Domestic staff interview toolkit
Interview questions for domestic staff
Use the interview to test the job you have actually briefed. Ask every shortlisted candidate the same core questions about relevant experience, routine, communication, practical judgement, schedule and evidence, then add role-specific scenarios for nannies, housekeepers, nanny-housekeepers or companions.
What should you ask domestic staff at interview?
Ask about work that resembles the real role: previous duties, household or childcare context, daily routine, communication, prioritisation, difficult situations, schedule, live-in or live-out expectations, driving or travel where relevant, and the evidence that can be checked afterwards. Use practical scenarios rather than questions about personality in the abstract.
Acas recommends preparing questions, asking applicants the same core questions and avoiding discriminatory questions. The household should decide what evidence matters before the interview, not change the standard candidate by candidate.
Start with eight core questions for every domestic role.
These establish the candidate's relevant work, practical fit and communication before the role-specific section begins.
“Which previous role is most similar to this one?”
Ask the candidate to explain the household, responsibilities, working pattern and what they personally handled.
“Talk us through a normal working day in that role.”
Specific sequences are more useful than a list of adjectives because they show how responsibilities were actually organised.
“What do you do when two agreed duties need attention at the same time?”
Look for safe prioritisation, communication and willingness to clarify rather than a promise to do everything at once.
“How did you update your previous employer?”
Explore routine updates, urgent matters and how the candidate raises a problem or asks for clarification.
“Tell us about a time the household routine changed unexpectedly.”
Ask what changed, what the candidate did and how they communicated the impact on the rest of the work.
“What would you do if you were regularly asked to take on duties outside the agreed role?”
This tests whether the candidate can communicate about role boundaries rather than silently allowing the job to drift.
“Can you sustain these actual days, hours and travel requirements?”
State the real pattern and location. A good interview gives the candidate enough information to assess the job too.
“Which references or qualifications support the experience we have discussed?”
Use the answer to plan the next verification step rather than treating the interview itself as proof.
Add role-specific questions after the core set.
Ask about children of comparable ages and real childcare scenarios.
Examples: meals, school or nursery transitions, activities, bedtime, homework, sibling conflict, a child becoming unwell and communication with parents.
Ask how the candidate organises recurring household work.
Discuss property size, cleaning standards, laundry and ironing, wardrobe care, cooking, shopping, guests and how priorities are sequenced.
Ask what happens when childcare and household work collide.
Give a realistic example from your own family and ask which responsibility should take priority and what would be deferred.
Keep questions inside non-clinical support.
Explore companionship, outings, household routines, communication, shopping or agreed practical assistance. Do not use the interview to imply clinical duties that are outside the role.
Use a simple scoring sheet instead of relying on “chemistry”.
A score does not replace judgement. It stops one memorable answer from hiding weaker evidence elsewhere.
What should trigger a follow-up rather than an instant rejection?
Inconsistent dates, responsibilities that do not match the CV, vague examples, uncertainty about hours or a refusal to provide expected evidence all deserve clarification. Record the discrepancy and check it through the appropriate source rather than guessing what it means.
Also watch for problems in the household's own interview. Acas warns against discriminatory questions. Questions about protected characteristics, family plans or nationality should not be used as proxies for job suitability. Keep questions tied to the role and make reasonable adjustments where required.
From our work: the interview is built from the same brief used to start the candidate search.
Filipino Domestic Services asks the household to define the role, recurring duties, normal days and hours, location, working arrangement, intended start date and genuine practical requirements before candidate introductions begin. Those fields give the interview a fixed reference point. The household can ask every candidate about the same real job rather than inventing a different test for each person.
The legacy FDS interview article contained a useful emphasis on previous roles, household tasks, communication and conflict scenarios, but it also drifted into broad cultural-fit and personality language. The rebuild keeps the practical question types and removes nationality-based assumptions. A Filipino candidate is not more or less suitable because of an expected temperament; the evidence still has to come from the individual.
We also separate interview answers from verification. If a candidate describes caring for children of a particular age, managing formal laundry or handling a similar property, the next step is to identify which referee or qualification can support that claim. The interview tells the household what to check; it is not itself the check.
Finally, the process is mutual. We encourage households to state the actual hours, duties, accommodation and household expectations clearly enough for the candidate to decide whether to continue. A placement is more likely to start with aligned expectations when both sides have tested the same brief.
What should happen after the interview?
Check the candidate's references and role-relevant evidence before making the final decision. Use the domestic staff reference-check protocol to verify the claims that mattered in the interview.
If the household wants to observe the candidate in a genuine recruitment trial, the domestic staff trial-day checklist explains how to structure and record that stage. The broader trial and placement process explains where a trial sits in the FDS journey.
Domestic staff interview questions.
Should I ask every candidate the same questions?
Ask the same core questions so candidates can be compared fairly, then add follow-ups based on individual answers. Acas recommends preparing questions and treating applicants consistently throughout the recruitment process.
What should I ask a nanny at interview?
Ask about children of similar ages, daily routines, meals, school or nursery transitions, activities, communication with parents and practical scenarios that mirror the childcare responsibilities in your job description.
What should I ask a housekeeper?
Ask about comparable properties, recurring cleaning, laundry and ironing, wardrobe care, cooking, shopping, organisation, guest preparation and how the candidate prioritises a realistic weekly task list.
How do I test honesty at interview?
Do not try to trap the candidate. Ask for specific examples, take notes, compare answers with the CV and follow up material claims through references, qualifications and lawful checks.
Can I ask personal questions about family or nationality?
Keep recruitment questions relevant to the job and avoid discriminatory questions about protected characteristics. Ask whether the candidate can meet the actual schedule or role requirements rather than why their personal life allows it.
Should I make an offer immediately after the interview?
Only when the household has enough evidence to decide. References, right-to-work checks, role-specific verification or a genuine recruitment trial may still be appropriate before the final offer.
Sources and interview boundary.
The question framework is grounded in the FDS household brief and legacy interview article, with current Acas recruitment guidance controlling the fairness and consistency points.
Turn the interview notes into evidence and a decision.
Verify the claims that mattered, then use a proportionate trial only if the household still needs more role-specific evidence.