Direct Care Worker Resume Example & Writing Guide
Use this Direct Care Worker resume example and guide to improve your career and write a powerful resume that will separate you from the competition.
Direct care workers are the backbone of the healthcare industry. They’re the people who provide direct services to patients and residents, working in everything from home health to long-term care facilities.
As a direct care worker, you’ll be responsible for everything from bathing patients to feeding them to helping them get dressed. You might also help them with their grooming routines or exercise programs. You might even transport them to appointments or help them with day-to-day tasks like shopping or banking.
Because direct care workers are so hands-on and involved in patients’ lives on such a personal level, it’s important that you have a genuine passion for helping others. You need to be compassionate and have great interpersonal skills. And you need to be organized and have a keen eye for detail because there’s often a lot of paperwork involved too.
Here are some tips and an example to help you write a fantastic direct care worker resume that will get you noticed by recruiters.
How to Write a Direct Care Worker Resume
Here’s how to write a direct care worker resume of your own.
Write Compelling Bullet Points
Bullet points are the most important part of your resume because they’re the first thing recruiters will see. And since they’re so important, it’s crucial that you use them to your advantage.
The best way to do that is to use them to demonstrate your experience and skills. So rather than saying you “provided care for elderly patients,” you could say you “provided care for elderly patients in a skilled nursing facility, providing daily care and assistance with activities of daily living such as bathing, dressing, and feeding.”
The second bullet point is much more specific and tells a clear story about what you did and the results of your work.
Related: What Is a Direct Care Worker? How to Become One
Identify and Include Relevant Keywords
When you submit your resume online, it’s likely that it will be scanned by an applicant tracking system (ATS) for certain keywords. These programs search for specific terms related to the job opening, like “home care” or “personal care.” If your resume doesn’t have enough of the right keywords, the ATS might disqualify you from further consideration.
To make sure your resume makes it past the ATS, focus on including keywords that are commonly found in direct care worker job postings. Here are a few examples:
- Direct Care
- Mental Health
- Crisis Intervention
- Mental Health Counseling
- Working with Adolescents
- Social Services
- Case Management
- Community Outreach
- Behavioral Health
- Psychotherapy
- Child Development
- Mental Health Nursing
- Nursing
- Working with Children
- Psychology
- Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR)
- Basic Life Support (BLS)
- Group Therapy
- Caregiving
- Public Speaking
- Communication
- First Aid
- Customer Service
- Interpersonal Skills
- Microsoft Access
- Teamwork
- Personal Care
- Community Involvement
- Leadership
- Teaching
Showcase Your Technical Skills
Direct care workers often use technology in their work in order to communicate with their colleagues and supervisors. They also use technology to provide care for their clients. Some of the programs and systems that direct care workers are typically expected to be proficient in include: electronic health records (EHR) software, client management software, and communication apps like Skype and FaceTime.
Related: How Much Does a Direct Care Worker Make?
Remember The Basics
As you draft your resume, you’ll want to keep a few basic guidelines in mind.
Make Your Resume Easy to Scan
There are a few things you can do to make your resume easier to read and understand quickly. Aligning everything to the left, using a standard font type and size, and keeping bullets under 2 lines will help make your resume more skimmable. You should also try to leave some white space on the page to help the recruiter easily scan through your information.
Be Concise
There is no set length for a resume, but a one page resume is typically ideal for recent graduates and those early in their career. If you have more experience than that, a two-page resume may be more appropriate. However, you want to be selective about the content that you include, so keep it concise.
Proofread
Proofreading your resume is important in order to make sure it looks professional and error-free. Spell checking is a must, as are punctuation and grammar checks. It is also helpful to have someone else proofread your resume for you, as they may catch mistakes that you have missed. Beware of easily confused words, and make sure that your tense is consistent throughout the resume.
Consider Including a Summary
When you’re writing your resume, it’s important to remember to use a summary statement. This is a great way to introduce yourself and to explain why you’re a great candidate for the job you’re applying for. In just a few sentences, you can highlight your skills and experiences, and explain how they’ll benefit the company you’re hoping to work for.
Related Resume Examples
