As a cashier, you’re often the first line of customer service. Your ability to handle money and friendly personality are critical for creating a pleasant customer experience. While your cashier resume showed off your skills and qualities, the interview is your chance to explain your experience in greater detail. To help you prepare ahead of time, Monster has outlined seven common cashier interview questions with examples of how to create your answers.
Interview questions for cashier jobs typically cover your ability to handle money, work under pressure, and help customers solve problems. Employers may also use cashier interview questions to dig into your work experience and skills. We suggest practicing answering the sample questions below so you can feel calm and confident during your interview.
Cashier Interview Questions and Answers
- What experience do you have as a cashier?
- Which qualities do you think make a good cashier?
- What are the biggest challenges you have faced as a cashier?
- How well do you work under pressure?
- How would you spend your time if you had a slow day?
- How comfortable do you feel handling money?
- Describe a time when you experienced a difficult customer.
Question #1: What Experience Do You Have as a Cashier?
Did you apply for your first cashier job, or are you getting a job at a new company? When employers ask cashier interview questions about your experience, be honest. They could be trying to determine how much training you’ll need and where you fit into the schedule.
Here are a few things to consider when creating your answer:
- Previous jobs you’ve had.
- Equipment or software you’ve worked with.
- Procedures you’re familiar with.
How You Could Answer
“I got my first cashier job at a fast-food restaurant when I was in high school. When I first started, I received training on how to take orders, operate a cash register, exchange money, and process debit and credit card transactions. I also learned how to count money at the end of my shift and ensure that there were no shortages. I was a little slow at handling transactions at first, but I became proficient at it within my first month of working as a cashier.”
Question #2: Which Qualities Do You Think Make a Good Cashier?
Employers already know which qualities make a good cashier, but they might ask you to explain it in your own words to determine which qualities, values, and skills you’ll bring with you if you’re hired.
Reflect on these details when forming your answer:
- Strengths you possess as a cashier.
- Skills and qualities that apply to the job.
How You Could Answer
“To me, a good cashier is someone who can handle money without miscalculating transactions. It also takes basic math skills to ensure that customers pay an accurate price for goods and services, as well as receive the correct change during a transaction. Cashiers must also be accurate and trustworthy. They must show that all money that is supposed to be in the cash register is present when counting it at the end of a shift.”
Question #3: What Are the Biggest Challenges You Have Faced as a Cashier?
Some cashier interview questions are designed to gauge your ability to overcome certain challenges on the job. How you meet and overcome challenges will help your interviewer to understand your strengths and weaknesses. Be honest about areas you have seen improvement in, as well as areas that need improvement.
Here are some details you can include in your answer:
- Learning curves.
- Challenges with technology.
- Adapting to changes.
How You Could Answer
“Many technological changes took place while I was working at the fast-food restaurant. For example, it took some time to become fully acclimated to handling orders that were submitted from the self-ordering machines. The same went for online orders—we would often get many online orders within a very short amount of time. This required me to develop new strategies for managing and keeping track of incoming orders.”
Question #4: How Well Do You Work Under Pressure?
Being a cashier can be stressful at times. The ability to remain calm and work well under pressure is a key quality for cashiers. When answering cashier interview questions about working under pressure, use the STAR method. The STAR method will teach you how to provide real-life examples that will make a huge impact on your interviewer.
Here are the four key factors to consider when using the STAR method:
- The Situation at work.
- Tasks you needed to complete.
- Actions you took.
- Results of your actions.
How You Could Answer
“As someone who has worked in a fast-food restaurant for four years, I’m used to working under pressure. Some days we had lines that were nearly out the door. On top of that, we had drive-through and online orders to manage. I find that teamwork is the best way to handle a large influx of orders. I usually establish a system with other co-workers to keep the process moving efficiently. When orders are split up among all cashiers, it’s easier to focus on one at a time and get them out to customers. There are also no mix-ups and we’re not getting in each other’s way.”
Question #5: How Would You Spend Your Time if You Had a Slow Day?
As a cashier, you’ll likely have downtime on slow days. Depending on where you work, your employer may require you to do other tasks when things get slow. Be sure to discuss how you would spend your downtime at work by providing examples.
Consider discussing these tasks when creating your answer:
- Touch base with your supervisor.
- Catch up or get ahead on other tasks.
- Offer help where needed.
How You Could Answer
“If we were having a slow day or some downtime, I would first touch base with my supervisor to find out if any other tasks need to be completed. When I worked in the fast-food restaurant, our supervisor usually wanted us to wipe down the counters, take out the trash, mop the floors, and clean the trays when things got slow. Sometimes I would help with preparing drive-through orders. Other times, I would prepare for an incoming rush by making sure condiments, napkins, and straws were filled and that we had enough change in the cash register.”
Question #6: How Comfortable Do You Feel Handling Money?
Handling money properly is critical for any business. That’s why employers will ask cashier interview questions about money—they want to know if you’re trustworthy and have basic math skills.
These questions may help you devise your answer:
- Have previous employers trusted you with money?
- Do you have experience counting, exchanging, and tracking money?
How You Could Answer
“When I first started working for the fast-food restaurant, I felt a little nervous handling money. That’s because I was often nervous about miscounting money or making an error. But with enough training and experience, I have found handling transactions, counting money, and giving back the correct change rather easy. I have always counted more than once and had no errors. As a result, the restaurant management had no problem trusting me with money.”
Question #7: Describe a Time When You Experienced a Difficult Customer.
Every cashier encounters a customer who is stressed, rude, or has a problem that needs to be resolved. Employers look for cashiers who know how to remain calm and handle difficult situations professionally.
Include the following details when providing your example:
- The situation involving the customer.
- Actions you took to resolve the issue.
- The outcome of your actions.
How You Could Answer
“I have encountered many incidents involving difficult customers. In one particular incident, a customer who had ordered through the drive-through angrily came into the restaurant due to undercooked meat. As it turned out, the meat was undercooked by a new cook who didn’t fully understand the food preparation procedures. I listened to the customer’s concerns, offered an apology, and quickly summoned the manager. The manager was able to calm the customer down and then provided a full refund and even prepared a new order for free.”
Upload Your Resume and Cash In on a New Job Opportunity
Now that you’ve become familiar with common cashier interview questions, what’s next? Upload your resume on Monster today and cash in on new opportunities. When you upload your resume, we’ll send you free job alerts when cashier positions in your area become available. Plus, we’ll make it easy for job recruiters to find your resume so they can reach out to you for new jobs.
