Cleaner CV: example and tips

What employers in cleaning look for

Cleaners work in offices, schools, hospitals, hotels, shops, building sites and private homes. According to utdanning.no, the job includes cleaning floors, furniture, windows and sanitary facilities, infection control cleaning, using cleaning machines and robots, and reporting faults and defects digitally. The requirements still differ. A hospital wants to know that you can follow strict hygiene routines. An office building wants to know that you work quickly and discreetly early in the morning. Builders' cleaning requires you to handle heavy work and use machines. So write where you have worked and what kind of premises you know.

Ads tend to use the same words. Use them where they match what you have done. If the ad says “periodic cleaning” and “floor scrubber”, those words should appear in your CV, not just “cleaning”. If you create your CV with Selja, the words from the ad are worked in for you where they fit. Read more in our guide to an ATS-friendly CV. Most ads in Norway are in Norwegian, so it helps to know terms such as daglig renhold (daily cleaning) and periodisk renhold (periodic cleaning). These words come up again and again:

• Daily cleaning, periodic cleaning and deep cleaning.
• Office cleaning, school cleaning and cleaning in healthcare institutions.
• Builders' cleaning and end of tenancy cleaning.
• Floor scrubbers, scrubbing machines, polishing and floor finishing.
• Microfibre, colour coding and correct use of chemicals.
• Cleaning plans and quality control according to NS-INSTA 800.
• Independent, punctual, thorough and flexible.
• HMS card and good Norwegian, often also a category B driving licence.

Requirements to know about: approval, HMS card and trade certificate

Under the regulation on approval of cleaning companies, cleaning companies must be approved by Arbeidstilsynet, the Norwegian Labour Inspection Authority, and cleaning services may only be bought from companies that are approved or have an application being processed. The employer must make sure that everyone who does cleaning work has an HMS card. The card is valid for two years, only for as long as you are employed by that company, and it must be clearly visible at work. The company orders the card, so you do not need one before you start. If you have held an HMS card in previous jobs, it still shows that you know the rules.

Approved companies must, among other things, follow the generally applicable collective agreement for cleaning, which sets a minimum wage for the industry. If you want to check the pay you are offered, you can use the free pay check.

Many cleaning jobs are open to applicants without a trade certificate, but a trade certificate (fagbrev) as a cleaning operator is a plus, especially if you want to become a supervisor, quality manager or team leader. According to utdanning.no, the training takes one year at school and three years in a company. If you have worked in cleaning for a long time, you can take the certificate through the praksiskandidat scheme. Udir, the Norwegian Directorate for Education and Training, then requires varied experience at least 25 percent longer than the normal training period, which for this trade means at least five years, and a passed theory exam before the trade test. List the certificate clearly under education, or say how far you have come.

Example of a summary for a cleaner CV

The summary should say how long you have worked in cleaning, what kind of premises you know and something you are particularly good at. Here is a made up example:

Example: “Cleaner with five years of experience in office cleaning and cleaning at a nursing home. Have had sole responsibility for 2,500 square metres of offices on the morning shift, and followed the nursing home's infection control routines with no deviations at internal audits. Confident with floor scrubbers, floor finishing and correct dosing of chemicals. Speak Norwegian and Polish. Looking for a permanent daytime role with more responsibility for periodic cleaning.”

Replace the numbers with your own. If you are new to cleaning, your summary can cover why you want to do this work, and what you have done before that shows you are thorough and reliable. See more examples in our guide to writing a CV summary.

Bullet points with results: weak versus strong

Many cleaners just write “cleaned offices”. That says little about how much you covered, how well you did it or what responsibility you had. Show area, number of rooms or buildings, routines you followed and results from quality checks instead. Start with a verb in the past tense.

• Weak: “Cleaned offices.” Strong: “Kept 2,500 square metres of offices clean on my own every morning before eight o'clock, five days a week.”
• Weak: “Hospital cleaning.” Strong: “Carried out infection control cleaning in isolation rooms according to the hospital's procedures, using colour coding and the correct order every time.”
• Weak: “Used machines.” Strong: “Operated floor scrubbers and scrubbing machines in a 12,000 square metre shopping centre, and made sure the machines were ready for every shift.”
• Weak: “Satisfied customer.” Strong: “Achieved the best results in the district in the client's quality checks two years running.”
• Weak: “Periodic cleaning.” Strong: “Stripped and refinished floors at three schools every summer, finishing before the school year started every year.”
• Weak: “Training.” Strong: “Trained six new colleagues in routines, chemicals and machines, and wrote a checklist for each building.”

Skills, courses and equipment worth including

Skills become stronger when they are specific. List the machines, methods and systems you know, and include courses with years. According to Arbeidstilsynet, high pressure washers are among the equipment that requires documented safety training, so if you have such training, list it with the year.

• Machines: floor scrubbers, scrubbing machines, polishers, high pressure washers and cleaning robots.
• Methods: microfibre, colour coding, floor finishing, stripping and window cleaning.
• Infection control cleaning and routines in healthcare institutions.
• Chemicals and dosing, and the use of safety data sheets.
• Systems for cleaning plans, quality control and reporting deviations, for example in an app on your phone.
• Courses from your employer or suppliers, and a trade certificate as a cleaning operator.
• Languages: Norwegian and any other languages you speak, and a category B driving licence if you drive between clients.

New to cleaning, or many years in the job

Many people start in cleaning without experience from the industry. If you have little experience, highlight what shows you are punctual, thorough and reliable: previous jobs, including from another country, volunteering or a work placement. Also say when you can work, for example early mornings, evenings or weekends, and how well you speak Norwegian. Our guide to a CV for recent graduates has more advice for a CV with little experience.

If you have worked in cleaning for many years, your CV should show responsibility and progression: sole responsibility for a building, training new staff, the role of supervisor or site manager, or responsibility for quality control. Give the area and the number of staff you have been responsible for. If you hold a trade certificate or are taking it through the praksiskandidat scheme, make that clear. Older jobs can be cut to one line, and the CV should stay at one or two pages.

Common mistakes in a cleaner CV

Most mistakes are easy to fix once you know what to look for. Check for these in particular:

• Just “cleaning”, with no type of premises, area or machines.
• No information about when you can work.
• No language level, even though the ad asks for Norwegian.
• Qualities without proof, such as “thorough and efficient”, with no example.
• Long paragraphs instead of short bullet points.
• Missing contact details, or a phone number nobody answers.

Create your cleaner CV in under a minute with Selja

A hospital asks for infection control and routines, an office building for morning shifts and independence, and builders' cleaning for machines and heavy work. With Selja you paste in the job ad and upload the CV you already have. In under a minute you get a professional, ATS-friendly CV and cover letter tailored to the job, with the words from the ad where they match what you have done. If the ad is in English, you get your CV and cover letter in English.

Selja never adds experience or skills you do not have. If the ad asks for something your CV does not show, for example experience with floor finishing, Selja asks you first and only uses what you confirm. It is free to start: check your CV for free and see how a recruiter reads it, or take a free ATS check against the ad. Get started when you want to create your first application.

The application and next steps

Many cleaning companies ask only for a CV and a short application, often in an online form. Write briefly why you want to work there, what kind of cleaning you have done, and when you can work. If Norwegian is not your first language, keep the application simple and correct, and ask someone to read it before you send it. See our example of a job application for a template you can build on.

The interview is often short and practical. You may be asked how you plan a shift, what you do if you cannot finish everything, and how you use chemicals safely. Practise with the interview questions for the role, and convert the hourly pay with the hourly pay calculator.