Best Personal Support Worker Resume Example + Guide + Tips
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Being a personal support worker (PSW) is a rewarding and challenging career that offers a unique opportunity to make a positive impact in the lives of individuals and families. With the right attitude and dedication, being a PSW can be a rewarding and enriching career that gives individuals the opportunity to make a meaningful difference in the lives of others.
Want a job as a personal support worker? Then you need a great personal support worker resume. We’re here to help. Our resume examples and guide will show you how to write a standout resume for a personal support worker and make the most of your empathy and communication skills.
Start by editing this personal support worker resume sample, or explore our library of customizable resume templates to find the best personal support worker resume template for you.
Personal support worker resume example (text version)
Jane Smith
Los Angeles, CA 90022
(555) 555-5555
example@example.com
Professional Summary
Empathetic personal support worker with a sensitive and compassionate approach to cultivating a trusting, stimulating and varied lifestyle for residents. Offers enhanced care with a flexible learning approach for patients. Experience in hospital and in-home settings providing guidance and encouragement to patients through physical and emotional support.
Skills
- Long-term care
- Resident advocacy
- File management
- Palliative care
- Care plan development
- Resident assessment
- Problem-solving
- Communication
Work History
November 2020 – Current
Independent Life Skills, LLC – Los Angeles, CA
Personal Support Worker
- Assist up to 60 residents per month to complete activities of daily living, including hygiene, feeding and toileting, and help them clean and maintain eyeglasses, dentures and hearing aids.
- Perform preventive care, routine wound management, medication administration and specimen collection.
- Provide safe mobility support to help patients move around personal and public spaces.
September 2017 – October 2020
Maxim Healthcare – Los Angeles, CA
Healthcare Support Worker
- Monitored client vital signs, administered medications and tracked behaviors to keep the healthcare supervisor well-informed.
- Kept 100 accurate records for client files and handled related paperwork.
- Prepared meals for patients so they can keep a healthy, balanced diet, improving their health by 55%.
June 2014 – August 2017
Senior Helpers – Anaheim, CA
Personal Care Aide
- Assisted an average of 20 clients per week with daily living needs to maintain self-esteem and general wellness.
- Cleaned house, ran errands, managed laundry and completed weekly grocery shopping.
- Scheduled and accompanied clients to up to six medical appointments per month.
Education
- June 2021
Glendale Community College Glendale, CA
Associate of Science Healthcare Administration - June 2014
Los Angeles Trade Technical College Los Angeles, CA
Certificate Personal Care Aide
Certifications
- CPR / First Aid Certification – American Red Cross – (Updated 2024)
- Personal Support Worker (PSW) Certification – (2016)
5 essentials of a top personal support worker resume
Contact details
Add your contact information to the top of your resume so hiring managers can contact you. As our personal support worker resume example shows, your contact information must include your full name, city, state and ZIP code, phone number and professional email address. If you have a LinkedIn profile and professional website, add them last.
Professional summary
A professional summary, is a concise, three-to-five-sentence statement that tells the hiring manager who you are and what you offer. Your summary must include job-relevant skills and one or two notable accomplishments. It should also touch on how long you’ve been in the industry.
Here’s a good example of a professional summary for a personal support worker resume:
“Dedicated and experienced personal support worker with over five years of experience providing quality care to clients in a variety of settings. Skilled in managing a variety of tasks associated with providing personalized support and care, including helping with activities of daily living, providing companionship and helping with mobility. Proven ability to build relationships with clients and their families, while demonstrating respect, dignity and compassion. Possess effective communication and organizational skills with a commitment to providing outstanding care services.”
If you are applying for your first job or changing careers, use personal support worker resume objectives instead.
Skills
Create a skills section on your resume so hiring managers can see if you match their needs. Add your job-relevant personal support worker resume skills to a bulleted list.
Personal support workers need soft skills such as problem-solving, communication and interpersonal skills, as well as patience, empathy and compassion. You will be required to assess and evaluate care needs, develop care plans and provide support and guidance to those in need. In addition, include hard skills like the ability to use medical equipment, such as wheelchairs, oxygen tanks, or other assistive devices.
Work history
Whether this is your first job or you’ve been at it for decades, a resume for a personal support worker must include a section to display your job history. In reverse-chronological order, show your current and previous employers and provide company names, locations and the dates you worked for them. Include three bullet points of measurable achievements for every job you list.
Your measurable achievements might be like the following:
- Provided personalized care and assistance to over 30 patients in a facility setting, resulting in a 95% satisfaction rate.
- Developed and implemented individualized care plans for each patient, resulting in a 20% decrease in hospitalizations.
- Assisted in the improvement of health outcomes amongst a diverse range of patients with chronic illnesses, resulting in a 70% decrease in symptoms.
Education
A personal support worker resume must include an education section, whether or not you have a degree. In reverse-chronological order, display the names of the schools and the years you graduated using bullet points. If you did not attend college, list your high school information and the classes you’ve taken since graduating.
To become a qualified personal support worker, individuals need to complete a program that is approved by the provincial or territorial governing body. Depending on the province or territory, the program may consist of a combination of classroom instruction and practical, hands-on learning.
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Action words for a stand-out personal support worker resume
Use action words and numbers to add impact to your resume.
Here’s a short list of perfect action words for a personal support worker resume:
- Assist
- Provide
- Perform
- Prepare
- Maintain
- Organize
- Clean
- Observe
- Report
- Assess
- Document
- Engage
- Plan
Check out our collection of resume samples to help you craft the perfect resume for a personal support w
Top skills for a personal support worker resume
Review the job description closely and match the required skills to the skills and traits that fit you.
Some personal support worker resume skills might include the following:
- Administration
- Management
- Leadership
- Organization
- Verbal communication
- Written communication
- Active listening
- Microsoft Office
- Attention to detail
- Interpersonal
- Advocacy
- File management
- Palliative care
- Planning
- Assessing
- Problem-solving
- Critical thinking
- Persuasion
- Empathy
- Relationship building
Need a professional personal support worker resume now? Our Resume Builder has all the tools you need to create a professional resume in minutes! Just fill in one of our templates, and you can make edits as you go, download your finished resume and save it in any file format you want. It is that easy!
Certifications for a personal support worker resume
In addition to completing a program, personal support workers may also need to take an exam and/or obtain a license in order to practice. In some provinces, personal support workers may also need to complete additional courses or obtain certification in order to work in certain settings.
The following certifications can boost your resume:
- Personal Support Worker
- CPR
- Medical Assistant
- Certified Patient Care Technician
Pair your resume with a matching cover letter
Personal support worker resume FAQ
1. What is the right way to include keywords in a personal support worker resume?
It is vital that you include the right keywords to get your personal support worker resume noticed, because employers use applicant tracking systems (ATS) to scan resumes based on keywords. Browse through the job requirements and find words that spell out the job’s significant requirements.
Keywords for a personal support worker job might include:
- Home Care
- Caregiving
- Patient Care
- Elder Care
- Residential Care
- Nursing Home
- Medical Assistance
- Rehabilitation
- Assistive Devices
- Mental Health
- Case Management
- Home Health
- CPR/First Aid
- Meds Administration
- Dietary Planning
- Bathing/Grooming
- Housekeeping
- Health Education
- Mobility Assistance
2. What does a personal support worker resume look like?
There is no standard personal support worker resume template; you can use any of our templates and customize them for your desired job. A good resume for a personal support worker will look like the sample resume on this page. It must display the job seeker’s contact information, hard and soft skills, job history, education and certifications, if applicable. Your resume might also contain sections for awards and honors if the job candidate has them to display.
To make your personal support worker resume stand out, add any of the following if they apply to you:
- Ability to provide emotional and physical support in a professional manner.
- Knowledge of various techniques to assist individuals with physical disabilities.
- Experience in creating and implementing individualized care plans.
- Proficient in using adaptive equipment to assist individuals with mobility.
- Ability to communicate and collaborate effectively with clients and their families.
- Knowledge of infection control and hygiene protocols.
- Excellent organizational and time management skills.
- Ability to manage challenging behaviors and develop positive behavior plans.
- Ability to provide supervision and monitoring of daily activities.
- Knowledge of various community resources and services.
- Ability to provide sensitive and compassionate care for individuals with mental health issues.
- Ability to provide assistance with personal care, such as bathing, dressing, and toileting.
- Ability to assist with medication administration and light housekeeping tasks.
- Knowledge of CPR and basic first aid.
3. What is the correct format for a personal support worker resume?
The resume format you use depends on your experience and goals. If you have a few years of experience, choose the combination resume format, which highlights your remarkable work history and skills. If you’re a fresh college graduate or are just beginning your career, go with the functional resume format, which focuses on your job-related skills and training. If you have more than five years of experience, go with a chronological resume format, which leans heavily on your work achievements. Refer to resume examples for personal support workers to find the best format for you.
Do’s and don’ts for building a personal support worker resume
- Use measurable achievements to describe your personal support worker abilities and experience. For example, “Provided emotional support to 7+ clients in times of need.”
- Use action words such as “assist,” “counsel” and “advocate” to make an impact on your personal support worker resume.
- Tailor your resume to your target personal support worker job.
- Use keywords from the job description, such as “home care” and “dhealth education” throughout your personal support worker resume.
- Format your personal support worker resume so that it is easy to read by ATS software and human eyes.
- Lie about your personal support worker experience and skills. Instead, highlight your top job-relevant skills such as patience, empathy and ability to lift and transfer clients upfront.
- Boast that you’re the “best personal support worker ever.” Instead, emphasize your past job achievements, like “Organized and facilitated recreational activities for 5+ clients.”
- Include irrelevant personal information such as your ethnicity and age.
- Add skills and experience not about being a personal support worker.
- Forget to proofread. A personal support worker resume with errors is unprofessional.
Top 4 tips for acing a personal support worker interview
Research.
It’s vital to take the time to learn about the company’s history, goals, values and people before the interview. Doing so conveys interest, passion and commitment — traits that can set you above the competition.
Some things to look for include:
- The facility’s safety policies and procedures.
- The availability of other health care specialists.
- The quality of patient care provided at the facility.
Practice.
Practice does make perfect. To prepare for your interview, start by reviewing the most common interview questions, such as:
- How would your coworkers describe you?
- What attracted you to this company?
- Give me an example of how you juggle multiple deadlines.
Then focus on personal healthcare worker job-specific questions, such as:
- What experience do you have as a personal support worker?
- How do you handle difficult situations when caring for a patient?
- What strategies do you use when communicating with patients and their families?
Write down two or three possible answers for each question, then practice answering them with a friend.
Ask questions.
Always have at least three questions for each person you speak with during the interview process. Doing so shows that you’re interested and that you’ve been paying close attention.
Some questions you might ask for a personal support worker job are:
- What types of care services are provided at the facility?
- Are there recreational activities available for residents?
- What is the staff-to-patient ratio?
Prepare references.
Have professional references ready before you enter your interview — you never know if the hiring manager might want to contact them immediately. Ask a former manager and two former colleagues who can speak about your performance and who you know will give you an excellent review.
Cover letter examples for the next step in your healthcare support career
- Caregivers Companions Cover Letter
- Home Health Aide Cover Letter
- Homemaker Cover Letter
- Medical Biller Cover Letter
- Medical Receptionist Cover Letter
- Occupational Therapist Cover Letter
- PCA Cover Letter
- Patient Care Tech Cover Letter
- Patient Service Representative Cover Letter
- Personal Care Aide Cover Letter
- Personal Care Assistant Cover Letter
- Personal Support Worker Cover Letter
- Phlebotomist Cover Letter
CV examples for the next step in your healthcare support career
How we reviewed this article
Since 2013, we have helped more than 15 million job seekers. We want to make your career journey accessible and manageable through our services and Career Center’s how-to guides and tips. In our commitment to bring you a transparent process, we present our Editorial Process.
Sources
- Alongside. Personal Support Worker Job Description
- Caring Support. Personal Care Worker Skills
- National Healthcare Association
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Personal Support Worker Resume Example
Kellie is a Certified Professional Resume Writer with 20+ years of experience in digital media and is passionate about helping job seekers navigate their careers. She earned a B.A. in English and writing from Temple University.