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Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners

Perform any combination of light cleaning duties to maintain private households or commercial establishments, such as hotels and hospitals, in a clean and orderly manner. Duties may include making beds, replenishing linens, cleaning rooms and halls, and vacuuming.
Related: Dining Room & Cafeteria Attendants & Bartender Helpers  Dishwashers  Janitors & Cleaners  Laundry & Dry-Cleaning Workers  Locker Room, Coatroom, & Dressing Room Attendants 
Industries: Hotel & Food  Service  Health & Counseling  Administration & Support Services 

  • Summary

  • Details

    • Work Activities

    • Deliver television sets, ironing boards, baby cribs, and rollaway beds to guests' rooms.
    • Replace light bulbs.
    • Hang draperies and dust window blinds.
    • Carry linens, towels, toilet items, and cleaning supplies, using wheeled carts.
    • Clean rooms, hallways, lobbies, lounges, restrooms, corridors, elevators, stairways, locker rooms, and other work areas so that health standards are met.
    • Dust and polish furniture and equipment.
    • Disinfect equipment and supplies, using germicides or steam-operated sterilizers.
    • Sort clothing and other articles, load washing machines, and iron and fold dried items.
    • Observe precautions required to protect hotel and guest property and report damage, theft, and found articles to supervisors.
    • Hang draperies and dust window blinds.
    • Sort clothing and other articles, load washing machines, and iron and fold dried items.
    • Prepare rooms for meetings and arrange decorations, media equipment, and furniture for social or business functions.
    • Polish silver accessories and metalwork, such as fixtures and fittings.
    • Clean rugs, carpets, upholstered furniture, and draperies, using vacuum cleaners and shampooers.
    • Move and arrange furniture and turn mattresses.
    • Keep storage areas and carts well-stocked, clean, and tidy.
    • Empty wastebaskets, empty and clean ashtrays, and transport other trash and waste to disposal areas.
    • Sweep, scrub, wax, or polish floors, using brooms, mops, or powered scrubbing and waxing machines.
    • Sort, count, and mark clean linens and store them in linen closets.
    • Request repair services and wait for repair workers to arrive.
    • Prepare rooms for meetings and arrange decorations, media equipment, and furniture for social or business functions.
    • Keep storage areas and carts well-stocked, clean, and tidy.
    • Wash windows, walls, ceilings, and woodwork, waxing and polishing as necessary.
    • Dust and polish furniture and equipment.
    • Replenish supplies, such as drinking glasses, linens, writing supplies, and bathroom items.
    • Clean rugs, carpets, upholstered furniture, and draperies, using vacuum cleaners and shampooers.
    • Wash windows, walls, ceilings, and woodwork, waxing and polishing as necessary.

    Skills

    • Service Orientation
      • Looking for ways to help people.
    • Repairing
      • Repairing machines or systems using the right tools.
    • Mathematics
      • Using math to solve problems.
    • Negotiation
      • Bringing people together to solve differences.
    • Programming
      • Writing computer programs.
    • Monitoring
      • Keeping track of how well people and/or groups are doing in order to make improvements.
    • Equipment Maintenance
      • Planning and doing the basic maintenance on equipment.
    • Management of Financial Resources
      • Making spending decisions and keeping track of what is spent.
    • Troubleshooting
      • Figuring out what is causing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs to not work.
    • Operation and Control
      • Using equipment or systems.
    • Time Management
      • Managing your time and the time of other people.
    • Writing
      • Writing things for co-workers or customers.
    • Operations Analysis
      • Figuring out what a product or service needs to be able to do.
    • Active Learning
      • Figuring out how to use new ideas or things.
    • Persuasion
      • Talking people into changing their minds or their behavior.
    • Equipment Selection
      • Deciding what kind of tools and equipment are needed to do a job.
    • Quality Control Analysis
      • Testing how well a product or service works.
    • Critical Thinking
      • Thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem.
    • Coordination
      • Changing what is done based on other people's actions.
    • Technology Design
      • Making equipment and technology useful for customers.
    • Operations Monitoring
      • Watching gauges, dials, or display screens to make sure a machine is working.
    • Judgment and Decision Making
      • Thinking about the pros and cons of different options and picking the best one.
    • Systems Analysis
      • Figuring out how a system should work and how changes in the future will affect it.
    • Active Listening
      • Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions.
    • Management of Personnel Resources
      • Selecting and managing the best workers for a job.
    • Speaking
      • Talking to others.
    • Learning Strategies
      • Using the best training or teaching strategies for learning new things.
    • Installation
      • Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs.
    • Social Perceptiveness
      • Understanding people's reactions.
    • Instructing
      • Teaching people how to do something.
    • Management of Material Resources
      • Managing equipment and materials.
    • Systems Evaluation
      • Measuring how well a system is working and how to improve it.
    • Science
      • Using scientific rules and strategies to solve problems.
    • Reading Comprehension
      • Reading work-related information.
    • Complex Problem Solving
      • Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it.

    Abilities

    • Category Flexibility
      • Grouping things in different ways.
    • Speech Clarity
      • Speaking clearly.
    • Memorization
      • Remembering words, numbers, pictures, or steps.
    • Finger Dexterity
      • Putting together small parts with your fingers.
    • Selective Attention
      • Paying attention to something without being distracted.
    • Peripheral Vision
      • Seeing something to your side when your are looking ahead.
    • Written Expression
      • Communicating by writing.
    • Gross Body Coordination
      • Moving your arms, legs, and mid-section together while your whole body is moving.
    • Rate Control
      • Changing when and how fast you move based on how something else is moving.
    • Dynamic Strength
      • Exercising for a long time without your muscles getting tired.
    • Visualization
      • Imagining how something will look after it is moved around or changed.
    • Time Sharing
      • Doing two or more things at the same time.
    • Glare Sensitivity
      • Seeing something even if there is a glare or very bright light.
    • Perceptual Speed
      • Quickly comparing groups of letters, numbers, pictures, or other things.
    • Sound Localization
      • Noticing the direction that a sound came from.
    • Response Orientation
      • Quickly deciding if you should move your hand, foot, or other body part.
    • Wrist-Finger Speed
      • Making fast, simple, repeated movements of your fingers, hands, and wrists.
    • Extent Flexibility
      • Bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching with your body, arms, and/or legs.
    • Dynamic Flexibility
      • Quickly and repeatedly bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching out with your body, arms, and/or legs.
    • Near Vision
      • Seeing details up close.
    • Trunk Strength
      • Using your lower back and stomach.
    • Depth Perception
      • Deciding which thing is closer or farther away from you, or deciding how far away it is from you.
    • Speed of Closure
      • Quickly knowing what you are looking at.
    • Arm-Hand Steadiness
      • Keeping your arm or hand steady.
    • Spatial Orientation
      • Knowing where things are around you.
    • Control Precision
      • Quickly changing the controls of a machine, car, truck or boat.
    • Speech Recognition
      • Recognizing spoken words.
    • Flexibility of Closure
      • Seeing hidden patterns.
    • Manual Dexterity
      • Holding or moving items with your hands.
    • Oral Comprehension
      • Listening and understanding what people say.
    • Fluency of Ideas
      • Coming up with lots of ideas.
    • Problem Sensitivity
      • Noticing when problems happen.
    • Gross Body Equilibrium
      • Keeping your balance or staying upright.
    • Information Ordering
      • Ordering or arranging things.
    • Speed of Limb Movement
      • Quickly moving your arms and legs.
    • Reaction Time
      • Quickly moving your hand, finger, or foot based on a sound, light, picture or other command.
    • Visual Color Discrimination
      • Noticing the difference between colors, including shades and brightness.
    • Mathematical Reasoning
      • Choosing the right type of math to solve a problem.
    • Multilimb Coordination
      • Using your arms and/or legs together while sitting, standing, or lying down.
    • Number Facility
      • Adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing.
    • Hearing Sensitivity
      • Telling the difference between sounds.
    • Night Vision
      • Seeing at night or under low light.
    • Auditory Attention
      • Paying attention to one sound while there are other distracting sounds.
    • Inductive Reasoning
      • Making general rules or coming up with answers from lots of detailed information.
    • Written Comprehension
      • Reading and understanding what is written.
    • Oral Expression
      • Communicating by speaking.
    • Originality
      • Creating new and original ideas.
    • Deductive Reasoning
      • Using rules to solve problems.
    • Explosive Strength
      • Jumping, sprinting, or throwing something.
    • Stamina
      • Exercising for a long time without getting out of breath.
    • Static Strength
      • Lifting, pushing, pulling, or carrying.
    • Far Vision
      • Seeing details that are far away.

    Knowledge

    • Design
      • Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.
    • Biology
      • Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
    • Building and Construction
      • Knowledge of materials, methods, and the tools involved in the construction or repair of houses, buildings, or other structures such as highways and roads.
    • Mechanical
      • Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
    • Sociology and Anthropology
      • Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures, and their history and origins.
    • Telecommunications
      • Knowledge of transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.
    • Administrative
      • Knowledge of administrative and office procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and workplace terminology.
    • Customer and Personal Service
      • Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
    • Production and Processing
      • Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.
    • Food Production
      • Knowledge of techniques and equipment for planting, growing, and harvesting food products (both plant and animal) for consumption, including storage/handling techniques.
    • Education and Training
      • Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
    • Public Safety and Security
      • Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
    • Mathematics
      • Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
    • Geography
      • Knowledge of principles and methods for describing the features of land, sea, and air masses, including their physical characteristics, locations, interrelationships, and distribution of plant, animal, and human life.
    • Physics
      • Knowledge and prediction of physical principles, laws, their interrelationships, and applications to understanding fluid, material, and atmospheric dynamics, and mechanical, electrical, atomic and sub-atomic structures and processes.
    • Medicine and Dentistry
      • Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.
    • Therapy and Counseling
      • Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.
    • Transportation
      • Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.
    • Administration and Management
      • Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
    • Sales and Marketing
      • Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.
    • Computers and Electronics
      • Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
    • Economics and Accounting
      • Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking, and the analysis and reporting of financial data.
    • Personnel and Human Resources
      • Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.
    • Psychology
      • Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
    • English Language
      • Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, and rules of composition and grammar.
    • Law and Government
      • Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
    • Chemistry
      • Knowledge of the chemical composition, structure, and properties of substances and of the chemical processes and transformations that they undergo. This includes uses of chemicals and their interactions, danger signs, production techniques, and disposal methods.
    • Philosophy and Theology
      • Knowledge of different philosophical systems and religions. This includes their basic principles, values, ethics, ways of thinking, customs, practices, and their impact on human culture.
    • History and Archeology
      • Knowledge of historical events and their causes, indicators, and effects on civilizations and cultures.
    • Foreign Language
      • Knowledge of the structure and content of a foreign (non-English) language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition and grammar, and pronunciation.
    • Engineering and Technology
      • Knowledge of the practical application of engineering science and technology. This includes applying principles, techniques, procedures, and equipment to the design and production of various goods and services.
    • Fine Arts
      • Knowledge of the theory and techniques required to compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.
    • Communications and Media
      • Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.

    Education

    Education
    No formal educational credential
    Work Experience
    No work experience
    Training
    Less than 1 month on-the-job training
    Education and Training Opportunities

    Pay

    Washington Annual Salary
    39410/yr
    Washington Hourly Wage
    18.95/hr

    Washington Employment Trends

    Currently Employed
    28,470
    Yearly Projected Openings
    4580

    Personality

    Realistic: People interested in this work like activities that include practical, hands-on problems and solutions. They do well at jobs that need:
    • Dependability
    • Attention to Detail

    Tools

    • Brooms
    • Carpet cleaning equipment
    • Cleaning brushes
    • Cleaning dusters
    • Cleaning scrapers
    • Clothes dryers
    • Commercial use dishwashers
    • Dust mops
    • Facial shields
    • Floor polishers
    • Floor scrubbers
    • Goggles
    • Hand sprayers
    • Ironing machines or presses
    • Ladders
    • Laundry type washing machines
    • Masks or accessories
    • Medical staff scrubs
    • Mop wringer
    • Personal computers
    • Pressure or steam cleaners
    • Protective gloves
    • Pushcarts
    • Razor knives
    • Scouring pads
    • Sewing machines
    • Special purpose telephones
    • Sponges
    • Squeegees or washers
    • Steam autoclaves or sterilizers
    • Steam pressing machines
    • Toilet brush and toilet brush holder
    • Trash bags
    • Vacuum cleaners
    • Wet mops
    • Wet or dry combination vacuum cleaners

    Technology

    • Desktop communications software
    • Electronic mail software
    • Facilities management software
    • Instant messaging software
    • Inventory management software
    • Materials requirements planning logistics and supply chain software
    • Operating system software
    • Spreadsheet software
    • Web page creation and editing software

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

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