Home Health Aide Resume Sample & Job Description for HHA

No one said being a home health aide was easy, and you still do this job. Bravo!

If only someone also told you how to land home health aide jobs at good agencies… Those with good money, nice places, and great people. 

Spoiler: you need a resume! Not just a run-of-the-mill one, but an outstanding resume showing you’re the very person the employer is looking for. Does writing a home health aide resume currently sound more difficult than lifting a patient out of bed? We’re here to make it simple.

This guide will show you: 

• A home health aide resume example better than 9 out of 10 other resumes.
• How to write a home health aide resume that will land you more interviews.
• Tips and examples of how to put skills and achievements on a home health aide resume.
• How to describe your experience on a resume for a home health aide to get any job you want.

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Here are several resume example guides related to home health aide jobs:

• Caregiver Resume Sample and Complete Guide
• Health Coach Resume Sample and Complete Guide
• Physical Therapy Resume Sample and Complete Guide
• CNA Resume Sample and Complete Guide
• Medical Assistant Resume Sample and Complete Guide
• Nursing Resume Sample and Complete Guide
• Registered Nurse (RN) Resume Sample and Complete Guide
• Travel Nurse Resume Sample and Complete Guide
• Pediatric Nurse Resume Sample and Complete Guide
• The Best Resume Examples for All Jobs

Above was our take on the best home health aide resume example.

Now, time to perfect yours.

Home Health Aide Resume Sample

Here’s how to write a home health aide resume:

1. Choose the Best Format for Your Home Health Aide Resume

A home health aide provides assistive and supportive care to patients, particularly older adults, in their own home for those who are unable or uncomfortable receiving those same services at a local medical facility. Your home health aide resume has to prove you know your way around assisting with hygiene, personal chores, and other daily living activities.

These patients need an HHA they can count on.

Annnnd—

So does the group home or affiliated hospital.

So, before you begin writing, choose an HHA resume format you can count on to be easily read and understood.

Here is how to format a resume for home health aides:

• It all begins with resume contact information in the headers for resumes.
• Use bold titles to separate the different parts of a resume.
• Use the reverse chronological resume template, as it is often the best resume format for most situations.
• The best fonts for resumes are crisp, clear, and easy to read.

Pro Tip: Unless the home health aide job ad asks for a Word document, send them a PDF resume. Word docs can’t be read universally the way that PDF documents can.

2. Write a Home Health Aide Resume Objective or Summary

A profile on a resume, also known as a resume objective or summary, is your elevator pitch for the job.

This introduction paragraph provides hiring managers with a glimpse of your health aide background and medical knowledge.

Have plenty of home health aide experience?

Choose the resume professional summary.

A summary statement on a home health aide resume details your HHA background by giving skills and experience. It tops it off with a numbered accomplishment for a clean bill of health.

Don’t have much experience as a personal care aide?

Choose the career objective for a resume.

The resume objective statement gives them your HHA and PCA career goals while also providing the employer with quantifiable numbers to verify your assistance capabilities.

Pro Tip: Whichever heading statement you choose for your HHA resume, write it last. Though it goes on top, you’ll have a better handle on what to put in your heading statement after completing your skills, experience, and other sections.

3. Create the Perfect Home Health Aide Job Description for a Resume

How to describe work experience on a resume for HHA jobs and PCA jobs?

It’s not hard at all—

Here’s our strategy for nailing the home health aide job description:

• Use reverse-chronological order, meaning your most recent job goes first with the previous ones following after.
• Place the job title on top, then the dates you were employed, and the organization’s name and location.
• Give them around 5 or 6 bullet point entries detailing your past working experience.
• Use an action word (e.g., assisted, organized, etc.) to begin each bullet point.
• Add a quantifiable achievement or two to show them you’re as good as you say.
• Tailor your resume for this one specific job, because employers loathe generic resumes.

Pro Tip: How to write a resume with no experience in HHA jobs? Still follow all the best practices you see in this guide. However, when talking up past jobs, give them duties that resemble home health aide jobs the most.

4. Make Your Home Health Aide Resume Education Section Shine

Most home health aide and personal care aide positions require only a high school diploma or a GED.

However—

It doesn’t mean you can slack with the education on a resume.

Here’s what to do in an education resume section:

• Use reverse-chronological order here, too, putting your most advanced school first.
• If applicable, add your degree, date of completion, college name, college location, and some coursework you worked on related to healthcare and assistance.
• If you have other wins, wow them by adding items such as your awards, publications, and Latin honors.
• Don’t add high school on an HHA resume unless you have a fully-completed university degree.

Pro Tip: What is relevant to home health aide jobs regarding college coursework? Add things related to health and medicine, of course, but include any classes on administration, communication, and organization, if possible.

5. Highlight Your Home Health Aide Skills on a Resume

Home health aide (HHA) and personal care aide (PCA) jobs are projected to shoot up exponentially between 2016 and 2026—a 41% increase.

It’s another 1.2 million HHAs and PCAs vying for the job you want.

To beat them—

Show them your home health aide skills are as magical as Mary Poppins with a perfect HHA skills resume section:

Top 20 Skills for a Home Health Aide—List and Examples

• Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR)
• Automated External Defibrillators (AED)
• Basic Life Support (BLS)
• Healthcare Information Technology (HIT) Software
• Activities of Daily Living (ADL)
• Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADL)
• Insurance Documentation / Paperwork
• Ability to Lift Over 50 Lbs.
• Organizational Skills
• Attention to Detail
• Accountability
• Good Communication Skills
• Interpersonal Skills
• Decision Making Skills
• Technical Skills
• Critical Thinking Skills
• Problem Solving Skills
• Time Management Skills
• Creative Thinking Skills
• General Nursing Skills

But—

You won’t have a healthy resume if you simply took our list and used it in yours.

Instead, here’s what to do:

• Find the different professional skills for home health aide jobs you have and write those down.
• Always include a good mix of both hard skills and soft skills.
• The best keywords to use on a resume are those they ask for in the job requirements.
• If one of those matches something from your skills list, add it to your skills section.

One last thing: home health aides need to be overflowing with soft skills, such as kindness, empathy, good judgment, etc. However, always search the job requirements to find the necessary hard skills they’re looking for, such as the ability to drive a car.

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6. Add Other Sections to Your Home Health Aide Resume

Ready to stand out as the top candidate applying for this HHA position?

Then—

Time to add a few extra sections to show them you’re miles ahead of the competition.

Here are a few examples of great additional parts for a personal care aide resume:

• Interests in a resume
• Resume volunteer work
• Language skills on a resume
• Job-related achievements
• Certifications for a resume
• Medical licenses
• Health Association memberships

7. Attach a Home Health Aide Cover Letter to Your Resume

Do you need a cover letter for a resume?

Definitely.

Not having a cover letter for a job is a big no-no, according to half of employers.

So—

Here’s how to create a cover letter for home health aide jobs they’ll commend:

• Arrange the format of a cover letter before you start writing.
• Begin your cover letter first paragraph in a compelling way.
• Tell them about your home health aide background and abilities.
• Include a numbered win to prove you’re as good as you claim.
• Finish with a cover letter closing paragraph that seals the deal.

There’s more great cover letter tips to read up on, including our articles on the ideal length of a cover letter and what to include in a cover letter.

Have a look!

Pro Tip: Prepare for the job interview while you’re waiting for their reply, and don’t forget to follow up on your job application after a few days!

Plus, a great cover letter that matches your resume will give you an advantage over other candidates. You can write it in our cover letter builder here. Here's what it may look like:

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See more cover letter templates and start writing.

Do you have any questions about writing resumes for HHA jobs? Need help talking about your personal care skills, healthcare abilities, or medical achievements? Let’s chat down in the comments below, and thank you for reading!

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This article has been reviewed by our editorial team to make sure it follows Zety's editorial guidelines. We’re committed to sharing our expertise and giving you trustworthy career advice tailored to your needs. High-quality content is what brings over 40 million readers to our site every year. But we don't stop there. Our team conducts original research to understand the job market better, and we pride ourselves on being quoted by top universities and prime media outlets from around the world.

Sources

• https://www.bls.gov/ooh/healthcare/home-health-aides-and-personal-care-aides.htm