I applied in-person. The process took 2 days. I interviewed at Applebee's (Sacramento, CA) in Jun 2010
Interview
Walked in, asked for an application. Application was given to me in store. Filled out the application there and turned in into the host at the host stand and asked to speak to a manager (since they were currently slow, he was able to get a hold of one). Spoke to the manager that very same day, asked a few general questions (this was my first job). Was told that she was going to talk to the general manager and I would be hearing something soon. Received a call a few hours later, told to come in the next day. Next day, spoke to the general manger, asked me a few things like "why do you want to work here?" "what customer service skills do you have?", really standard questions, and was hired on the spot. Best advice I can give is just to be really friendly and smile a lot during your interviews, restaurants focus a lot on personality.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
None of the questions were really difficult, they were all really standard interview questions.
I applied in-person. The process took 2 weeks. I interviewed at Applebee's (Bensalem, PA) in Apr 2026
Interview
Brought in for multiple interviews. Given conflicting information on whether I had the job or not. Given run around on phone then finally never contacted again. Managers are 30+ minutes late for interviews. The hiring manager was the most unprofessional of them all.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Asked about previous work experience and why I felt I was best for the position.
This was a pretty easy interview process. I was asked if I had ever dealt with difficult people and to say what was my motivation for wanting to work at Applebees. It was overall very chill and I enjoyed it.
Was a simple interview and was offered a job afterwards. The manager was kind. It was easy to apply and find an interview time. I was trained shortly after and got paid for the training.
Hostess applicants have rated the interview process at Applebee's with 1.8 out of 5 (where 5 is the highest level of difficulty) and assessed their interview experience as 65% positive. To compare, the company-average is 63.4% positive. This is according to Glassdoor user ratings.
Candidates applying for Hostess roles take an average of 7 days to get hired, when considering 293 user submitted interviews for this role. To compare, the hiring process at Applebee's overall takes an average of 8 days.
Common stages of the interview process at Applebee's as a Hostess according to 293 Glassdoor interviews include:
One on one interview: 41%
Personality test: 14%
Skills test: 10%
Background check: 8%
IQ intelligence test: 6%
Presentation: 6%
Drug test: 5%
Phone interview: 4%
Other: 3%
Group panel interview: 3%
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