Cleaner job description template
A cleaning job post that says 'must be hardworking and reliable' filters nobody. This one is written to lose the wrong applicants before they apply: the real duties, the real physical demands, a pay band, and four interview questions that separate people who have done the job from people who have read about it.
Before you post it
- Decide the pay band before you post — it is the field that gets you applicants
- Know your route and hours; vagueness reads as chaos
- Have the background check process ready
After the applications land
- Reply to everyone within 48 hours, even the noes
- Ask the four questions in the same order every time
- Write down the answers; you will not remember by the fifth interview
What the job is
What you need
Helpful, not required
Interview questions that actually filter
- 1.
- 2.
- 3.
- 4.
Publish the pay band
The single change that most improves applicant quality in cleaning is publishing the pay. Posts without a number attract people who will negotiate, people who will not turn up, and nobody who is already employed.
For reference, the BLS mean hourly wage was $18.64 for janitors and cleaners and $17.83 for maids and housekeeping cleaners in 2025. A band that starts below the local mean gets local-mean applicants.
BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, via the BLS public API, read 2026-09-04
Say the physical part out loud
Cleaning is physical work: on your feet all day, lifting, bending, working alone. Saying so is not off-putting, it is honest, and it removes the applicant who leaves in week two.
Name the transport requirement explicitly. A residential round without a reliable vehicle does not work, and finding that out on day one wastes everybody's week.
Interview questions that actually filter
The first question — walk me through cleaning a bathroom, in order — is the one that does most of the work. Someone who has cleaned professionally answers with a sequence and mentions dwell time. Someone who has not lists products.
The 'something is missing' question tests the instinct you cannot train: report it immediately, in writing, and do not touch anything. The last question, about why they would leave, tells you what to fix before they do.