Being a housekeeper is a challenging but rewarding job. If you have a passion for organisation and cleanliness, a keen eye for details and are passionate about making homes and rooms look their best. Then this will be the right job for you. However to keep up to date with industry standards, and to stand out from the competition when applying for new jobs. You should make sure to keep up to date on relevant training requirements and qualifications. So find out here the housekeeping qualifications every housekeeper needs.
Why are Housekeeping Qualifications Required?
When looking at the housekeeping qualifications every housekeeper needs, we should first understand why they are required. As well as how it can make a difference to your career.
Industry Standards
Whether you are working in a small private household, large estate or in a big hotel chain. As a housekeeper, you will have to make sure you stick to a certain level of industry standards. Training courses are a perfect way to keep up to date with these. There might be a cleaning product that you have been using regularly that is no longer suited to use. Or a new version might have been released. The same goes for cleaning equipment and material. This is always in development so it is good to know what the new products on the market are. So that you can either start using these yourself. Or advise your Principal or employer when they ask.
Skills Update
Anyone who does a job for a long period of time can become slightly complacent. As a housekeeper, you might feel like you are going in ‘automatic’ mode. For example, when cleaning something you have done many times before. There is a big risk in this. As when you stop paying very close attention to all your tasks, you can start forgetting things and standards will drop! Avoiding complacency requires renewed learning efforts. And this is where housekeeping qualifications every housekeeper needs can really make a difference.
What Will Training Do
Training will force you to break down a routine that you might be very used to. It makes you look at all the different aspects of the process. Where can you improve? Where are you dropping your level of detail? There might also be new products or material that you have never worked with before. So in training, you can learn how to, for example, clean stains out of a velvet couch. It is always best to know these things before they become apparent. So that you will never have to turn around to an employer saying you do not know how to do something. Because as your housekeeping qualifications have covered this.
Standing Out From the Competition
This is especially relevant if you are looking to apply for a new job. Or if you are looking to get higher up in your career. Chances are there will be other people also applying for the job. Initially, CVs will be compared. If your CV shows no qualifications and your competitors CV has exactly the same level of experience. But if they do have training on their CV, which person do you think will be favoured? Training does not only give you the skill. It shows future employers that you are serious about your career and willing to invest in it.
Qualification Requirements Essential to Housekeepers
There are many different types of training and qualifications you can consider. Either when you are looking to become a housekeeper, or when you are already working as a housekeeper. There is no such thing as doing too many qualifications. Keeping your training up to date by taking a similar training once a year can be very beneficial to your skillset. Doing regular training keeps your mind fresh and gives you the opportunity to practise things that you might not have come across in previous work. Below a list of must-have certificates and training for you to consider.
Health and Safety Training
Health and Safety training is paramount to undertake, especially if you are working in a private household. If you are working in a hotel or corporate setting it is likely that health and safety training is offered as part of your employment or introduction period. However, if you are working as an independent housekeeper, self-employed or employed, you need to be up to date on health and safety risks and how to avoid them. Especially in housekeeping, you will be working in a lot of potentially dangerous situation if these aren’t managed well.
You can think of all the different types of toxic material using in cleaning products and how to use them – and what not to use them on. Another example is when you are dealing with electrical equipment, you want to make sure never to use water near it. When you are working on stairs, you never want to lift too heavy items up or down – or leave bulky equipment such as vacuum cleaners lingering around, this is a massive trip hazard. Health and safety training will go over all these and many more potential risks, making sure you are fully understanding how to work safely for yourself and the people around you.
Fire Awareness Training
Similar to the above, if you are working in commercial or hotel settings, they will most likely give you brief training on what to do in case of fire. However whether you are working in a hotel, small house or large villa, you should have an understanding of fire safety and training in fire awareness. Also, fire escape and emergency plans will be different per property, requiring you to know what to in general in case of fire, what material and equipment you are using can potentially be a fire hazard. Fire awareness training will also teach you the common causes of fire, basic safety features in buildings and how to handle fire extinguishers.
Food Hygiene Training
Food Hygiene training comes in several different levels, but even you do not prep or cook food during your job – being around food and drink is enough to qualify you to do a Level 1/basic Food Hygiene course. You will learn why food hygiene is important, understanding food hygiene law, food safety hazards, food safety control, and personal hygiene. Understanding these skills is vital for any housekeeper as it is all part of the overall cleanliness, upkeep and cleaning of the household or space you are working in.
Cleaning/Housekeeping Skills Training
Whether you are new to the industry or have worked as a housekeeper for a long time, doing housekeeping skills training is vital to keep your standards up to date. A practical training course would go through all different types of cleaning skills and techniques with you, from vacuum cleaning and mopping to polishing brass, silver and cleaning shoes and high-end handbags. Do you know how to work with all different types of material when it comes to stain removal? From leather to silk, velvet and suede – these are all things a training would cover. A good training course would also go further and teach final touches such as toilet paper folding, towel folding, wardrobe management and flower arranging. The skills for a housekeeper are endless so doing a practical course is vital to stay up to date.
How Can Polo & Tweed Help?
Polo & Tweed offer extensive Housekeeping, Health, Fire, Safety and Food Hygiene training courses which are extremely hands-on – requiring you to constantly be on your feet, knees and sitting as you go through all different types of cleaning materials, techniques, equipment and skills. You will work your way through all areas of the house. As well as learning things such as wardrobe management, pet care, shoe and handbag care. Polo & Tweed offers small group courses, as well as online training and private, tailor, made training. You can read more about our online and in-person training courses here and do not hesitate to get in touch with any questions you may have!