Support worker CV example (supported living)

Support work is about independence, so write outcomes

A service manager in supported living reads your CV looking for one thing above the rest: do you do things with people or for them? The whole model is built around someone holding their own tenancy, making their own choices and doing as much as they can for themselves. A CV full of tasks ("cooking, cleaning, personal care, medication") reads like a care home role. A CV that talks about what changed for the people you support reads like a support worker.

So for each job, pick two or three outcomes you helped with. Someone learning to take the bus to college alone. A tenant who went from having every meal cooked to making their own breakfast and lunch. A person who started volunteering one morning a week. Write your part in it plainly, including the patient, boring bits such as practising the route six times, because that is what the manager needs to know you will do.

Describe who you support without identifying anyone

You need to give the reader a picture of the service, but never a name, an age with a street, a diagnosis tied to a place or anything else that could identify a person. Describe the group instead: "a shared house for three adults with learning disabilities, one of whom uses Makaton", or "outreach support for adults with autism living in their own flats across the city". State the support level if it helps, such as waking nights, sleep-ins or two-to-one support in the community.

Use the language the sector uses. Most providers say "the people we support", "tenants" or the person's name in daily notes, and many dislike "service users" and "clients". Matching their wording is a small signal that you share their approach.

Support plans, goals and daily notes

Person-centred planning is the core of the job, so show that you work from the plan and help keep it alive. Mention the plans you use (support plans, one-page profiles, risk assessments, communication passports) and anything you have written or updated. If you are a key worker, say how you set goals with the person and how often you review them. Good recording matters too: a line saying your daily notes are used in reviews with social workers or families shows you understand why they exist.

Positive behaviour support

Many supported living services for people with learning disabilities and autism work to positive behaviour support (PBS) plans. Managers want to see that you understand the proactive side, not only what to do in a crisis. Write about how you use the plan: noticing early signs of anxiety, adjusting the environment, using a visual timetable, giving time and space. If incidents fell because the team stuck to the plan, say what you did as part of that, and keep any figure to one you can explain.

Avoid the phrase "managed challenging behaviour". It describes the person as the problem, and many PBS-trained managers will notice. "Supported a tenant when he was distressed, using the strategies in his PBS plan" says the same thing in the way the sector now works.

Medication, money and lone working

Supported living brings responsibilities that a care home shares out across a team. Say whether you are assessed as competent to give medication, including any rescue medication for epilepsy. If you help people manage their money, describe how, such as keeping receipts and balance sheets that are checked each week. Mention sleep-ins, waking nights and lone working, how you use the on-call system, and any time you handled an emergency on your own, such as a seizure or a missing person, by following the protocol.

Training, registration and checks

In England, new health and social care workers are expected to meet the Care Certificate standards from Skills for Care during induction, so list it with the year. In Wales the equivalent starting point is the All Wales Induction Framework for Health and Social Care, and Social Care Wales requires domiciliary care workers and adult care home workers to register within six months of starting. If you are on the register, put it under your name with the category. Then list any Level 2 or Level 3 diploma or qualification in health and social care, and the specialist training the advert names: PBS, autism, epilepsy, Makaton, safeguarding and medication.

Roles supporting vulnerable adults usually need a DBS check, which the employer requests. If you are on the DBS Update Service, say so, because it can shorten the time before you start.

Showing your values with examples

Most providers recruit on values: respect, choice, dignity, patience and working as a team. Adverts often list them, and interview questions are built around them. On your CV, do not list the words. Pick one small example for each that matters most to the job, such as helping someone choose and cook a new meal, speaking up when a routine was not working for a tenant, or covering a shift so an outing could go ahead. One real example does more than a paragraph of adjectives, and it gives you something to talk about when you are asked.

Moving up to senior support worker

A senior support worker usually leads shifts, writes rotas, supervises staff, audits medication and records, and liaises with social workers, health teams and families. For that step, pull forward what you already do: leading a shift, inducting new staff, being a medication or PBS champion, taking part in reviews. A Level 3 qualification, or working towards one, helps, as does experience of covering for the team leader.

Pay for support workers

The National Careers Service gives average pay for residential support workers of about £22,000 a year when starting and £30,000 with experience. Pay in supported living varies by employer and region, and sleep-ins and waking nights are often paid differently, so check the advert.