What does a day porter do?
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.
Day porter responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real day porter resumes:
- Replenish paper supplies, maintain restrooms including toilets, urinals, counters, and sinks.
- Sanitize of hundreds of rooms, perform carpet maintenance utilizing chemicals, cleaning machinery such as scrubbers and buffers.
- Clean and sanitize restroom facilities and fixtures including sinks, urinals and toilets, wash windows, mirrors and walls.
- Operate automatic sweepers and scrubbers.
- Maintain cleanliness of grounds using designate equipment.
- Subject to quarterly safety and cleanliness inspections.
- Perform emergencies work requests, schedule and unschedule maintenance program, emergencies and coordinate special projects as directed.
- Utilize buffing/waxing equipment and carpet extractors.
- Mow lawns, trim shrubbery, plant flowers, and apply pesticides.
- Mow and trim lawns and shrubbery, using mowers and hand and power trimmers, and clear debris from grounds.
Day porter skills and personality traits
We calculated that 15% of Day Porters are proficient in Commercial Cleaning, Customer Service, and Work Ethic. They’re also known for soft skills such as Interpersonal skills, Physical strength, and Time-management skills.
We break down the percentage of Day Porters that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Commercial Cleaning, 15%
Handle various grades of industrial and commercial cleaning chemicals to complete assigned tasks.
- Customer Service, 13%
Provided all clients with extraordinary customer service daily by responding t needs immediately.
- Work Ethic, 12%
Received additional property to maintain after proving work ethic.
- ABM, 8%
Responded to building requests as instructed by Building Management and/or ABM Management.
- Cleanliness, 6%
Maintain cleanliness of grounds using designated equipment.
- Office Buildings, 3%
Entrusted by Supervisor to accomplish a variety of responsibilities in assigned office buildings.
"commercial cleaning," "customer service," and "work ethic" are among the most common skills that day porters use at work. You can find even more day porter responsibilities below, including:
Interpersonal skills. The most essential soft skill for a day porter 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 day porter resume shows how their duties depend on interpersonal skills: "motivated with an energetic work ethic and good interpersonal skills as well as knowing how to succeeded with teamwork. "
Physical strength. Many day porter duties rely on physical strength. "janitors and building cleaners often must lift and move heavy cleaning materials and equipment.," so a day porter will need this skill often in their role. This resume example is just one of many ways day porter responsibilities rely on physical strength: "repaired and maintained physical structures of the building in compliance with osha regulations. "
Time-management skills. This is an important skill for day porters to perform their duties. For an example of how day porter responsibilities depend on this skill, consider that "janitors and building cleaners must plan and complete tasks in a timely manner." This excerpt from a resume also shows how vital it is to everyday roles and responsibilities of a day porter: "managed my time cleaning made schools safe and clean environment always on time at the site i needed to be present for".
Mechanical skills. day porter responsibilities often require "mechanical skills." The duties that rely on this skill are shown by the fact that "janitors and building cleaners need to understand general building operations and should be able to make routine repairs, such as to leaky faucets." This resume example shows what day porters do with mechanical skills on a typical day: "maintained upkeep of building, supervised cleanliness of restrooms and mechanical rooms. "
The three companies that hire the most day porters are:
- ABM Industries207 day porters jobs
- TPI33 day porters jobs
- Healthcare Services Group32 day porters jobs
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Compare different day porters
Day porter vs. Custodian
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.
While similarities exist, there are also some differences between day porters and custodian. For instance, day porter responsibilities require skills such as "strong work ethic," "abm," "restocking bathrooms," and "property management." Whereas a custodian is skilled in "minor maintenance," "class rooms," "dryers," and "strong customer service." This is part of what separates the two careers.
Custodians tend to make the most money working in the education industry, where they earn an average salary of $31,075. In contrast, day porters make the biggest average salary, $28,643, in the utilities industry.custodians tend to reach similar levels of education than day porters. In fact, custodians are 0.3% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.1% more likely to have a Doctoral Degree.Day porter vs. Housekeeping aide
The primary job of a housekeeping aide is to maintain the cleanliness of an assigned area, including hospital rooms, hotel rooms, and corridors. This role will require you to perform various housekeeping chores as requested by the housekeeping manager, such as cleaning the restrooms and kitchens. You will be responsible for keeping the office pantries tidy and ensuring the availability of supplies for beverages such as chocolate and coffee at all times. Other duties include cleaning floors, clearing away garbage, and attending to the needs of guests.
Each career also uses different skills, according to real day porter resumes. While day porter responsibilities can utilize skills like "work ethic," "strong work ethic," "abm," and "office buildings," housekeeping aides use skills like "patients," "guest rooms," "home health," and "rehabilitation."
Housekeeping aides may earn a higher salary than day porters, but housekeeping aides earn the most pay in the hospitality industry with an average salary of $30,153. On the other hand, day porters receive higher pay in the utilities industry, where they earn an average salary of $28,643.Average education levels between the two professions vary. Housekeeping aides tend to reach similar levels of education than day porters. In fact, they're 0.2% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.1% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Day porter vs. Custodian/substitute custodian
A custodian is primarily responsible for maintaining the cleanliness of a particular area, including preparing and setting-up equipment for public or private use. Although their duties depend on their area of assignment or industry of employment, those duties often include conducting routine maintenance checks on facilities, performing basic repairs, cleaning floors and windows, replacing fixtures, monitoring supply inventories, and ordering new supplies as necessary.
Some important key differences between the two careers include a few of the skills necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of each. Some examples from day porter resumes include skills like "commercial cleaning," "customer service," "work ethic," and "strong work ethic," whereas a custodian/substitute custodian is more likely to list skills in "hallways," "minor maintenance," "hand tools," and "fire hazards. "
Custodians/substitute custodians earn the best pay in the education industry, where they command an average salary of $31,734. Day porters earn the highest pay from the utilities industry, with an average salary of $28,643.custodians/substitute custodians typically earn similar educational levels compared to day porters. Specifically, they're 0.2% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.1% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Day porter vs. General cleaner
General cleaners are responsible for maintaining the cleanliness and orderliness of all the facilities of the company premises. A general cleaner also monitors the adequacy of cleaning materials in the storage area. They also respond to the visitors' inquiries and concerns, directing them to the appropriate personnel and department for their business needs. A general cleaner must be highly-organized, ensuring the safety of the establishment by following strict sanitary standards and cleaning procedures. They report defective items, inspect office equipment, and request additional supplies.
Types of day porter
Updated January 8, 2025
