You could take a college course to get some of the skills needed in this job. Courses include:

• introduction to the hospitality industry
• hospitality and catering principles - housekeeping
• hospitality supervision and leadership principles

Entry requirements

Entry requirements for these courses vary.

You can apply to do a Hospitality Accommodation Team Member Level 2 Intermediate Apprenticeship with a hotel group.

You might also apply to do a Hospitality Supervisor Level 3 Advanced Apprenticeship if you're already working in the industry.

You can complete a Hospitality Manager Level 4 Higher Apprenticeship, if you want to become a housekeeping manager.

Entry requirements

You'll usually need:

• some GCSEs, usually including English and maths, or equivalent, for an intermediate apprenticeship
• 5 GCSEs at grades 9 to 4 (A* to C), or equivalent, including English and maths, for an advanced apprenticeship
• 4 or 5 GCSEs at grades 9 to 4 (A* to C) and A levels, or equivalent, for a higher or degree apprenticeship

You may be able to start as a hotel cleaner, porter or kitchen staff and become a room attendant or housekeeper through company training and promotion.

You can apply directly if you have experience of working in other roles in the hospitality industry, such as customer service.

Employers will be interested in your personal qualities and will expect you to be hardworking, honest and a reliable timekeeper.

You'll need:

• customer service skills
• to be thorough and pay attention to detail
• to be flexible and open to change
• the ability to use your initiative
• persistence and determination
• excellent verbal communication skills
• administration skills
• the ability to motivate and manage staff
• to be able to use a computer and the main software packages competently

As a hotel housekeeper, you would:

• clean guests' rooms, make beds and replace linen and towels
• restock food and drink items, and bathroom supplies
• take laundry away for cleaning
• deal with general customer requests or pass on messages to your supervisor
• clean corridors and communal areas
• report damage or maintenance issues

If you work as a supervisor or manager, you could:

• prepare shift rotas and allocate daily cleaning duties to staff
• inspect rooms to make sure that standards have been met
• recruit and train staff
• work closely with other department heads and the hotel general manager

You could work in a hotel, in holiday accomodation or on a cruise ship.

Your working environment may be physically demanding.