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Cleaner

Cleaners carry out general cleaning of offices, shops and homes, or more specialised cleaning like upholstery or the outsides of buildings.

Annual Salary

£15,000 to £21,000

Working hours

32 to 43 variable

You could work: evenings / weekends; on split shifts

What's it all about?

Day-to-day tasks

Your tasks will depend on where you are working. You could:

  • clean, following food safety and hygiene regulations in food premises
  • do general cleaning in industrial buildings or offices to keep areas presentable and safe
  • follow procedures to control infection in hospital wards and operating theatres
  • clear up houses and squats
  • clean passenger vehicles
  • clean at heights, using ladders or mobile access equipment
  • clear up at crime scenes, or after fires or floods
  • shampoo or vacuum carpets and upholstery
  • maintain stock levels of cleaning products
  • do minor repairs to cleaning equipment
  • follow Health and Safety (HSE) guidelines on use of chemicals for each task

Working environment

You may need to wear a uniform.

You could work at a client's home or at a client's business.

Your working environment may be dirty.

You can get into this job through:

  • a college course
  • an apprenticeship
  • applying directly
College

You could do a college course which would teach you some of the skills and knowledge you need in this job. Relevant courses include:

  • Level 1 Award in Cleaning
  • Level 2 Certificate in Cleaning Principles.

For more information
Apprenticeship

You could do a Healthcare cleaning operative intermediate apprenticeship.

This is useful if you would like to work in hospitals, care homes or other places that need to clean to a high standard to control infection.

Entry requirements

You'll usually need:

  • some GCSEs, usually including English and maths, or equivalent, for an intermediate apprenticeship
For more information
Direct application

You can apply for jobs with cleaning companies or any organisation that employs their own cleaners. There are no set entry requirements, but you'll need to show employers that you're reliable and able to do the job.

Experience can help, particularly if you're looking for specialised cleaning work.

Requirements and restrictions

You'll need to:

More information

Further information

You can find out more about careers in cleaning from The British Institute of Cleaning Science.

You could move into specialist cleaning, or a more senior managerial or supervisory role.

You could also start your own business.

Skills required and how your skills match up

What skills are required?

  • patience and the ability to remain calm in stressful situations
  • the ability to work on your own
  • customer service skills
  • to be thorough and pay attention to detail
  • knowledge of public safety and security
  • physical fitness and endurance
  • the ability to organise your time and workload
  • a desire to help people
  • leadership skills
  • to be able to carry out basic tasks on a computer or hand-held device
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