Whether you’re hiring a home health aide to care for your elderly mother in her apartment or you’re looking to hire a caregiver to work for your small senior care business, the way that you phrase your caregiver job description can affect how successful you’ll be at finding the right person for the position.
People who respond to your job posting will decide whether or not they’re a good fit for the position based on the way you’ve described it. “Being specific enhances the likelihood that you’ll find employees who are a good match,” says Lorraine Rise, a certified professional resume writer and career coach based in Washington, D.C.
The more details you can provide about what you’re seeking in a caregiver job description, the more likely you’ll be to find someone who has all of the qualities that are important to you. Before you submit a senior care job posting, make sure it includes all of these details.
How to write an effective job description for caregivers
1. Add a specific caregiver job title
The job title stands out in a job posting, and it quickly summarizes exactly what you’re looking for. To weed out candidates who wouldn’t be right for the job, be as specific as possible and include the following:
- The exact job title.
- Whether the role is part-time or full-time.
- Specific requirements, such as in-home or live-in care.
- Required certifications or experience level.
Even if your job posting is intended to attract a wide range of caregivers, be sure to include any requirements that would limit the pool of applicants. For example, rather than writing “senior caregiver wanted,” you might write “full-time companion caregiver with 5+ years’ experience” or “bilingual home care aide.”
2. Include a thorough job overview
The job overview is the portion of the caregiver job description where you can be more conversational, rather than stiff and technical. You don’t need to include day-to-day job duties here, but you should sum up exactly what you’re seeking in a caregiver. Your caregiver job overview should include:
- A broad explanation of the job.
- Specific knowledge or skills preferred.
- Helpful traits the caregiver might have, such as being organized or outgoing.
- Details about the work environment or company culture.
If you’re seeking someone who’s compassionate or who enjoys engaging seniors in conversation, mention that in the job overview. You can also use this section to talk about the senior who needs care. If you’re hiring for a company, use this section to inform applicants about your business. “The best job descriptions are the ones that give insights into the company culture,” Rise says. “This helps the employer to attract employees who would fit in well.”
3. List the caregiver’s job duties
This section of the job description is most important, because it will spell out the specifics of what you’re looking for in a candidate. List the different caregiver job duties they will need to perform while on the job to ensure that the people who apply for the job are qualified for the position. These might include:
- Handling and dispensing medication.
- Preparing meals.
- Providing companionship.
- Helping with bathroom and hygiene tasks.
- Providing transportation.
- Managing medical appointments.
- Providing daily or weekly care reports.
Example caregiver schedule
The more specific you are, the better. You should include specific days and times care is needed, any house rules and even a timeline of expected activities. A description of duties in a caregiver job description may look like this:
- Arrive at 8 a.m. Monday-Thursday.
- From 8 to 10:30 a.m., prepare breakfast and aid senior in eating, showering and dressing.
- At 10:30 a.m., leave for 11:00 a.m. physical therapy appointment. You will need to drive the senior to this appointment.
- After physical therapy, return home and prepare a light lunch. Senior will nap after lunch.
- At 2 p.m., administer medication with a light snack and engage senior in games or reading until end of shift at 3 p.m.
“Ask for the things that you need,” says Sharon Stern, a certified career coach based in the New York metropolitan area. “If you need someone to be in your house four days a week who knows CPR and can make a sandwich for your elderly mother, say that.”
4. State the required skills and qualifications
If you want job candidates to possess certain qualifications to get the job, list them out in their own section. “If someone wants someone that’s a nurse, they have to put that in there,” Stern says. “Or if you want someone who can cook and knows CPR, you have to put it in there, or else it’s a waste of time for both people.” Specific skills and qualifications to mention may include:
- Required education and/or certifications.
- CPR/first-aid training.
- Cooking skills.
- Light housekeeping abilities.
- A valid driver’s license and clean driving record.
If you have different tiers of requirements, meaning some skills and qualifications are negotiable, you can list them separately within the job posting. “First, list the required qualifications of the job,” Rise says. “Then, in a separate section, list the preferred qualifications.”
Making some qualifications optional – like light housework, for example – can help widen your search. You could end up attracting a standout caregiver that you may have missed out on had the job description been too narrow. “I always tell people, ‘As long as you have the first two things on the list, go for the job,’” Stern says. “I’d rather have someone nice and kind taking care of a family member than somebody who has all of the things on a list.”
