With more than 150,000 unfilled vacancies, the UK care sector offers good employment prospects for those with the right skills, values and motivation to care for a living.
But that doesn’t mean there isn’t competition for every vacancy. And in care just as in any other sector, a strong CV is the key to standing out from the crowd.
So, what does a good care worker CV look like?
In this article, we’ll show you:
- 5 Must-have items for every care worker’s CV
- 3 Common CV mistakes you can easily avoid
- How to improve your care CV and employability with FuturU
But first…
Why is a strong CV important in the care sector?
Don’t let the sector’s recruitment problems fool you. Whenever you apply for a role in care, you’re still competing against a large number of applicants for that position.
In the year to August 2023, there was a 142% jump in the number of applicants for each social care vacancy in the UK – a much bigger rise than in any other sector.
Here’s why this makes a strong CV more important than ever:
- More applicants means more unsuitable applicants (some 68% are not suitable)
- More unsuitable candidates means more frustrated hiring managers
So, we have busy and frustrated hiring managers struggling through lots of bad CVs. This means any applicant whose CV can demonstrate their suitability, fast, has an edge.
Here’s how to master the CV basics.
5 CV basics to help you make the shortlist
1. Make your personal and contact details obvious
Name, phone number, email address. If you have a LinkedIn profile, include a link. And maybe include your home city if you’ve moved around and want to show where you live now.
Make your basic personal and contact details obvious and prominent so that a recruitment agency or hiring manager knows exactly how to reach you – and who to ask for.
2. Summarise your professional self in one line
Think of this as a news story headline, except this one is about you and where you are in your career. Aim for one short sentence that fits on a line underneath your name, at the top.
For example, a care worker who wants to progress to care manager might say:
- Experienced care worker who is ready and looking for the opportunity to lead a team
3. Put a behavioural spin on your work history
Under a clear heading marked ‘Employment’, give your career history starting with your current or most recent role. Cover your daily tasks as well as less-frequent responsibilities.
Your aim is to show what you’ve done, but also the skills and qualities that allowed you to do it. Start every bullet point with a verb and you’ll find this happens almost automatically.
For example:
Activities Worker | Care Home Name, Location | Sep 2020 – Feb 2023
- Organised activities within the home that were appropriate to needs and abilities
- Researched external trips and made bookings with transport and other providers
- Encouraged residents to participate by supporting and communicating as needed
And remember, only your current role should be written in the present tense. Each time you add a new role to your CV, be sure to edit the rest so they’re in the past tense.
4. Show off your current qualifications
The technical qualifications required for many care roles are not fixed. New training is required all the time as the sector adopts fresh technologies and practices.
Showcase your up-to-date accredited qualifications and informal training in a dedicated section. List the course title, training provider and date undertaken.
For example:
- Safeguarding Children Level 3 | FuturU online learning platform | July 2024
5. Format for clarity and easy ‘scanning’
Picture the care team leader reviewing your CV. Do they have a lot of spare time? Is reviewing CVs their only job for today? Or their most urgent job?
In reality, this person might spend just 7 seconds ‘scanning’ your CV. Help them quickly see your suitability by using a layout that makes the important details jump out.
Be consistent with your style throughout. Think about how you can use horizontal lines and the pipe (|) to separate information for clarity. And always left align your text.
3 Common CV mistakes to avoid
1. Don’t make it too long
Remember that 7-second CV review? That’s enough time to quickly glance at one or two pages. So anything you put on a third or fourth page is unlikely to have much impact.
Keep your CV to two pages.
If you’ve had lots of relevant jobs, describe only the last few with detailed bullet-points – and then list just the job title, employer and dates for older roles.
2. Don’t make it hard to read
Again, picture the care team leader reviewing your CV. You can make a great first impression by saving them time and energy – with a clear CV that’s easy to read.
Use at least 11-point font.
Don’t try to cram everything in by making the font smaller and closer together. Instead, be selective about what you include – then make it big and spaced-out enough to read easily.
3. Don’t make it too personal
In the UK, it’s illegal for somebody to discriminate against you in the hiring process because of your age, race, sex, religion, disability, marital status – and other protected characteristics.
Sadly, this doesn’t always stop it from happening. So, on your CV, only include information about your suitability for the job.
When it comes to reviewing and shortlisting applicants, the relevant details are your skills, qualifications and experience. That’s all you need to include.
CV tips for care professionals just starting out
Writing a CV can feel disheartening if you’re just starting out in your care career, or you’re looking to move into care from another field. How should you show your suitability?
The answer is to focus on your skills and qualities.
If you’ve had part-time roles or a whole unrelated career, or you’ve volunteered or been a member of a club, you’ve developed general skills and qualities the care sector needs.
Write your CV in the usual way, but use your bullet points to show you have the soft skills and transferable experience care employers want, such as:
- Ability to work as part of a team
- Good time management and reliability
- Open and honest communication
- Patience, empathy and compassion
- Strong grasp of digital technology.
On top of this, take every opportunity you can find to gain the specific knowledge and qualifications needed for a career in care.
We can help you with this. Here’s how.
How FuturU can help you improve your CV
Whether you’re starting out or skilling-up, our free CPD-accredited healthcare courses help you gain the skills that employers want – from the convenience of your mobile phone.
You can access our library of online courses for free, and some allow you to achieve important care knowledge and qualifications in as little as 20 minutes.
Plus, unlike some other ‘free’ learning platforms, FuturU lets you download your certificates of completion for free too. More than 80,000 have already boosted their careers with us.
Ready to start upskilling? Explore our free health and social care courses now.
