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7 Squeaky-Clean Reasons to Get a Janitor Job

Last updated by

December 22, 2020

Janitor, custodian, maintenance worker, cleaner…whatever you call them, they’re the people working tirelessly behind the scenes to ensure the facilities we all use every day, from offices and shops to hospitals and schools, are clean and safe for everyone.

The problem is that we rarely notice when a facility is clean or well-maintained, expecting this to be the norm despite the crowds of people who use these busy buildings day in, day out. This can do a disservice to what it means to have a janitor job and work hard in your role. It also undermines how crucial it is for any facility to offer a clean and safe environment for all those who use it.

But, why society may not value janitors as much as they should, that’s not to say working as a janitor doesn’t have its perks. In fact, it can be a great gig for several reasons. Keep reading to find out why.

Table of Contents

1. Create a Partnership

Working as a janitor might mean being a direct employee of a facility, such as a school or a hospital. Or it might mean working as part of a professional janitorial service – read more about this here. Either way, performing janitorial duties as part of that facility creates a partnership between your role and the service the facility provides to its workers, customers, students, patients, or otherwise.

Your role ensures that everyone who is a part of that facility is happy. You’re also contributing to maintaining the excellent appearance and cleanliness of the facility. This, in turn, reflects back on you and the vital work you do within the partnership.

2. Make a Difference Every Day

If you’re wondering, ‘what does a janitor do?’, take a look around the building you work or study in. Your facility’s janitors are responsible for making sure every surface is clean, every trash can is empty, and every bathroom is sanitary and stocked with paper towels.

In places like hospitals, these services are vital to everyone who enters the building. While anyone working as a school or university janitor should recognize how keeping the facility clean, safe, and functional affects how well students can thrive in their environment. In short, janitorial work contributes to the health, safety, and wellbeing of everyone within your immediate environment. After all, without regular cleaning, dust, mold, bugs, and other pests would soon start to appear!

3. Work With Independence and Autonomy

While your role as a janitor will encourage teamwork and shared responsibility between you and others at your facility, a lot of janitorial work involves working alone on individual tasks. This kind of autonomy allows you to work at your own pace and in your own style. This could mean getting your least favorite jobs out of the way first, or heading up to the top floor to start your rounds as an office janitor so you can watch the sunset.

4. Gain a Sense of Completion

Something that’s often overlooked is how important it is to feel a sense of completion once you’ve finished work for the day. This is often lacking in roles that operate on a time basis rather than a task basis, such as telesales operators and supermarket cashiers. As a janitor, rather than just counting down the minutes until your shift is up, you get to work your way through a range of janitorial duties. Then, once completed, these tasks offer a tangible, visible record of seeing how you’ve made a difference.

The dirty bathrooms with no toilet paper you encountered are now clean and stocked. The dirty corridors you walked into the building on are now sparkling. And the broken lightbulbs and squeaky doors you passed on your way to the janitorial cupboard are now all in full working order. Being able to see look back on where you’ve spent the last few hours of time and see how your presence has improved your surroundings can have a positive effect on your mood.

5. Take Advantage of a Flexible Schedule

Many janitorial jobs have to work around the busy periods for the location you’re responsible for cleaning and maintaining. As such, rather than working regular business hours, you may get the chance to work a flexible schedule or at least fit your janitorial duties in around your specific personal needs and schedule.

For example, a school janitor role often involves working in the afternoon or evening, while an office janitor normally works in the early hours or late at night. If you have other responsibilities, such as another job, studying, or caring for a family, these kinds of flexible schedules and shifts out-of-business hours could be ideal.

6. Get a Workout While You Work

Life lessons learned working as a janitor don’t come much more physically challenging than the manual labor and hard work that everyday janitorial duties require. As this writer states, this is something to admire rather than feel embarrassed about.

In fact, if you’re not into the idea of sitting at a desk all day, the bending down, reaching up, pushing, pulling, squatting, and lifting involved in janitor jobs could be a big draw. And, if you ever needed the extra push to get a daily workout in then this could be the perfect job for you. You might even look at it as being paid a janitor salary to get a full-body workout while you save the price of a gym membership!

7. Learn New Skills

With all these benefits you might be wondering how to become a janitor. Luckily, a high school diploma is enough to start on-the-job training for most janitorial positions. But, if you took high school classes in shop this will be a plus on your resume for positions involving repair work.

That said, you’re sure to learn a lot of new skills once you start working as a custodian. For example, it’s not uncommon for a university janitor to have to fix broken faucets and the like in dorm rooms, while hospital janitors soon become experts at removing all kinds of stains in no time!