Custodian resume examples & templates

The job of a custodian is to ensure a clean, safe space for anyone who uses a specific building. Daily work may include sweeping or vacuuming, washing, repairs, or other types of cleaning—whatever it takes to create a sparkling environment.

Landing your next custodian job requires having a well-designed, clear, and organized resume, so get ready to put your cleaning and organizing skills to work.

Resume guide for a custodian resume

For maximum success, try Resume.io. With resume guides and examples that cover over 500 careers, plus a resume builder that does the heavy lifting for you, we make it easier than ever to dust off your old resume and produce a sparkling new version.

This guide and custodian resume sample will explain the following to help you get started:

• How to write a custodian resume
• Choosing the right format for a custodian resume
• How to add your contact information
• Using a summary in lieu of an objective for your custodian resume
• Adding your custodian experience
• Listing education and relevant training, certifications, etc.
• Picking the right resume design and layout
• What the custodian job market looks like and the sort of salary you can expect

How to write a custodian resume

The first step to writing a polished custodian resume is to understand the necessary components. A strong custodian resume template will include the following: 

• The resume header
• The resume summary (aka profile or personal statement)
• The employment history section
• The resume skills section
• The education section

For the best possible resume for custodian or janitor work, you’ll want to dust off your experience and make it shine. You’ll also need to understand the role and company to which you’re applying and make sure your resume is tailored as specifically as possible. You wouldn’t just start cleaning a room without first understanding what actually needs to be cleaned—so don’t write a resume without knowing what’s important! 

When you’ve identified the company’s needs and how your experience aligns with them, follow this formula to for the strongest impact: 

• Focus on your accomplishments and achievements, not just a list of job duties. In other words, don’t just document what you were responsible for. Instead, be specific and show off your unique value.
• Adapt each resume to the style, tone, and culture of the organization to which you’re applying.
• Use a resume template that puts the focus on your experience and value, not one that’s overly convoluted or colorful.
• Pay attention to the key requirements in the job posting and be sure to work them into your resume; whether a recruiter or ATS software is reviewing your resume, you want it to be obvious that you’re a fit.

Choosing the right resume format for custodian work

Your custodian resume should make it easy for the reader to find what they’re looking for. You want it to be as simple as finding something in a spotless room or a well-cleaned warehouse. 

For most resumes, this means the best format is reverse chronological, wherein you list your work experience from most recent to earliest and put the focus on your specific work history. 

If you’re making a career change or just starting out in the working world, you may want to try a functional format, which puts the focus on your skills and attributes instead of your work history. However, functional formats aren’t typically preferred by hiring teams, as they tend to obscure your professional experience. 

If you like the idea of a functional resume, though, you can always combine the two formats into a hybrid one that focuses heavily on skills while also detailing your work experience. 

Whichever you choose, we have examples available of all three formats. When you check out our resume templates, you can select whichever best suits you. And when it comes to design, you want a clean and straightforward simple layout that’s easy to read and understand. 

Include a header with your contact information

The header may seem like one of the easiest resume sections, but it’s also one of the most important. After all, without the header, it won’t be clear to the reader whose resume they’re viewing and they won’t be able to contact you for an interview!

It’s important to make sure your header is clear and professionally presented. It should show up at the very top of the page so there’s no question whose resume it is. 

Do include the following:

• Your name and title. List your first and last name and the title of the role you are pursuing (e.g., “Custodian”).
• A professional email address. Although custodian work may not be overly corporate, it’s still important to use a professional email address (like firstname.lastname@gmail.com), not something quirky or inappropriate.
• Your phone number. Include a number where you can easily be reached, and make sure you have a professional voicemail greeting and a voicemail box that’s set up and not already full.
• Your general location. You don’t need to include anything more than your city and state; leave off your entire street address, as that’s considered outdated and can cause safety issues. No need to include your zip code, either.
• A link to LinkedIn. While LinkedIn may not be common among custodians, if you use it and feel it shows off your experience, feel free to add a link in your header.

Don’t include:

• Your date of birth: This isn’t customary to include in the US, and it can invite ageism, so it’s best to leave it off entirely.
• Your photo: Also not customary in the US, including a photo can imply you don’t understand professional norms.
• Personal details: Leave off anything related to your marital status, parenthood status, social security number, passport number, driver’s license number, etc.

Make use of a summary

A summary is where you’ll provide the reader with an overview of your expertise and set yourself apart from other candidates. It’s where you'll really shine a light on your abilities and what makes you the best fit for the job.

To craft your summary, think about the throughlines of your career: what are your biggest accomplishments, and how did you get there? What skills do you bring that other candidates may not? While your summary may touch on things from the rest of your resume, it shouldn’t simply reiterate them. Instead, you should pull together what makes you special and put it into 2-4 sentences.

For example, you might write something like, “Exceptional custodian with over 10 years of experience achieving spotless environments while adhering to all industrial health and safety regulations.”

You can find adaptable custodian resume summary examples below:

Outline your custodian work experience 

Your experience section is where you’ll demonstrate your sweeping success as a custodian. If done right, it’ll lead to a resume that mops up the competition. 

If you’re using a reverse chronological format, you’ll start with your most recent job and work your way backwards. Only go back the last 10-15 years; anything older is not likely to be very relevant today, and it can invite ageism (plus, it takes up space). Be sure to keep your experience relevant to the job you’re targeting. If you have other experience you really want to include, even if it’s not related to custodial work, you can consider creating an “Other Experience” section if you have enough room. 

Underneath the header for each company, title, and dates worked, insert bullet points starting with dynamic verbs: improved, achieved, transformed, oversaw, implemented. Keep each bullet concise and avoid use of pronouns like “I” and “my.” 

Don’t just list your custodian job duties. If a company is hiring a custodian, they likely know exactly what the job entails. What they want to see is how you have performed the job and what you’ve accomplished. 

That means you should avoid vague bullet points like:

• “Maintained cleaning standards.”
• “Resolved safety issues.”
• “Responded quickly to cleaning requests.”

Any custodian could do those things. Your resume should specify what you achieved and the results you brought. Spend some time writing down all the quantifiable achievements you can think of, then inject them into your bullets. It will transform them into something like these:

• “Achieved and maintained all cleanliness standards, receiving positive feedback from building occupants and visitors.”
• “Identified and resolved safety issues proactively, preventing accidents and reducing incidents by 50% year over year.”
• “Responded quickly to cleaning requests, exceeding 24-hour service level agreement.”

Take a look at the custodian employment history resume sample below:

How to write a custodian resume with no experience 

If you’re looking to break into a custodian position but don’t yet have direct experience, you still have a shot at success. You’ll just have to rely on your transferable skills and relevant education to write a compelling custodian resume with no experience.

First, think about any education or training you've undergone. If you have training in custodial or janitorial work, or if you have taken courses about regulations like OSHA or others, include it on your resume. 

Then, be sure to include as many transferable skills as you can. These are skills you’ve gained from other jobs that may not be directly related to custodial work but will positively impact your ability to do the job. For example, perhaps you worked in a restaurant and were often responsible for ensuring a clean kitchen and front of the house. Or maybe you have worked a side job as a house cleaner. Working well under pressure, strong organizational skills, and high attention to detail are all great transferable skills to include as well. 

Include the key skills that make you a great custodian

Your custodian resume skills section provides a (squeaky clean) window into your overall abilities by sharing a list of your top skills. 

Most resumes will include a combination of hard and soft skills. In general, you want to focus a bit more on the hard skills—those that are demonstrable and measurable, like use of specific cleaning equipment, knowledge of regulations, or understanding of cleaning techniques.

However, soft skills like strong customer service, communication skills, and organizational skills can help as well. 

Our resume builder provides several skill options you can choose from, or you have the ability to add your own. For example, here’s what the skills box looks like in our custodian resume template. 

While this section is helpful, it’s not the only place your skills should appear. Just listing them in this section doesn’t provide any context or evidence, so you should try to sprinkle them throughout your resume’s experience and summary sections. The best way to do this is by relying on the notes you made about quantifiable achievements. 

For example, you might choose to highlight things like:

• Knowledge of cleaning techniques by describing what sort of cleaning you’ve done, the techniques you used, and your success in doing so
• Understanding of regulations and standards by mentioning the specific standards you worked toward and your success rate (for instance, did you meet OSHA standards 100% of the time?)
• Equipment knowledge by documenting what equipment you used for which tasks.

The job description for each role is a great place to start when determining the most important skills to call out.

Detail your education & relevant custodian certifications

For most professionals, including custodians, the education section on their resume is quite simple. Just like your experience section, you’ll list your education in reverse chronological order.

Most custodian jobs don’t require extensive education beyond a high school diploma or GED. If you have achieved that level of education or higher, be sure to document it. If you’re very highly educated with a master’s degree or higher, and the degree isn’t related to custodial work, it may be helpful to leave it off lest you appear overqualified. 

However, this section can include more than just formal education. The following can make your custodian resume even more appealing:

• Training and certifications. If you’ve taken any relevant courses, trainings, or even webinars, it’s helpful to mention. For example, a training about equipment maintenance may not be directly related but shows your understanding of equipment and your interest in learning.
• Apprenticeships. If you’ve held an apprenticeship in this or an adjacent industry, be sure to include it.
• Professional development or memberships. Are you part of an industry association or group like the International Janitorial Cleaning Services Association, or a union like SEIU?

Pick the right resume layout and design for a custodian resume

Your resume’s design and layout should be polished and attractive to look at. You want it to make clear who you are, why you’re a fit, and how you would excel at the job. 

This means you need a resume that is eye-catching but not cluttered or distracting. You don’t want graphics, colors, or fonts to take away from the content. While a small pop of color is fine, it isn’t necessary and your best bet is likely to use simple black and white. 

The layout of your resume should be simple, too. Avoid tables, graphs, and charts. Instead, use clean lines and an ample mix of text and whitespace. You want your resume to be easily navigable. 

Custodians may excel at providing a squeaky clean environment, but that doesn’t mean you’re an expert at sparkling design work. If you need support, check out our numerous resume templates, which handle all the formatting and design for you. 

Custodian text-only resume example

Custodian job market and outlook

Custodians are always going to be needed, as cleaning will always be required in some fashion. However, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the industry isn’t necessarily growing. Instead, it’s expected to see only a 1% change in the next decade. This is likely due to the increase in remote and hybrid work resulting in fewer spaces requiring cleaning. 

What type of salary you can expect as a custodian

Custodians are typically paid an hourly wage. The median wage is $16.84 per hour; the lowest 10 percent of workers earn under $12.39, while the highest 10 percent earn over $23. Many custodians are eligible for overtime pay as well, so they earn more if they work over 40 hours per week. 

The highest paid custodial workers are government workers, earning a median wage of $19.77. Those earning the lowest include custodians for general buildings and living spaces, coming in at a median of $16.07. 

Key takeaways for building a custodian resume

A custodial career is ideal for those who want a physical job with daily variety and an impact on the public. It takes a strong understanding of cleaning techniques, safety, and equipment, but the low educational requirements make it fairly easy to break into. 

The best way to set yourself up for success is with a resume that displays your custodial experience and skills, especially one that’s tailored to the needs of the specific company. 

Our online resume builder can help by taking care of the heavy lifting for you, tidying up your resume in a jiffy and setting you on the path to the next great position.