What does a custodian do?
A custodian, also referred to as janitor, is responsible for maintaining cleanliness and helping protect all facilities. Custodians make sure everything is clean, neat, in order, and free from clutter and safe. They perform routine maintenance tasks and heavy cleaning duties. They do everyday things to sweep floors, mop, scrub, vacuum, collect and empty trash, dust furniture, walls, and equipment. They mix solutions and chemicals in containers based on proportions for disinfecting windows, mirrors, and other partitions requiring cleaning. Some also do minor building maintenance and light repairs, while others are exposed to biohazardous materials.
Custodian responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real custodian resumes:
- Operate janitorial equipment including: vacuum cleaners, floor scrubbers, carpet cleaners, presser washers, leaf blowers, etc.
- Fill in for custodians when they need off, clean schools, mow grass, salt lots.
- Rake leaves, cut and water grass.
- Clean windows, glass partitions, or mirrors, with sponges, or squeegees.
- Strip and wax floors, clean windows, replace burnt-out light bulbs and ballasts.
- Clean and perform preventative maintenance on all mechanical equipment (HVAC & ventilation systems).
- Care for buildings up keep and maintain hallways, bathrooms, offices, proper floor care and sanitation.
- Used power equipment such as buffers, floors scrubbers and pressure washers to perform heavy duty cleaning tasks as needed.
- Wash and disinfect all washroom floors, toilet, hand dryers and fixtures, mirrors, replenish all supplies as needed.
- Clean restrooms, toilet, sinks, floors, urinals and mirrors, fixtures utilizing the appropriate disinfectants and cleaning solutions.
- Clean and disinfect lavatories, fixtures, urinals, commodes, and mirrors; cleans walls and replenish supplies in bathrooms.
- Repair and/or dispose of washing machines and dryers facility-wide.
- Perform custodial relate duties necessary to maintain cleanliness and sanitary conditions.
- Assist with work relate duties & responsibilities necessary to maintain overall cleanliness of facility
- Perform all aspects of janitorial work for school restrooms, offices, cafeterias and gyms.
Custodian skills and personality traits
We calculated that 13% of Custodians are proficient in Cleanliness, Work Ethic, and Customer Service. They’re also known for soft skills such as Interpersonal skills, Mechanical skills, and Physical strength.
We break down the percentage of Custodians that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Cleanliness, 13%
Assisted with work related duties & responsibilities necessary to maintain overall cleanliness of facility
- Work Ethic, 8%
Demonstrated an efficient work ethic to make our facilities spotless for the next day's service to thousands of college students.
- Customer Service, 6%
Provided premier customer service through various custodial duties involving the sanitation and cleanliness of numerous venues/rooms within the facility
- Building Floors, 6%
Executed daily operations of cleaning and sanitizing faculty building floors and bathrooms
- Minor Maintenance, 5%
Perform minor maintenance and material handling to ensure proper functioning and usability of facility.
- Ladders, 3%
Remove, wash and replace Venetian blinds, and wash ceiling fixtures and room partitions, using ladders and scaffolds.
Most custodians use their skills in "cleanliness," "work ethic," and "customer service" to do their jobs. You can find more detail on essential custodian responsibilities here:
Interpersonal skills. The most essential soft skill for a custodian to carry out their responsibilities is interpersonal skills. This skill is important for the role because "janitors and building cleaners must interact well other cleaners and the people who live or work in the buildings they service." Additionally, a custodian resume shows how their duties depend on interpersonal skills: "demonstrated highest standards of customer service and interpersonal skills in interacting with students, faculty, and guests. "
Mechanical skills. Another soft skill that's essential for fulfilling custodian duties is mechanical skills. The role rewards competence in this skill because "janitors and building cleaners need to understand general building operations and should be able to make routine repairs, such as to leaky faucets." According to a custodian resume, here's how custodians can utilize mechanical skills in their job responsibilities: "operate mechanical floor cleaners, buffers, vacuums, snow blowers, shampooers and related environmental service equipment. "
Physical strength. Another skill that relates to the job responsibilities of custodians is physical strength. This skill is critical to many everyday custodian duties, as "janitors and building cleaners often must lift and move heavy cleaning materials and equipment." This example from a resume shows how this skill is used: "promoted building security though physical inspection maintained building cleanliness and facilities for large events. "
Time-management skills. For certain custodian responsibilities to be completed, the job requires competence in "time-management skills." The day-to-day duties of a custodian rely on this skill, as "janitors and building cleaners must plan and complete tasks in a timely manner." For example, this snippet was taken directly from a resume about how this skill applies to what custodians do: "displayed excellent work ethic by always showing up on time and working until the job was completed to the highest quality. "
The three companies that hire the most custodians are:
- Love's Travel Stops & Country Stores817 custodians jobs
- Planet Fitness702 custodians jobs
- CSL Plasma170 custodians jobs
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Compare different custodians
Custodian vs. Day porter
Day porters are skilled employees who are responsible for conducting daily building maintenance at a facility to ensure it looks neat and presentable to the public. These porters are required to clean all common room areas such as the kitchen, cafeteria, and lobby as well as prepare conference rooms before and after meetings. They must complete minor repairs and place safety hazard signs in the building to warn customers and employees. Day porters must also provide service washrooms while responding to major spills or other cleaning crises.
These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of a custodian are more likely to require skills like "minor maintenance," "class rooms," "dryers," and "strong customer service." On the other hand, a job as a day porter requires skills like "strong work ethic," "abm," "restocking bathrooms," and "property management." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.
Day porters tend to make the most money working in the utilities industry, where they earn an average salary of $28,643. In contrast, custodians make the biggest average salary, $31,075, in the education industry.On average, day porters reach similar levels of education than custodians. Day porters are 0.3% less likely to earn a Master's Degree and 0.1% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Custodian vs. Environmental services aide
An environmental services aide is responsible for supporting the community programs and efforts for nature sustainability and assisting the citizens with their needs and concerns. Environmental services aides are also usually employed in health care centers to help patients and maintain the cleanliness and orderliness of the facilities. They monitor inventories, inspect tools and equipment, and adhere to safety standards and procedures. An environmental services aide must have excellent communication and organizational skills, especially in coordinating with other community organizations to provide quality services for the people.
While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that custodian responsibilities requires skills like "work ethic," "building floors," "class rooms," and "strong customer service." But an environmental services aide might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "patients," "environmental services," "evs," and "stretchers."
On average, environmental services aides earn a higher salary than custodians. Some industries support higher salaries in each profession. Interestingly enough, environmental services aides earn the most pay in the hospitality industry with an average salary of $34,789. Whereas custodians have higher pay in the education industry, with an average salary of $31,075.In general, environmental services aides achieve similar levels of education than custodians. They're 0.2% less likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 0.1% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Custodian vs. Porter
A porter is responsible for managing the building's cleanliness and orderliness, together with the cleaning maintenance team. Duties of a porter include ensuring the premises' safety, operating cleaning tools and equipment, and performing basic troubleshooting for defective machines. Other tasks include assisting visitors with their inquiries, leading clients to the appropriate departments, adhering to the highest safety standards and procedures, and answering maintenance calls. A porter must have excellent time-management and multi-tasking skills to ensure daily smooth operations.
There are many key differences between these two careers, including some of the skills required to perform responsibilities within each role. For example, a custodian is likely to be skilled in "minor maintenance," "ladders," "class rooms," and "floor care," while a typical porter is skilled in "excellent guest," "manual dexterity," "good communication," and "grass."
Porters make a very good living in the retail industry with an average annual salary of $30,781. On the other hand, custodians are paid the highest salary in the education industry, with average annual pay of $31,075.Most porters achieve a similar degree level compared to custodians. For example, they're 0.1% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.4% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Custodian vs. Cleaning and maintenance worker
Even though a few skill sets overlap between custodians and cleaning and maintenance workers, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a custodian might have more use for skills like "cleanliness," "work ethic," "minor maintenance," and "ladders." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of cleaning and maintenance workers require skills like "buff floors," "routine maintenance," "routine inspections," and "commercial buildings. "
The technology industry tends to pay the highest salaries for cleaning and maintenance workers, with average annual pay of $26,444. Comparatively, the highest custodian annual salary comes from the education industry.The average resume of cleaning and maintenance workers showed that they earn similar levels of education compared to custodians. So much so that theyacirc;euro;trade;re 0.5% less likely to earn a Master's Degree and more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree by 0.1%.Types of custodian
Updated January 8, 2025
