Housekeeping Resume Example

After reading this guide, you'll know what it takes to create a resume that really stands out from other housekeeper applicants. You'll find valuable tips on writing a resume that best showcases your unique skills and achievements. There is also extensive guidance on how to structure your resume to match the job description, and to reflect your experience levels to impress HR specialists and employers. Continue reading to find expert tips and advice from Jobseeker that will help you with your housekeeping resume.

Main sections of a housekeeper resume

Although the content of a housekeeping resume may differ according to your experience and seniority, the main sections will remain the same. If you're an entry-level candidate without much work experience, that section may be less prominent in your resume. You may focus instead on sections that showcase your skill set, such as education, projects, hobbies and hard and soft skills lists.

How you choose to present your resume is up to you. There are plenty of options for a professional resume layout and format, but every application should include the following:

Header and Personal Information

The resume header is the place to add your name and contact details, along with your LinkedIn URL if you have a profile, so employers can find more information about your career journey and skills. You don't typically need to add a photo, or any other personal information to this section. Make your resume header clear, concise and as brief and compact as possible. Consider different layouts that spread the information horizontally across the page rather than using a different line for each piece of information.

Make sure your email address appears as professional as possible, and doesn't include anything like nicknames, inappropriate language or personal information. If it does, set up a new email account with an address based on your name or initials, and use that for your job applications. Always double-check your contact details are up-to-date before sending your resume.

Resume Objective

Your resume personal profile is a short, concise paragraph to highlight two or three key skills and achievements in housekeeper roles. You may also see this section named as 'resume summary' or 'resume objective'. Resume summaries tend to focus on your career experience, while resume objectives cover your ambitions and plans for the future. Always make sure your summary reflects the job description and highlights some of the key skills required for housekeeper roles.

Alternatively, you could use this section to reference your objectives and ambitions, and how this role would fit into your career journey.

A strong resume summary focuses on two or three key skills and achievements that showcase your suitability for housekeeper roles in a clear, quantifiable way. It also gives an insight into your personal qualities, to help the reader understand why you're a suitable candidate. See below for some great examples of how to approach your housekeeping resume.

Conversely, a bad resume summary might be too generic, lacking focus on the specifics of the job description. It will also fail to provide any useful insights on what makes you a unique candidate. The graphic above shows some of the pitfalls to avoid when creating your resume summary.

Skills

Listing your key skills can help to prove your suitability for housekeeper jobs. These could be PPE usage, customer service orientation or various other relevant skills. Once more, review the job description and pick out any key housekeeper skills listed that match yours. Focus on these skills and any other key transferable skills that make you a strong candidate for the job.

Showcasing hard skills on your housekeeping resume

Hard skills are the key technical skills required for housekeeper positions. They include specific industry knowledge and abilities that you could learn on the job, or through a specialist qualification. Furthermore, it's important to show these skills in a housekeeping resume as they provide a strong indication of your experience in the sector. If possible, add four or five hard skills that reflect the requirements of the job description. These will boost your chances of success in your applications.

For an effective resume hard skills section, focus on the technical skills that are most essential in the job description, and that match your specific expertise. Some examples of the best hard skills for a housekeeping resume are listed below.

Soft skills on your housekeeping resume

Soft skills are your transferable skills and personal qualities that make you a good match for a housekeeper position and the organization. Soft skills tend to be more universal than hard skills, and can often apply to multiple jobs and industries. In fact, you can develop soft skills throughout your career, and they tend to be suitable for various roles and professions. It's best to aim for four or five soft skills that match the job description and reflect your strongest personal qualities.

An effective housekeeping resume soft skills section should be targeted to include skills that reflect your personality and unique characteristics, while also matching the job description. The graphic below includes some examples of good resume soft skills.

Educational Achievements

Under education, add details of any degrees or professional qualifications relevant to housekeeper roles.

While a degree isn't usually a requirement for a housekeeper position, it's still recommended to list your highest or most relevant qualifications. If you have a recognized qualification, such as Green Cleaning Certification, list these here. Any educational achievements that show cleaning and sanitizing or inventory control can be useful for this section.

Enter the name and level of the qualification, the institution you studied at, its location and your dates of study or graduation. You could also add one or two bullet points to draw attention to your grades if they were particularly good, as well as any specialist subjects you studied. This will help the hiring manager understand your knowledge and special skills better.

If you organized or participated in any clubs or societies while at university, or you took part in any voluntary work, you could also mention these here.

Certifications and Training

In this section, include any housekeeper certifications, training or licenses you hold that are relevant to the job. These could be professional accreditations and licenses, or certifications that improve your level of suitability for the position. Therefore, make sure you list the dates of your certifications and licenses so employers can see they're up-to-date and valid.

Review the list below for some suitable certifications for a housekeeping resume:

Work Experience

Your resume work experience section is the chance to show your relevant previous jobs and career achievements as a housekeeper. Include any relevant jobs you've held in reverse-chronological order. Start with your current or most recent roles and work back through previous roles. For each job, list your title, the name of the company, its location and the dates you worked there.

Add some bullet points under each job entry, explaining your achievements in the role, so the reader can see how you contributed towards success for the company. Provide evidence of your impact and make sure each point addresses a requirement listed in the job description.

A good resume work experience section includes your most relevant previous jobs and highlights your key achievements in each role. To make the best possible impression on hiring managers, make sure each entry in your work experience section references skills and experience listed in the job description, and shows how you added value to each role with quantifiable evidence and outcomes. See the examples below for some ideas of what a great resume work experience looks like.

In the graphic above you can see a great example of what to avoid when writing your resume work experience section. A bad resume work experience section might fail to address skills and achievements that relate directly to the job description. Falling back on clichés, vague descriptions and basic responsibilities, rather than showing the impact you made, is likely to disengage the reader.

Additional Information

As well as the main sections of a housekeeper resume, optional sections can help you prove your credentials to employers. Take a look at the sections below and add any that help you show how and why you're right for the job.

Hobbies and Interests

Including your hobbies and interests can be a valuable way of showing your key skills and qualities. These are particularly useful for your resume if you're short of work experience and need to showcase a particular skill or experience. Don't include hobbies and interests in your resume unless they showcase a specific interest or aspect of your personality. You'll want them to add something to your application that you can't add elsewhere.

Voluntary Work

This section can be valuable for a housekeeper resume, if you've done any voluntary work that showcases your relevant skills. Write your volunteer section in a similar format to your work experience, including your role, the organization name, relevant dates and the details of your contribution.

References

Standard housekeeper resumes don't tend to include references, but you might find them requested occasionally. Check the job advert to see if you'll need to add references to your resume. Add two or three professional references, and be sure to approach each referee before you include them.

Best action words for your housekeeping resume

Using strong action verbs in your work experience bullet points can make a stronger impression on employers and show the value you added to your previous roles. The suggested action verbs below will help the reader to understand your key qualities and the impact you made on the organization.

If you want to create a resume that stands out from the crowd, use Jobseeker's expert-designed resume templates. You can also find cover letter templates that work to get you noticed by employers.

Example resume for housekeeper applications

The housekeeping resume example below includes all the sections above, so you can see how a completed resume looks:

How to make an ATS-friendly resume

Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) are one of the key ways recruiters and employers manage the hiring process. The systems can screen candidates by scanning and ranking resumes based on each candidate's likely suitability for the vacancy. If you follow a few simple tips when writing your housekeeping resume, you'll give yourself a better chance of ranking highly in the ATS screening and progressing to the next stage.

Here a some simple tips to follow for an ATS-friendly resume:

• Use a traditional resume layout, such as a reverse-chronological or functional format. This will mean your resume includes all the necessary sections, in the expected order.
• Include keywords throughout your resume that align with the job description. ATS software tends to compare your resume to the job description for points of similarity, so careful, considered use of keywords should help your chances of success.
• Include clear headings in each section that match the traditional resume structure and format. This will make it easier for the ATS software to scan your resume.
• Use design elements that help make your resume more readable. These might include white space, clear, professional fonts and subtle color accents to help certain elements stand out.
• Use simple, concise language to keep your resume to a maximum of one to two pages in length. This will make it easier for ATS software to read.

Key points for your housekeeping resume

The key to a strong resume is to showcase your relevant skills and achievements through your work experience and other activities. Choose the most suitable resume format for your experience levels, and focus on tailoring your resume based on the requirements listed in the job description.

HR-approved resume templates and other tools by Jobseeker are the easiest way to create a winning job application. Sign up and follow the simple instructions to complete a resume that stands out from the crowd. To make the best possible impression with your applications, write a cover letter with the help of Jobseeker. You can also find plenty of expert-designed cover letter examples for inspiration.

Sources:

(1) Writing a Resume, California Department of Human Resources: https://www.calhr.ca.gov/employees/Pages/resume-tips.aspx

(2) Resumes, Cover Letters and Job Applications, New York State Department of Labor: https://dol.ny.gov/resumes-cover-letters-and-job-applications