Care assistant CV example

What a care home manager reads for

The person who reads your CV is usually the registered manager or deputy manager of the home or agency. They are often short of staff and want to know a few practical things fast. Will you turn up for the shifts you agree to? Do you already hold the training they would otherwise have to arrange? Can you work with people living with dementia? And, from the way you write, do you treat the people you support as people? You answer the first three with facts. The last one comes through in your wording, which is why it matters so much on a care CV.

Care experience you might not be counting

A lot of people come to care from retail, hospitality or looking after family, and assume they have nothing to put down. Most have more than they think. Looking after a parent or partner at home counts: say what you did (helping with washing and dressing, managing medicines, going to appointments) and for how long. Volunteering at a lunch club or befriending service counts. So does a customer-facing job, if you pick out the parts that transfer: patience with upset people, working to routines, staying on your feet for a long shift, being trusted with cash or keys.

Put caring for a relative in your work history with dates, as you would a job, or in a short section called "Caring experience". Do not hide it at the bottom as a hobby.

Your training and qualifications

The Care Certificate is the set of standards that new care workers in England learn and are assessed against during induction. Skills for Care describes 16 standards. It is not a qualification in itself, but managers want to know you have completed it, so list it with the year. There is now also an accredited Level 2 Adult Social Care Certificate built on the same standards.

After that, list diplomas (Level 2 or Level 3 in adult care, or an older health and social care diploma) with the awarding college or provider and the year. Then the short courses a home will look for, most useful first:

• Medication administration, with whether you have been assessed as competent to give medicines.
• Moving and handling, including hoists and stand aids if you use them.
• Dementia care, and the level of any dementia training.
• Safeguarding adults, first aid, infection prevention and food hygiene.
• End of life care, catheter care, diabetes or PEG feeding if you have been trained and signed off.

Care work with vulnerable adults usually needs a DBS check, which the employer asks for. You can write "Enhanced DBS on the Update Service" if that is true, as it can save time.

Writing about personal care with dignity

How you describe the work says a great deal. Managers notice when a CV talks about residents as tasks ("did feeds, toileting and double-ups"), and they notice when it talks about choice, privacy and routine. Write about the person first and the task second.

Home care: driving, visits and working alone

Home care agencies read CVs with a different list in mind. The first question is often whether you drive and have your own car, since many rounds cover villages with poor bus links; the National Careers Service notes a driving licence is helpful for this work. Say so near the top if you do. Then describe your round: how many visits in a shift, what kinds of calls (morning routines, medication prompts, tea visits, night sits), and how you record visits, whether on paper or on a phone app. Mention lone working, and what you did when a visit did not go to plan, such as finding someone on the floor or unwell.

Moving up to senior care assistant

A senior care assistant usually runs the floor on a shift, gives medicines, writes or updates care plans and guides newer staff. If you are going for that step, pull forward anything that shows you already do some of it. Are you a dementia or dignity champion? Do you give medicines on the morning round? Have you shadowed new starters, filled in handover notes or spoken to GPs and families on the phone? Each of those deserves its own bullet. A Level 3 diploma, or working towards one, helps too.

Five things that put care managers off

• Any detail that could identify a resident or client, including first names in a story about your work.
• "I love caring for the elderly" with no example of what you actually do on shift.
• Training listed without dates, so the manager cannot tell what is still in date.
• Unexplained gaps. If you left work to care for family or recover from illness, one line is enough.
• A CV sent as a phone photo or a document full of boxes and graphics. Send a plain PDF or Word file.

Shifts, hours and the small details

Care runs around the clock, and the National Careers Service describes evening and weekend shifts as part of the job. Add a line saying which shifts you can do: days, nights, long days, weekends, bank holidays. Keep your CV to one or two pages, give a phone number you answer, and leave out your date of birth and a photo. Your references will normally come from your last care employer, so check you still have a contact there.