Papa John’s Interview Questions & Tips

Interview Processes Differ by Location

Papa John's hires bright and enthusiastic workers to continue the company mission of serving high-quality pizza. With driver, team member, and manager positions available in each store, the company requires employees with a wide range of talents. Interview processes are unique to each position. Many locations operate as franchised units, and interview processes may differ by location, as well. In most cases, the pizza chain interview is structured and professional.

Face-to-Face Interviews for Delivery Drivers

For delivery driver jobs, applicants participate in a single face-to-face interview. Hiring managers usually conduct interviews and ask simple questions about driving capabilities. Common questions driver candidates are asked to respond to are:

• "How well do you know the area?"
• "How reliable is your car?"
• "What does your driving record look like?"

Hiring managers also ask to see proof of car insurance. Some interviews may conclude with applicants taking basic math tests. Papa John's looks for reliable drivers, and delivery job hopefuls should showcase dependable natures through interviews. Delivery drivers interact with a diverse array of customers, and job seekers with the ability to speak other languages often earn additional hiring consideration.

Interview Process for Team Members and Prep Cooks

Team member and prep cook positions usually require applicants to complete one or two interviews with hiring personnel. In some cases, an applicant needs to pass an initial phone interview prior to being asked into the store for a live interview. The in-person interview is typically held between a candidate and Papa John's supervisor who is either an assistant manager or store manager. Questions remain basic and typically cover availability, education, interest and activities, and work experience. Team member and cook job hunters want to show commitment to ensuring every order is fresh and quality-made.

Management Interviews

For management careers, applicants need to take part in several rounds of interviews. District and general managers usually conduct interviewing with potential managers. Preliminary questions cover experience and job skills. Whenever possible, managerial applicants should talk about past experiences supervising a team, resolving customer issues, and overseeing store operations. Aspiring pizza shop managers may also face tricky questions like:

• "What are some of your negative aspects?"

Managerial job hopefuls want to give even the most challenging answers positive spins. Papa John's management interviews generally conclude with salary discussions.

What to Wear

Applicants should show up to interviews looking clean and fresh. Proper hygiene and business casual clothing shows that an applicant is clean, organized, and professional.

How to Stand Out

Positivity is a quality Papa John's values in associates. Candidates want to smile often and exhibit upbeat, enthusiastic attitudes. Communication is essential for every role, and job seekers need to speak audibly and with clear thinking in the interview. At the conclusion of interviews, applicants want to give firm handshakes and express gratitude for opportunities. Oftentimes, applicants earn job offers on the spot.

Follow Up

Applicants not immediately given jobs should call the store a few days following interviews and inquire about hiring status.

Papa John’s Crew Member Interview Video

Video Transcript

Interviewer: Please describe your job title and primary duties.
Papa John’s Employee: I worked at Papa John’s, and I was considered a crew member during the time I was there. I tried to make pizza really fast, answer the phone, greeted, and we had to give a “Hi, how are you?”, and everything. It was ok.

Interviewer: What was the work environment like?
Papa John’s Employee: Clean. Pretty good people to work around.

Interviewer: What was your favorite part about working there?
Papa John’s Employee: Answering the phone is kind of fun, talking to people on the phone. You get to know people just by talking to them on the phone.

Interviewer: Please describe a typical day as an employee.
Papa John’s Employee: Fast paced. It got a little stressful there towards the end, making all the food, especially the way they wanted. But, it was all right; it was a job. I don’t get real stressed out.

Interviewer: How would you describe the application and interview process?
Papa John’s Employee: Pretty fast and easy. She just basically asked me how friendly I was and how I dealt with people… energy, motivation. She knew I was going to school, so she tried to work around my schedule.

Interviewer: What questions did the interviewer ask during the job interview?
Papa John’s Employee: “What are my energy levels?” which I said was high. Where I have worked before with food – I said Taco Bell.

Interviewer: What other advice would you give to a job seeker looking to gain employment?
Papa John’s Employee: Wear good clothing, be friendly, and put forth your best effort.

Papa John’s Shift Manager Interview Video

Video Transcript

Interviewer: Please describe your job title and primary duties.
Papa John’s Shift Manager: I transitioned into being a shift supervisor at Papa John’s, which means I’m essentially… you’ll be responsible for every task that’s being done in the store. You have to be responsible for the cooks. You have to be responsible, in some cases, also the store accounting. For the shift, you have to be responsible for all safety. You have to be responsible for just having everything orderly, timely, meeting company expectations and standards, and especially positive customer service, because people are going to ask for you if they have any issues that come up throughout the course of the day.

Interviewer: What was the work environment like?
Papa John’s Shift Manager: It’s generally pretty similar to any other position at the store. It’s going to be reasonably laidback. Usually, employees at Papa John’s, in my experience, are like a community, so it’s typically very easy to integrate into being a shift supervisor, as long as you get along with your employees, which was no problem in my case and in my experience, as it’s usually fairly straightforward. Dealing with customers, usually you have to have a bit more of an air of professionalism than you might see from some of the employees, and you do have to remind some of your employees and coworkers that there is that air of professionalism that needs to be maintained. But other than that, I’d say it’s pretty simple. Your responsibilities aren’t that much greater than some of the other positions, so it shouldn’t be too much of a problem if you’ve ever worked any other job similar to this.

Interviewer: How would you describe the application and interview process?
Papa John’s Shift Manager: I originally started as a store associate and delivery driver, so transitioning to a shift supervisor might be slightly different than applying, but you will have a secondary interview where you have to go to the corporate office for the region. And you’ll have to typically do a secondary process where you’ll speak to a district manager or someone higher up than that, and they will give you maybe in some cases a background check or a credit check to make sure that you are the kind of person they want handling money. You’ll have to go through a few more safety ledgers, and you’ll have to fill out a few more food-handling ledgers. But other than that… I’d say that’s more mechanical of a process, because you’ll have to have undergone a proper interviewing process to get into the store or the company to begin with. But transitioning to shift supervisor, there were a lot more invasive things, like a credit check and a background check, that they may require.

Interviewer: What other advice would you give to a job seeker looking to gain employment?
Papa John’s Shift Manager: Well, if you’re looking to become a shift supervisor, I would recommend that you are very patient. That will be probably one of the best characteristics you can have, because there will be a number of incidences where you will be responsible for money or something else that may have occurred in the store that’s outside of your control but you will have to be able to figure out a solution to or be responsible for, even if it’s not necessarily your fault. So, I would say that if you aren’t the kind of person that can keep a cool head, it may be better to look elsewhere in this kind of position, because there can be a number of issues, especially related to either product or money, that can come up. If you are the kind of person that can be very cool-headed, then it would be a great position for you, especially because you typically get a pretty nice wage increase depending on your responsibilities.

More Papa John’s Interview Videos:

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Related Links:
Papa John's Application
Papa John's Driver
Papa John's Team Member