How To Become A Detailer/Porter: What It Is and Career Path

What is a detailer/porter and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a detailer/porter. For example, did you know that they make an average of $13.57 an hour? That's $28,226 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 6% and produce 358,300 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreDetailer/PorterUS Average

Salary

2.2

Avg. Salary $28,226

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability Level

6.6

Growth Rate 6%

Growth Rate 0.3%

Diversity

6.7

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.87%

Asian 4.84%

Black or African American 12.37%

Hispanic or Latino 18.40%

Unknown 4.92%

White 58.61%

Gender

female 8.12%

male 91.88%

Age - 36

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 36

Stress Level

6.6

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity Level

7.1

Complexity Level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work Life Balance

5.6

Work Life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a detailer/porter

Explore detailer/porter education requirements

Most common detailer/porter degrees

High School Diploma

61.7 %

Diploma

13.4 %

Associate

10.8 %

Start to develop specific detailer/porter skills

Skills	Percentages
Customer Vehicles	56.91%
Shop Maintenance	6.14%
Customer Service	5.29%
Clean Cars	3.48%
Body Shop	3.38%

Complete relevant detailer/porter training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New detailer/porters learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a detailer/porter based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real detailer/porter resumes.

Research detailer/porter duties and responsibilities

Manage stock of the vehicles; document vehicle locations and individual VIN numbers.
Provide professional automobile detailing services with a variety of cleaning techniques and products to ensure the desired level of superior cleanliness.
Maintain the dealership grounds by mowing, weed eating and maintaining mowing equipment.

Prepare your detailer/porter resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your detailer/porter resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a detailer/porter resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Detailer/Porter Resume templates

Build a professional Detailer/Porter resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your Detailer/Porter resume.

Apply for detailer/porter jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a detailer/porter job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How do detailer/porters rate their job?

-/5

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Detailer/Porter reviews

A zippia user wrote a review on Jul 2023

Pros

You get to see nice cars and see some behind the scenes

Cons

You may work in extreme heat for very little pay

A zippia user wrote a review on Dec 2022