Hiring guideRead at source, 29 September 2026

How to Recruit Porters: Hotel, Dealership, Kitchen and Day Porters

To recruit porters, first decide which porter you are hiring, because a bell porter, a dealership lot porter, a kitchen porter and a building day porter are different jobs with different candidates. Then put the plain job, the pay and the shift in the headline ("Car porter: drive, wash and stage vehicles, $17/hr"), say no experience needed when it is true, ask two or three mobile questions, and call back the same day.

Which porter are you hiring?

BLS does not publish a single porter occupation. The title covers several jobs, each counted under a different occupation in BLS Employment Projections 2025-35 with May 2025 median annual wages:

Each figure covers the whole occupation, not porters alone. Baggage porters and bellhops are projected to shrink by 3.0% to 2035; the other three occupations are projected to change by between -1.0% and 3.9%. For duties by setting, see our porter job description.

Where to find porters

Porter candidates are usually entry-level hourly workers choosing between several jobs nearby. Where you find them depends on the type:

• Hotel porters: people who like being around guests. Restaurant hosts and servers who want steadier hours, retail associates, students and anyone who does well with tips. Your own housekeeping and front desk teams know people.
• Dealership and lot porters: people who like cars and driving. Car wash and detailing workers, rideshare and delivery drivers, and young people interested in becoming technicians. Say if the role is a path into the service department.
• Kitchen porters: dishwashers and prep workers at nearby restaurants, and people who want kitchen work without a cooking background. In the US the ad will reach more people as "dishwasher / kitchen porter".
• Day and building porters: janitorial and custodial workers who want daytime hours, retail and warehouse workers, and people who prefer a fixed daytime schedule over a night cleaning shift.
• Everywhere: employee referrals, re-contacting past applicants, and Facebook and Instagram ads, which reach people who would take the job but are not searching for it.

What to pay porters

Use the wage for the version of the job you are filling, not a generic porter figure. The wage table in our porter job description matches each porter type to its BLS occupation. If the role earns tips, show the base rate and your tip policy separately and plainly; tip rules vary by state. Candidates compare your rate against the car wash, the restaurant and the warehouse on the same road.

How to write a porter job ad

The word "porter" means little to many candidates. Use the plain job in the headline, then pay and shift:

Use your own rate and hours. In the body, say what makes the job worth doing: tips, meals, uniforms, a route into front desk, service advisor or lead roles. Say "no experience needed, we train you" if it is true, because for most porter jobs it is. More on structure is in what makes a good job ad. Employment ads on Meta run in the Employment special ad category, with no age, gender or ZIP code targeting and a minimum 15-mile radius.

Screening questions for porters

A porter posting has almost nothing to screen for beyond availability. Keep the form short:

• Can you work our schedule, including weekends and holidays? Knockout if the schedule is fixed.
• Do you have a valid driver's license? Knockout for dealership, lot and shuttle porters only, because driving is the job. Do not ask it for other porter roles.
• Can you lift up to 50 lbs, with or without reasonable accommodation? Use your real weight, for luggage, cases or trash.
• When could you start?

Skip resume upload and prior porter experience. For what else to leave out, see pre-screening questions.

The best way to recruit porters: call back the same day

Porter applicants are usually weighing several nearby jobs, so speed decides a lot. Text every applicant within minutes, offer a specific interview time, and consider a short paid working interview so both sides see the job. Dealerships can check a motor vehicle record after the conversation rather than before it.

What it costs to recruit porters on social

Boostpoint's 2026 Social Job Advertising Benchmark (891 Boostpoint-managed campaigns on Meta) has no porter, hospitality support or vehicle-cleaning role family, so we do not publish a porter figure. Across all campaigns the median cost per applicant was $13.88, with the middle half between $6.48 and $29.74.

For a job with no credential to screen for, the form decides most of the cost. The apply experience explained 70% of cost variation between campaigns, and campaigns converting more than 35% of clicks paid $1.61 per applicant, while those under 5% paid $53.77. Figures are advertising cost only, and cost per applicant is not cost per hire. See the benchmark.

Hiring the rest of the team? See hospitality recruiting, how to hire housekeeping and janitorial staff, how to recruit auto detailers and the valet attendant job description.

Frequently asked questions

Sources: BLS Employment Projections 2025-35 (SOC 39-6011, 53-7061, 35-9021, 37-2011); BLS, May 2025 median annual wage; Boostpoint porter job description; Boostpoint 2026 Social Job Advertising Benchmark. Read at source 29 September 2026.