High School

In high school take classes in family and consumer science, mathematics, speech, and English. Learning a foreign language, such as Spanish, will also come in handy if your employer or coworkers do not speak English as a first language. If you plan on becoming a housekeeper, business, accounting, and computer science classes will help you prepare for the bookkeeping and other business aspects of the work. 

Postsecondary Education

No formal education is required to become a maid. Maids learn cleaning basics and the general rules of their employer via on-the-job training. Housekeepers enter the field after obtaining experience in lower level positions. Some take business and accounting classes, or earn degrees in these disciplines, at community colleges. Private schools also offer training opportunities for housekeepers.

Other Education or Training

Housekeepers and maids can participate in continuing education classes and seminars that are offered by professional associations, cleaning products vendors, and community colleges and trade schools. For example, IEHA, which represents housekeeping professionals who help keep hotels, schools, and other facilities clean, offers the Certified Frontline Association Program. The two, eight-hour sessions cover topics such as cleaning product selection; floor care methods; specialized cleaning techniques for elevators, drinking fountains, and vents; and workplace safety. 

Certification or Licensing

Maids and housekeepers in private homes are not typically certified. Housekeepers who advance to the position of executive housekeeper at a hotel or other business can become certified by IEHA, which offers four designations: certified executive housekeeper, registered executive housekeeper, master certified executive housekeeper, and master registered executive housekeeper. The cleaning trade association ISSA provides the ISSA CIMS Expert certification. Contact these organizations for more information.

certified executive housekeeper, registered executive housekeeper, master certified executive housekeeper, and master registered executive housekeeper. 

Any cleaning experience you can obtain—such as helping your parents clean the house or working in a part-time or summer job as a maid at a hotel—will be useful.

To be a successful maid, you need to be in good physical condition and have plenty of stamina. You'll be on your feet all day—scrubbing, bending, lifting, and stretching. You should also be detail oriented, punctual, organized, and able to follow instructions. Strong interpersonal and communication skills are important because you will need to get along well with your employers, as well as work efficiently with coworkers. 

Housekeepers need business and mathematical acumen and leadership, organizational, communication, and time-management skills.