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Caregiver resume example

Families and care agencies choosing a caregiver want to know who you have looked after and how long you stayed. Name the situations you handle, such as dementia, Parkinson's or recovery after a hip replacement, and the length of each placement. Add background check and CPR status, the tasks you do every day, and the small results a family would notice.

Updated

Iosefa Malaeulu

Caregiver, Washington Home Care Aide | Dementia & Parkinson's Care | 4-year placement, no falls in 2 years

  • Tacoma, WA
  • iosefa.malaeulu@example.com
  • +1 (253) 555-0135
  • linkedin.com/in/your-name

Summary

Certified Washington Home Care Aide with ten years of in-home and adult family home care around Tacoma, including a current four-year private placement with a client who has Parkinson's. Skilled in safe transfers, dementia routines and cooking for diabetic diets, with DSHS dementia specialty training. Keeps a daily care log for the family and visiting nurses, speaks Samoan and drives his own car.

Work Experience

Private Caregiver

Sep 2022 – Present

Private family employer · Gig Harbor, WA

  • Supports a woman with Parkinson's disease 30 hours a week, keeping her on a daily walking routine with no falls in the past 2 years.
  • Cooks and logs 3 meals a day on a diabetic plan and drives her to about 6 appointments a month, writing visit notes for her daughter.
  • Trained 2 weekend caregivers on her transfer routine and evening schedule before they worked alone.

Caregiver

May 2018 – Aug 2022

Puget Ridge Adult Family Home · Tacoma, WA

  • Cared for 6 residents with dementia and limited mobility, helping with bathing, toileting and meals on day and night shifts.
  • Started a weekly music and photo hour that brought daily activity participation from 2 to 5 residents.

Home Care Aide

Mar 2016 – Apr 2018

Commencement Bay Home Care · Tacoma, WA

  • Visited 4 clients a day for personal care, light housekeeping and errands, with no missed visits in 2 years.
  • Passed the Home Care Aide certification exam within the first 4 months on the job.

Education

Certificate, Home Care Aide Basic Training (75 Hours)

2016 – 2016

Narrows Bridge Care Training Center

Skills

Core competencies

  • Parkinson's & Dementia Care
  • Safe Transfers & Fall Prevention
  • Washington Home Care Aide (HCA)

Daily Care

  • Bathing & Grooming Help
  • Diabetic & Soft-Diet Cooking
  • Medication Reminders
  • Appointment Driving

Communication

  • Daily Care Log
  • Family & Nurse Updates
  • Calm Redirection
  • Samoan & English

Certifications

  • Home Care Aide (HCA) Certification · Washington State Department of Health, 2016
  • Dementia Specialty Training · DSHS-approved course, Washington State, 2019
  • CPR/AED and First Aid · American Red Cross, 2025

Languages

  • Samoan · Native
  • English · Native

The full sample as text. Rendered in the Canopy template, a layout applicant tracking systems read in order.

Fictional person: the name and contact details are invented. Any resemblance to a real person is coincidental.

Caregiver resume summary examples

Pick the one closest to your level and replace the specifics with your own.

  • Entry level

    Caregiver who spent two years as the main family caregiver for a grandparent with Alzheimer's, handling bathing, meals, appointments and night-time wandering. Recently completed a home care aide training course and holds CPR and First Aid from the American Red Cross. Patient, steady and available for weekday and overnight shifts with older adults living at home.

  • Mid level

    Private-duty caregiver with six years supporting older adults at home, including three placements of two years or longer. Experienced with dementia routines, Parkinson's mobility, safe transfers and cooking for diabetic and soft diets. Keeps a daily care log that families can read, works with visiting nurses and therapists, and has strong references from every family served.

  • Senior

    Senior caregiver and care team lead with twelve years in private homes and assisted living, now coordinating 5 caregivers for a family that needs round-the-clock care. Builds weekly schedules, trains new caregivers on the client's routines and dementia approach, and keeps the family, physician and hospice team updated. Certified Dementia Practitioner with current CPR and First Aid.

Common mistakes on a caregiver resume

  • Leaving out the client's condition and how long you stayed

    Fix: Families value stability above almost anything. For each placement, give the length and weekly hours and the client's general needs: "4 years, 30 hours a week, woman with Parkinson's using a rollator." Long placements are your strongest evidence, so put the dates where they are easy to see.

  • Sharing names or private details about clients

    Fix: Caregivers see a family's private life, and a resume that names clients or describes their health in detail is a red flag. Describe situations in general terms, never use names or initials, and list references only with the family's permission. That discretion is a skill families are looking for.

  • Blurring medication reminders with medication administration

    Fix: In many states and agencies, non-medical caregivers may remind clients to take medications or help open containers, but may not give medications. Rules differ by state and employer. Describe exactly what you did, such as "reminded client of morning and evening medications and logged each dose taken," and do not claim more.

  • Skipping the results a family would notice

    Fix: Families judge care by changes they can see: steady weight, daily walks, calmer evenings, fewer missed appointments, a clean and safe home. Turn those into bullets with numbers where you can, such as agitation episodes recorded in the care log. Results like these show that your care makes a difference.

What should a caregiver resume include?

A caregiver resume should open with a two or three line summary of your focus, then show each role as results rather than duties. Name the skills the posting asks for, such as Bathing Assistance, Dressing & Grooming and Toileting Help. Start bullets with verbs like Supported, Cooked and Accompanied, and give each one a number where you honestly have one. If you hold a credential such as CPR/AED and First Aid (American Red Cross), list it in its own section.

Daily living support

  • Bathing Assistance
  • Dressing & Grooming
  • Toileting Help
  • Meal Preparation
  • Light Housekeeping
  • Laundry

Memory care approaches

  • Dementia Care
  • Redirection
  • Sundowning Support
  • Wandering Prevention
  • Structured Daily Routine
  • Reminiscence Activities

Health and safety

  • Fall Prevention
  • Safe Transfers
  • Medication Reminders
  • Blood Pressure Logging
  • Emergency Plan
  • Infection Control

Coordination

  • Care Log
  • Family Updates
  • Appointment Scheduling
  • Transportation
  • Hospice Coordination
  • Respite Care

Work settings

  • Private Home
  • Live-In Care
  • Overnight Shifts
  • Assisted Living
  • Adult Family Home
  • Adult Day Program

Action verbs

  • Supported
  • Cooked
  • Accompanied
  • Redirected
  • Organized
  • Encouraged

Certifications

  • CPR/AED and First Aid (American Red Cross)
  • Home Care Aide certification or registration (required in some states, such as Washington and California)
  • Certified Nursing Assistant (state nurse aide registry)
  • Certified Dementia Practitioner (CDP), National Council of Certified Dementia Practitioners

Match these against the job posting you are applying to: the free resume checker shows which keywords your resume is missing.

Caregiver resume bullet examples

The numbers are illustrative. Keep the structure (verb, action, measurable result) and use figures you can back up.

  • Cared for a client with Parkinson's disease for 4 years, 30 hours a week, keeping her walking daily with a rollator and free of falls for the last 2 years.
  • Built a structured daily routine for a client with moderate dementia, cutting evening agitation episodes from 5 a week to 1 according to the family log.
  • Cooked 3 diabetic-friendly meals a day for a client whose physician reported his A1C falling from 8.4 to 7.1 over 9 months.
  • Drove 2 clients to 15 medical appointments a month, taking notes for families and passing updates to the visiting nurse.
  • Kept a daily care log for 3 years that the family, physician and hospice team used to follow sleep, meals and mood.
  • Provided live-in care 5 days a week for a client recovering from hip replacement, who was walking without a walker after 10 weeks.
  • Trained 6 new caregivers on one family's routines, transfer methods and dementia approach before they worked solo shifts.
  • Filled weekly pill organizers for 4 clients where agency policy allowed, and reported 2 missed doses to the family the same day.
  • Planned 20 weekly activities for a 6-bed adult family home, from music to garden walks, raising daily participation from 2 to 5 residents.
  • Coordinated 5 caregivers across 21 shifts a week, covering every call-out so the client was never left alone.

How to stand out as a caregiver applicant

Tailor every application to the posting: the resume, the cover letter and the answers you prepare for the interview.

  • Write to the client described in the posting

    Caregiver postings often describe a person, not just a job: a retired teacher with early dementia, overnights, light cooking. Match your summary and first bullets to that person's needs, name the shifts you can work and mention any shared language. If you have not cared for that condition, say what similar care you have given. Tailor your caregiver resume

  • Let the cover letter sound like you

    Families read a cover letter to picture you in their home. Keep it warm and specific: how long your last placement lasted, one routine you built for a client, and why you do this work. Add your availability, whether you drive, your CPR status and that references are ready. Draft a caregiver cover letter

  • Prepare for the family interview

    Family interviews mix practical and personal questions: how you handle a client who refuses to eat, what you do when they wander at night, how you keep your own boundaries. Bring your ID, CPR card and reference list. Ask about the client's routine, the other caregivers and how the family wants updates. Practice caregiver interview questions

  • Pick a simple, readable layout

    Families may read a caregiver resume on paper or on a phone, and some readers are older adults themselves. A clean one-column template with large section headings and a short credentials line suits that reader. Choose one from the templates gallery, keep it to one page, and add a references line at the bottom. Browse resume templates

Salary (official data)

Official pay statistics for the occupation that matches this role, copied exactly as each statistics office publishes them.

  • United States

    Median gross annual pay: $35,800 a year · Median gross hourly pay: $17.21 an hour

    Middle half of earners: $31,920 to $39,470 · 10th to 90th percentile: $27,040 to $45,040

    Official occupation: Home Health and Personal Care Aides (SOC 31-1120)

    Gross wages of employees in all industries, before deductions; excludes the self-employed.

    Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. Public domain.

  • United Kingdom

    Median gross annual pay: £28,738 a year

    Middle half of earners: £24,274 to £34,111 · 10th to 90th percentile: £19,371 to £40,191

    Official occupation: Care workers and home carers (SOC 2020 6135)

    Gross annual pay of full-time employee jobs (employees on adult rates in the same job for more than a year).

    Provisional figures: the publisher revises them a year later.

    Source: Office for National Statistics, Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, tax year to 5 April 2026, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

  • Canada

    Median gross hourly pay: CA$21.00 an hour · Median gross weekly pay: CA$779 a week

    Official occupation group: Care providers and public protection support occupations and student monitors, crossing guards and related occupations (NOC 2021 44-45)

    Usual gross wages of full-time employees (30 hours or more a week) at their main job, including tips, commissions and bonuses.

    Source: Statistics Canada, Table 14-10-0417-01 Employee wages by occupation, annual, 2025. Reproduced and distributed on an "as is" basis with the permission of Statistics Canada (Statistics Canada Open Licence). This does not constitute an endorsement by Statistics Canada of this product.

  • Ireland

    Mean gross annual pay of the whole major group: €43,936 a year

    Major occupation group: Service and sales workers (ISCO-08 5)

    Mean gross annual earnings, including bonuses, for the whole major occupation group in enterprises with 10 or more employees. Eurostat publishes no median by occupation.

    Source: Eurostat, Structure of Earnings Survey (earn_ses22_28), 2022, CC BY 4.0. Ruubu matched the role to an ISCO-08 major group; Eurostat is not responsible for this use of its data.

Figures cover everyone in the official occupation, at every experience level. They are not a job offer, a forecast or a Ruubu estimate. Ruubu matches each role to the closest official occupation. An official occupation can include related jobs.

How we choose and show official salary data

Caregiver resume questions

Do I need a certification to work as a caregiver?

It depends on your state and who employs you. Washington requires many paid long-term care workers to train and certify as Home Care Aides through the Department of Health. California requires aides employed by licensed home care organizations to register on its Home Care Aide Registry. Agencies usually add a background check and TB test, and private families set their own requirements.

How do I list jobs where a family hired me directly?

Use a clear title and employer line, such as "Private Caregiver, family employer, Gig Harbor, WA," with dates. Describe the client's general situation and your duties without names or identifying details. Then note that references from the family are available. A private placement counts as real work experience, so give it the same space as an agency job.

How do I explain a gap after a client passed away?

Gaps like this are a normal part of caregiving work. Add one plain line to the placement, such as "Placement ended when the client moved to hospice care," or simply list the end date. If you took a few months to rest, you do not need to explain further. Keep the focus on what you did during the placement.

Caregiver, home health aide or CNA: which title is right?

Use the title you actually held. Caregiver and companion roles are usually non-medical. Home health aides complete a set training program to work for Medicare-certified agencies, and CNAs are listed on a state nurse aide registry. Do not call yourself a CNA or HHA unless you hold that credential, but you can list training you are working toward.

Can I list caring for my own parent or grandparent?

Yes, if it was substantial. Add an entry titled "Family Caregiver" with dates and the care you gave: bathing, transfers, meals, appointments, medication reminders, nights. It explains a gap in paid work and shows hands-on experience for an entry-level caregiver job. Keep it factual and leave out private medical details.

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