Ensure your CV format is structured to best highlight your unique experience and life situation.
Care assistant CV template (text format)
PERSONAL STATEMENT
Empathetic, person-centred Care Assistant with proven experience providing individualised assistance to care home residents. Qualified with an NVQ in Health & Social Care Training and a background in life sciences, as well as excellent communication and organisational skills. Eager to make a difference as a member of the team at Hamberly Residences.
WORK EXPERIENCE
Care Assistant, Lincoln
West Lindsey Hospice, March 20XX–present
- Provide care to 30+ elderly residents, including feeding, mobility, and personal hygiene
- Help 3 nurses with monitoring residents’ data by checking vitals and food and drink intake
- Arrange games and activities and accompany residents during meals and leisure time
- Organise and coordinate social events and visits, ensuring visitor information is correctly recorded and providing emotional support to both residents and visitors when needed
CERTIFICATIONS & EDUCATION
Heart of Worcester College, Worcester July 20XX
NVQ in Health & Social Care Training
British Red Cross Centre, Worcester March 20XX
First Aid at Work
Pershore College, Pershore, Worcestershire September 20XX –July 20XX
A-Levels: Biology (B)
Health and Social Care Level 3 Extended Diploma (Merit)
Bredon Hill Academy, Evesham, Worcestershire September 20XX–July 20XX
GCSEs: 9 A*–C, including English, Maths, and Combined Sciences
ADDITIONAL SKILLS
- Patient care
- Feeding and nutrition
- Monitoring patient data
- First Aid
- Safeguarding patients
- Dementia support
- Empathetic listening
- Communication
- Negotiation
- Strategic thinking
- Time management
- Problem-solving skills
HOBBIES & INTERESTS
Reading | Photography | Dancing | Social Media
How to write a care assistant CV
Before you begin writing, make sure you know how to write a CV in a way that best emphasises your strengths.
Whether you’re a sole care assistant looking to attract new clients or you’re keen to join an agency as a full-time professional, we’ve prepared these three tips to help you create a CV that gets you that care assistant job you’ve got your eye on.
1. Emphasise your relevant skills
Emphasising your care assistant skills on your CV helps employers see that you know what the job requires and have the knowledge and practical skills to do it well.
Recruiters look for a range of skills on a CV, including hard and soft skills, when deciding who to interview. Hard skills relate to the knowledge you’ve gained through your training as a carer or your on-the-job practical experience.
Here are some examples to include on your care assistant CV:
- First aid trained
- Homecare protocols
- Care techniques for specific conditions (such as dementia and end-of-life care)
- Patient nutrition
- CPR
- Safeguarding patients
- Medication support
- Understanding Care Quality Commission (CQC) and United Kingdom Homecare Association (UKHCA) approval requirements
Equally important are your soft skills. These interpersonal qualities help you care for your patients personally and professionally. Your soft skills include your ability to make your patients feel comfortable in your presence, so they’re willing to ask for and accept your assistance when they need it.
Some soft skills you can include on your CV for a care assistant are:
- empathy
- active listening
- efficient communication
- interpersonal skills
- time management
- organisational skills
- coordinating activities
- people skills
Demonstrate your soft skills in the work experience section of your CV to show employers that you’re right for the job. Here’s an example from the CV of an experienced care assistant:
2. Use strategic action verbs to emphasise your previous successes
Cliched phrases like ‘tasked with’ or ‘responsible for’ don’t make your experience stand out to employers. To make more of an impact, swap those overused phrases for powerful action verbs.
Action verbs add energy to your CV, and demonstrate what you achieved with the responsibilities you had.
For example, if you were ‘tasked with’ ensuring your client’s treatment proceeded according to the doctor’s orders, you could use these action verbs:
- Administer
- Oversee
- Supervise
- Coordinate
- Facilitate
- Guide
Start each of your work experience bullet points with a different action verb to maintain the energy throughout your CV for a care assistant role.
3. Tailor your care assistant CV to the job you’re applying for
No two patients are the same, and each one has unique needs. When you’re applying for a role, take the time to understand exactly what the employer is looking for in a care assistant.
For instance, is the employer looking to expand a small team and keen for a candidate who can take on various tasks? Or is this job for one-on-one care, and your fit for a specific patient will determine whether you get the position?
Whichever type of job you’re applying for, be sure your CV illustrates how your skills, qualifications, and experience make you perfect for the role. Use the work experience section on your CV to highlight aspects of your previous jobs that match the recruiter’s needs.
For example, a care assistant applying for an agency role might include these types of bulleted statements in their work experience section:
- Coordinated team of 12 carers to deliver quality care to 20 residents in the sheltered housing unit, including 7 requiring physical assistance and 5 with dementia
- Overhauled administrative systems, resulting in a 50% reduction in recording errors and a 10% improvement in case reporting times
However, when applying for a home care role for a patient with dementia, the same care assistant might present their experience like this:
- Reduced perceived stress levels of clients with dementia, while improving cooperation with day-to-day activities, through an empathetic and patient approach
- Guided clients through the home assessment process, and helped them successfully acquire funding for the recommended home adaptations
You can then expand on these experiences in your cover letter. A strong cover letter gives context to the achievements on your CV and explains why you want to work for the specific employer.
Cover letters significantly increase your chance of getting an interview. If you’re in a rush, you can create one in minutes using a cover letter builder.
