such as, "What would you do if it was your day off but the restaurant was understaffed and needed help?" regularly emerge during Five Guys interviews for managers. The interview process sometimes includes tours of various restaurant locations and often takes up to three months for aspiring managers to complete, depending on the specific job title desired.
Come Prepared and Stand Out
Dress up for interviews by wearing attire projecting a level of professionalism and formality appropriate for the desired position. Show up for the interview a few minutes early and equipped with adequate knowledge about the Five Guys concept, reasons for seeking employment with the rapidly growing restaurant chain, and relevant questions to ask at the end. Stand out at the interview by greeting the hiring manager enthusiastically, answering questions in an engaging and outgoing manner, and expressing gratitude for the employment consideration at the end. Interviews often end with a job offer for entry-level applicants. Other candidates should ask about the preferred method for following up with hiring personnel.
Five Guys Burgers and Fries Crew Member Interview Video
Video Transcript
Interviewer: Please describe your job title and primary duties.
Five Guys Burgers and Fries Crew Member: For Five Guys I was a cashier, but officially my title was crew member. I was basically in charge of making sure that the dining room area was clean. I would go out and ask the customers, how the food was, how their experience is, things like that. Just engaging with the customers. And it was also my responsibility to count the drawer at the end of the shift.
Interviewer: What was the work environment like?
Five Guys Burgers and Fries Crew Member: The work environment was really fun. I was working with people who were around my age, so 17, 18, 20, around that age. Very cool, very open minded, very diverse work environment too, because you had people from all different ethnicities working together. And what I liked the most is everybody works as a team and it’s very organized.
Interviewer: What was your favorite part about working there?
Five Guys Burgers and Fries Crew Member: My favorite part from working there was of course, the free meals. The free meals were one of my favorite parts, and then what else? Oh, when you’re working in the back, officially you’re a crew member. Even if your job designation is cashier, sometimes they’ll put you in the back, cover for somewhere on their break to work as a cook or making the hamburgers or throwing the fries in.
You actually get to, if you work at the fry station, you get to sample what you’re doing. Every three hours you make a batch, see how it tastes, see where you could be better. And even before a customer got their fry, it was your duty to make sure that it was good. It tasted good, it was seasoned correctly. So yeah.
Interviewer: Please describe the application and interview process.
Five Guys Burgers and Fries Crew Member: For this particular Five Guys, it was a franchise, but all Five Guys are franchises, so you had to come into the store and apply in person. There was a paper application, filled it out. I think I got a call a whole month later. And I sat down with the owner of the franchise, or one of the owners of the franchise. She interviewed me. Just asked me some basic questions, work history, why Five Guys, things like that.
Interviewer: How were you notified that you received the job?
Five Guys Burgers and Fries Crew Member: I think it took them about a week to reach out. And after a week they called me, offered me the job. And then they also called me out to the store to fill out some additional documents just to prove that I’m a citizen, things like that. And what else? I started working like a week right after.
Interviewer: What set you apart from other candidates?
Five Guys Burgers and Fries Crew Member: I think what set me apart from all the other applicants at Five Guys was really my willingness to work hard. I think I gave that impression to the interviewer, that I was someone that was willing to work hard. That I was eager to work and that I was ready to work anytime of the day. So I think she really liked that eagerness.
Interviewer: What other advice would you give to a job seeker looking to gain employment?
Five Guys Burgers and Fries Crew Member: I think that Five Guys was the perfect experience for a first time job, because it really gives you a good customer service background. It gives you a lot of that experience. It gives you money handling experience. It gives you a competitive work environment to work in. It was flexible and it was also fun.
Five Guys Burgers and Fries Cashier Interview Video
Video Transcript
Interviewer: Please describe your job title and primary duties.
Five Guys Burgers and Fries Cashier: At Five Guys, I started off on line. That’s where we make the sandwiches and that’s just where the sandwiches are made. Then eventually they moved me to cash register, because they saw I was really good with people. So I did cash register and then they trained me on fries. It’s a certain way they make their fries and they train you on that. Then I was going to get trained to be on the grill where they actually make the burgers but I didn’t.
Interviewer: What was the work environment like?
Five Guys Burgers and Fries Cashier: The work environment, it’s really upbeat and fast paced. Well, I only worked on weekends, because when I worked there I was in high school, but it’s really upbeat, fast paced. It’s very verbal, so if you’re kind of a quiet person, I don’t know if it’d be the best place because there’s a lot of like. Say if you’re taking something out of a cooler, you’ve got to yell, “Cooler,” or, “Down below,” so that everybody knows what you’re doing and you won’t make somebody fall or trip, because it is a very enclosed area.
Interviewer: What was your favorite part about working there?
Five Guys Burgers and Fries Cashier: My favorite part honestly was working cashier with customers. Maybe it’s because I’m a person who likes to interact with people, but I really liked working cashier because most of the customers that came in there, they were friendly and joking with me and I really liked that, and they do tip very well.
Interviewer: Please describe the application and interview process.
Five Guys Burgers and Fries Cashier: Well, for me, one of my good friends worked there so he referred me to work there. I filled out an application, it’s just like the basic name, address, work history, stuff like that. Then there’s an interview maybe a couple of weeks later. The interview, it was fairly easy. He asked me questions, like my name obviously, like have I ever worked anywhere before, which at that point I didn’t, that was my first job. Then he asked me questions like how would I respond to different situations or what would I like to do there.
Interviewer: How were you notified that you received the job?
Five Guys Burgers and Fries Cashier: Well, I had two interviews, because my first interview, you have to be 16 to work there. So my first interview I was only like 15 and a half or close to being 16, so he told me to come back because the first one the interview went very well. So then when I came back, he gave me another interview and he told me immediately that I was hired, like as soon as the interview was over.
Interviewer: What other advice would you give to a job seeker looking to gain employment?
Five Guys Burgers and Fries Cashier: You have to let your interviewer, whoever, know that you can be very verbal, a good attitude, I guess. Then also smiles. I mean I say that in every interview, but they like to see you smiling and being happy because they don’t want somebody who’s just mopey, I guess.
Five Guys Burgers and Fries Cashier Interview Video
Video Transcript
Interviewer: Please describe your job title and primary duties.
Five Guys Burgers and Fries Cashier: My job title was cashier but my job duties included all cashier work and cleaning the front dining hall, cleaning the bathrooms, anything within presentation I also had to clean.
Interviewer: What was the work environment like?
Five Guys Burgers and Fries Cashier: Very fast paced. There’s times that I just couldn’t get everything done and you’d have people yelling at you that you had to do this and you also had to do this, and you’re still stuck with a line but all these tables are dirty. It was very, very fast paced work. Always doing something. There’s never down time.
Interviewer: How would you describe the application and interview process?
Five Guys Burgers and Fries Cashier: I went in, I put in an application and then I just continued to follow up and show up until I got an interview with the manager. The manager just sat me down, asked me a few questions. I was hired that day and told to report back in a couple days for training.
Interviewer: What questions did the interviewer ask during the job interview?
Five Guys Burgers and Fries Cashier: Why do you want to be a part of us. It wasn’t too specific overall. Your general food industry questions.
Interviewer: How were you notified that you received the job?
Five Guys Burgers and Fries Cashier: I … At the time I really needed a job so I was calling in myself. It was I think about two days later when I had called, he said oh yeah, you can come on in and we’ll get you some training.
Five Guys Burgers and Fries Crew Member Interview Video
Video Transcript
Interviewer: Please describe your job title and primary duties.
Five Guys Burgers and Fries Crew Member: That was just like a crew member. I would do cashier and I would sweep up and just take care of general customer service and anything like that.
Interviewer: What was the work environment like?
Five Guys Burgers and Fries Crew Member: It was very professional. I found they handle themselves well. There was always something to do there at least and I thought it was not too terrible.
Interviewer: How would you describe the application and interview process?
Five Guys Burgers and Fries Crew Member: When I applied at Five Guys, I walked in, filled an application, brought it back. Within a week, I got called. They were actually short-staffed at the time that I was applying. They called me back and said I have the job and then I sort of training within the next few days right after they called me to come back in.
Interviewer: What questions did the interviewer ask during the job interview?
Five Guys Burgers and Fries Crew Member: They just ask like previous experience, how are you with people, kind of like your basic everyday questions. They ask if I could cook and I said I’ve never really done that before so that’s why they didn’t hire me to be a chef, but just very basic questions about your customer service, past and working in the food industry past.
Interviewer: What should an applicant wear to the interview?
Five Guys Burgers and Fries Crew Member: Dress for success man. Not like something too crazy like a suit, but wear something that shows like you’re serious about the job. Don’t show up in a t-shirt and jeans. Wear up in a polo and a nice pair of pants. You got to look like you want to work.
Interviewer: What other advice would you give to a job seeker looking to gain employment?
Five Guys Burgers and Fries Crew Member: Go with a very friendly attitude, keep a smile on your face because you never know who’s going to be walking up. There’s actually a secret shopper program at Five Guys where if they will do it, if they come in and they serve you, you actually will get bonuses based upon what they say, so be ready to always have a smile on your face because the management likes to see that anyway. It’s always good for applicants.
Five Guys Burgers and Fries Fry Cook Interview Video
Video Transcript
Interviewer: Please describe your job title and primary duties.
Five Guys Burgers and Fries Fry Cook: All right I was a fry cook. Basically it changes throughout which time of the day you are working with. Say you are work in the morning, your job would be you need to actually clean out all the fries that they already either have them cut for you or you’ve have to go grab a bag of potatoes and cut all of the potatoes down into their shape and then run them through 3 sinks and to get all the starch off them and it takes roughly about 30 to 45 minutes and you just to keep moving them from sink to sink draining the water in the sink and have 6 buckets of uncooked fries at your station and all of the trays like full of fries that are ready to cook before the shift starts at 11 and then to actually cook them, there is actually like a cycle to go all through this training. It takes about I would say about 4 to 5 hours of training. It’s just all videos do it by yourself and pretty much just drop the fries for 2 minutes, get them back up, let them dry for 3 minutes, drop them back down, pretty simple repetitive, very fast fast phase. During the lunch shift it’s very, very fast phase. If you are not someone who can pick up on the speed and the tempo really fast and you are not going to do well. I got dropped into a rush shift my first day of working and it was tough. Just flying out, it’s like a 7 minute ticket time and you have about 2 minutes to cook those fries and it just takes longer. You really have to like pump them out and then you also on charge of putting all the burgers into their bags, giving them their napkins and then you can’t just put the bag down and go back to cooking, you have to hold it up and call someone’s number out and physically hand it to them, give them a smile. That’s pretty much all you do and then towards the night time you’ll get relieved of your duties within like the last few minutes to 30 minutes in to go and start getting start on the cleaning in the back, just going through cleaning dishes, mopping the back. It’s pretty much just a cook and clean kind of position.
Interviewer: How would you describe the application and interview process?
Five Guys Burgers and Fries Fry Cook: It was pretty simple. I just walked in and I asked what they have is like just like a shift manager, not the store manager who is working. Just handed me this little pamphlet, sat down, let me get some peanuts, get a drink, just got to sit down very casually just fill out all the information get back to them, got a call maybe two days later. Came back in and sat down. They asked me if I was hungry, I wasn’t but they are prepared to give me a burger or something to eat and I just sat down with the manager and we just talked about past job experiences and just like I would be expecting to do if I work for Five Guys, what I have to get. Like you have to get them either jeans or long khakis that you wouldn’t mind ruining, non-slip shoes because it’s like greasy floors and you can slip. In fact I have fallen like twice when I worked. They just like run you through what it is. Very nice. Just comfortable. Not like too much of an interview, more just like a casual conversation and then I began working the first Monday of that coming week.
Interviewer: What should an applicant wear to the interview?
Five Guys Burgers and Fries Fry Cook: I would wear something more just casual but also not slobbish. If you could just maybe like a collared shirt. You can wear shorts it’s not a big deal just look presentable yet comfortable because I mean you are going to work in a fast food setting, obviously they are not looking for someone who comes to in like manager clothing. If you come in a full suit, they might think that maybe you are not down to get dirty on the job because I mean it’s grease and food everywhere, like you have to be okay with getting dirty. I would say just a good mix of just casual and comfortable in a little dressy.
Interviewer: How were you notified that you received the job?
Five Guys Burgers and Fries Fry Cook: I got a call and it was maybe the day after because it kind of secure your job that day. They tell you, we’ll let you know but they also like being like we just kind of look into the schedule and see what days you can work because you have to have training days. But as soon as you are in the interview, they pretty much tell you that you have the job. They just have to look for what days you can come in. You’d definitely have the job as soon as interview is done.
Interviewer: What other advice would you give to a job seeker looking to gain employment?
Five Guys Burgers and Fries Fry Cook: Definitely have allowable transportation because they are not okay with people missing their shifts especially during rushes. If you are going to, if you are someone who knows that you are going to miss a lot of days maybe that’s not the best place to work for you and if you can’t be fast paced and still keep a smile on, it’s a hard place to work out because there is a lot of like bad things that go on, some issues, you might mess up on an order or whatever, you just got to smile and just go right back into it because the person next in line isn’t worried about if you mess up the first persons order. They are just trying to get their food within the 7 minutes ticket time. As long as you work fast pace and can stay on that pace, then you should be good.
Five Guys Burgers and Fries Grill Cook Interview Video
Video Transcript
Interviewer: Please describe your job title and primary duties.
Five Guys Burgers and Fries Grill Cook: My job title was grill cook and mostly I just flip the burgers, sauteed onions and mushrooms and stuff like that. Occasionally attended the fries if someone was busy. That’s about it.
Interviewer: How would you describe the application and interview process?
Five Guys Burgers and Fries Grill Cook: For me the application was pretty simple. I spent ten minutes on the internet then I’m just looking for jobs. Found the Five Guys, I’m like, all right cool. Ten minutes for the application, put in my references. I got a call two days later and they are like, “All right, you want the job?” I’m like, “Okay, I’ll take the job.” “When can you work?” “Tomorrow.” “All right, great.”
Interviewer: What questions did the interviewer ask during the job interview?
Five Guys Burgers and Fries Grill Cook: Pretty much just if you had any work experience in a restaurant. That’s pretty much the only question other than have you had a felony and stuff like that obviously but just pretty much if you worked in a restaurant before. If you had any experience and I didn’t so and they still hired me. They are pretty lenient.
Interviewer: How were you notified that you received the job?
Five Guys Burgers and Fries Grill Cook: For me, it was only two days I had to wait so I made one follow up call the next day to make sure they got my interview and they said, “Yes, we’re looking at it,” and all that. Then the next day they called and asked if I wanted the job. Then did the phone interview and that was about it.
Interviewer: What other advice would you give to a job seeker looking to gain employment?
Five Guys Burgers and Fries Grill Cook: If they don’t call you within the next couple of days or whatever just make sure you follow up every day or every other day with a phone call saying, “Hey, I’m still curious about the job. Seeing if you’re looking at my application,” and all that. It also helps to show up, just talk to the manager there and all that. That definitely helps a lot. Again, be professional about it. That’s pretty much it.
jasmine byrd says:
I am nearly ready for my interview with your restaurant’ management team, because i do want to be an asset by making sure that my new team members and the customers will be satisfied with my anticipated services and delivered food.
I do need help with my up-coming interviewing tips because its been a while since my last interview to be better prepared, so do you have any helpful tips ?.