What does a senior housekeeper do?
Senior housekeeper responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real senior housekeeper resumes:
- Manage payroll administration and scheduling.
- Create MSDS manual for all products used in the housekeeping department.
- Assist with minimizing costs including payroll, inventory and overhead costs.
- Conduct daily room inspections to ensure consistent cleanliness standards are adhere to in the rooms and public area.
- Assist medical staff and patients in upholding environmental standards for hospital mandates.
- Operate extractors and driers, or direct their operation.
Senior housekeeper skills and personality traits
We calculated that 48% of Senior Housekeepers are proficient in Cleanliness, OSHA, and Guest Rooms. They’re also known for soft skills such as Interpersonal skills, Mechanical skills, and Physical strength.
We break down the percentage of Senior Housekeepers that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Cleanliness, 48%
Maintain cleanliness of rooms Settle personal issues with residents
- OSHA, 16%
General maintenance and OSHA requirements performed to maintain sanitary conditions in an outpatient facility.
- Guest Rooms, 8%
Work directly with Front Desk and other department staff to ensure and maintain clean guest rooms, public spaces.
- MSDS, 7%
Provide adequate training of each employee including safety and security measures in relationship to MSDS guidelines.
- Compassion, 6%
Assisted and cared for others using compassion, respect, and empathy.
- Front Desk, 4%
Maintain constant communication within departments including Engineering and Front Desk to ensure expectations are met and control room inventory.
Common skills that a senior housekeeper uses to do their job include "cleanliness," "osha," and "guest rooms." You can find details on the most important senior housekeeper responsibilities below.
Interpersonal skills. The most essential soft skill for a senior housekeeper 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 senior housekeeper resume shows how their duties depend on interpersonal skills: "instruct staff in work policies and procedures and the use and maintenance of equipment skills used computer, interpersonal, customer service"
Mechanical skills. Many senior housekeeper duties rely on mechanical skills. "janitors and building cleaners need to understand general building operations and should be able to make routine repairs, such as to leaky faucets.," so a senior housekeeper will need this skill often in their role. This resume example is just one of many ways senior housekeeper responsibilities rely on mechanical skills: "check room attendant's carts for proper supplies, neatness, cleanliness and mechanical problems. "
Physical strength. senior housekeepers are also known for physical strength, which are critical to their duties. You can see how this skill relates to senior housekeeper responsibilities, because "janitors and building cleaners often must lift and move heavy cleaning materials and equipment." A senior housekeeper resume example shows how physical strength is used in the workplace: "communicate with the front desk any discrepancies and ensure that they are physically checked to determine status. "
Time-management skills. For certain senior housekeeper responsibilities to be completed, the job requires competence in "time-management skills." The day-to-day duties of a senior housekeeper 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 senior housekeepers do: "assign and ensure work tasks are completed on time and meet quality standards. "
The three companies that hire the most senior housekeepers are:
- Brookdale Senior Living212 senior housekeepers jobs
- Balfour Senior Living68 senior housekeepers jobs
- Hilton Grand Vacations10 senior housekeepers jobs
Compare different senior housekeepers
Senior housekeeper vs. Maid
Maids are individuals who perform domestic chores like ironing, grocery shopping, cleaning, and laundry. Primarily, maids oversee the maintenance of wardrobes, serve meals, and lay out clothes. They can carry out their job independently and adhere to the strict schedules set for them. They maintain the cleaning records as well as the supply inventory in organizations or residences. Maids are expected to be equipped with physical capabilities, along with cleaning, time management, customer service, and organizational skills.
There are some key differences in the responsibilities of each position. For example, senior housekeeper responsibilities require skills like "cleanliness," "osha," "msds," and "compassion." Meanwhile a typical maid has skills in areas such as "taking care," "customer service," "bed sheets," and "customers homes." This difference in skills reveals the differences in what each career does.
Maids tend to make the most money working in the construction industry, where they earn an average salary of $27,826. In contrast, senior housekeepers make the biggest average salary, $39,872, in the professional industry.The education levels that maids earn slightly differ from senior housekeepers. In particular, maids are 3.4% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree than a senior housekeeper. Additionally, they're 0.7% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Senior housekeeper vs. Guest room attendant
A guest room attendant's main specialty is in servicing and cleaning guest rooms. Your job as a room attendant is to ensure that all rooms and bathrooms are made inviting and clean for guests. You may also be required to attend to guest queries and provide knowledgeable answers to them. That's not all; your job responsibility may also include picking and providing necessary amenities for guests.
In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences worth noting. For example, senior housekeeper responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "guest rooms," "msds," "compassion," and "laundry functions." Meanwhile, a guest room attendant has duties that require skills in areas such as "customer service," "excellent guest," "bed linens," and "safety hazards." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.
Guest room attendants earn a lower average salary than senior housekeepers. But guest room attendants earn the highest pay in the hospitality industry, with an average salary of $29,238. Additionally, senior housekeepers earn the highest salaries in the professional with average pay of $39,872 annually.guest room attendants earn similar levels of education than senior housekeepers in general. They're 3.9% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.7% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Senior housekeeper vs. Room attendant
A room attendant is responsible for managing guest rooms, ensuring its safety and comfortability for the guests. Room attendants' duties include maintaining the cleanliness of rooms by following cleaning schedules, inspecting the furniture and other room items, reporting any damaged furniture for immediate replacement, replacing bed and bathroom amenities, restocking foods and emptying trash containers, and responding to guests' inquiries and requests. A room attendant must have excellent customer service and organizational skills to keep the highest customer satisfaction.
Some important key differences between the two careers include a few of the skills necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of each. Some examples from senior housekeeper resumes include skills like "guest rooms," "msds," "compassion," and "laundry functions," whereas a room attendant is more likely to list skills in "dryers," "bed linens," "hotel guests," and "safety hazards. "
Room attendants make a very good living in the hospitality industry with an average annual salary of $29,051. On the other hand, senior housekeepers are paid the highest salary in the professional industry, with average annual pay of $39,872.room attendants typically earn similar educational levels compared to senior housekeepers. Specifically, they're 3.6% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.8% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Senior housekeeper vs. Guest service attendant
The guest service attendant attends to the services of guests at the main door or lobby of an accommodation property. The attendant handles everything concerning guest arrival and departure and may even have to assist in valet parking. You are required to assist guests with their luggage and ensuring they have a pleasurable stay. In addition to that, you may be called upon to perform certain front desk duties and assist the housekeeping and security teams as well.
Even though a few skill sets overlap between senior housekeepers and guest service attendants, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a senior housekeeper might have more use for skills like "osha," "msds," "compassion," and "laundry functions." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of guest service attendants require skills like "golf carts," "customer service," "reservations," and "excellent guest. "
The average resume of guest service attendants showed that they earn similar levels of education compared to senior housekeepers. So much so that theyacirc;euro;trade;re 2.8% less likely to earn a Master's Degree and less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree by 0.6%.Types of senior housekeeper
Updated January 8, 2025
