Importance of a Strong CV in the Care Sector
The care sector operates differently from other industries, meaning here, technical abilities cannot overshadow your soft skills and emotional intelligence. Mental health challenges that are evident in this sector require proof of your ability to connect with vulnerable people, handle crisis situations calmly, and work collaboratively within multidisciplinary teams.
Mental health support worker roles and their job descriptions are uniquely demanding, requiring specialised training, proper education, relevant skills, and most importantly, the right character for this challenging yet rewarding work. Your CV must demonstrate that you understand the profound responsibility of supporting individuals during their most vulnerable moments.
Writing a Strong Personal Statement
Your personal statement sets the stage for everything that follows. Rather than using generic phrases, like that you are a caring person who wants to ‘help people’, try something more specific and authentic, like:
“Dedicated mental health support worker with three years’ experience supporting adults with anxiety, depression, and psychosis in a community setting. Following my own family’s experience with mental health conditions, I understand the importance of consistent, non-judgmental support. Skilled in crisis intervention and de-escalation, care plan implementation, and building therapeutic relationships that promote independence and self-advocacy.”
This example works because it immediately establishes your experience level as a mental health worker, your personal understanding of mental health issues, and demonstrates specific skills while maintaining accurate and appropriate professional boundaries. Also, be specific about your area of expertise and the target group you’ve been working with, whether they were young adults, older adults with dementia, or people with physical disabilities and complex needs.
Key Skills Section
The key skills section of your mental health support worker CV requires careful consideration of both technical competencies and personal characteristics. Mental health support work demands a distinctive combination of human qualities and professional qualifications. When structuring this section, consider how your soft and hard skills work together in real-world scenarios. For example, your empathy helps you understand what someone needs, whilst your risk assessment training ensures you can respond safely and appropriately. Let’s dive into mental health support workers’ soft and hard skills must-haves.
Soft Skills
Soft skills are also known as interpersonal skills, or transferable skills. These are skills that can be applied in basically all industries. They have a long-lasting positive impact on the people you work with, especially employers.
Empathy is definitively the number one soft skill for healthcare professionals. Genuine empathy isn’t just “being caring”. It involves understanding people’s various mental health conditions without judgment, recognising the impact of mental health work on people’s daily functioning, and responding appropriately to their varying emotional states. When including it in your CV, put it in context by using an example of how you’ve helped someone, providing them with emotional support.
Patience. It’s the hardest thing to sustain when providing mental health support. It’s about maintaining composure when progress seems slow, remaining supportive when someone experiences setbacks, and understanding that things don’t always go forward, and there are also steps backwards.
Communication skills encompass both active listening to what someone is saying and knowing how to explain complex information in accessible ways. This might include discussing care planning along with the families, liaising with other health care professionals, or helping someone understand their treatment options.
Hard Skills
Risk assessment capabilities are crucial in mental health support work. They involve recognising warning signs, understanding triggers that might escalate, and knowing when to seek additional support. This hard skill requires both formal training and the practical knowledge of being an experienced support worker.
Knowing the safeguarding protocols demonstrates that you understand how to protect vulnerable adults from harm, recognising signs of abuse or neglect, and following proper procedures when concerns arise. Employers expect mental health support workers to complete enhanced DBS checks and undergo regular safeguarding training, so highlight any relevant certifications or courses you’ve completed.
Record-keeping skills might seem irrelevant, but those records mean a lot to the people they were written for. Their life depends on them, so always document observations, interventions, and changes in people’s mental health needs. Hiring managers highly respect applicants’ ability to maintain accurate, timely, and person-centred records, as the quality of care is based on these documents.
Work Experience
The dilemma is between shorter, more relevant roles versus longer, unrelated ones. When discussing a mental health worker’s CV, having hands-on experience wins every time, whatever its length. However, some roles can pick up essential skills, like customer service develops communication skills, retail work builds patience and problem-solving capabilities, and crisis management roles demonstrate your ability to remain calm under pressure.
What’s more important is to structure each role to highlight achievements and specific responsibilities, rather than generic job titles and descriptions. Instead of “provided support to service users,” write “supported 12 individuals with various mental health conditions, including anxiety, depression, and bipolar disorder”.
Education and Qualifications
While some positions require no relevant qualifications beyond GCSEs, most prefer candidates with level 2 or 3 Diplomas in Health and Social Care. If you lack formal mental health qualifications, emphasise training from related fields, like psychology, sociology, or health studies degrees. Don’t overlook non-traditional education experiences: First Aid training, suicide prevention and intervention courses, or even dementia awareness sessions and certifications. They all demonstrate commitment to professional development.
Training and Professional Development
Employers actively seek candidates who take initiative in maintaining and expanding their knowledge base. Include any ongoing learning commitments or plans for further development. This might involve pursuing NVQ qualifications, attending workshops on specific therapeutic approaches, or participating in reflective practice group therapy sessions. Providing person-centred care is a must, and there are training opportunities like PROACT-SCIPr-UK® that set the highest standards of personal care, developing coping strategies, crisis intervention, prevention and emotional support for behaviours that challenge.
Recognition or Awards in the Healthcare Sector
Any recognition of your work can additionally increase the value of your CV. Whether it is only a thank-you card from the people you supported and their families, positive feedback from your supervisor, or being chosen to mentor new staff, they all indicate your work is valued and effective. Employee of the month awards, family recommendations, or even supporting people through a mental health crisis also show your commitment to excellence.
The healthcare sector needs your input – your voice matters in shaping its future!
Catalyst Care Group, which Olive Recruit is part of, is currently gathering insights from support workers, healthcare professionals and people receiving support to understand what’s working and what needs to change across the sector. Running until the 28th of September 2025, this brief 5-8 minute survey will need your attention.
Please participate in the 2025 White Paper Survey and help ensure that our whole industry is headed in the right direction.
Your feedback is appreciated!
Volunteering and Community Involvement
Your career aspirations are best shown through volunteering and community work. Your dream job might be just around the corner if you dedicate your free time and resources to a bigger mission and vision, for which you don’t get financial reward. What’s also important is your community involvement – being part of professional associations, like the Nursing and Midwifery Council, or even supporting a neighbour or family member with mental health needs. Employees acknowledge and appreciate the extra effort of volunteers as they provide valuable experience, often gained under challenging circumstances.
Making it ATS-friendly
When applying to your dream job, in most cases, the first one to scan your CV is an Applicant Tracking System (ATS). You won’t get to the HR department or the Hiring Managers if you don’t pass the keyword requirements of this system. That is why it is crucial to include relevant terms from job descriptions, such as “crisis intervention,” “care planning,” “safeguarding,” “risk assessment,” and “person-centred care”. In addition, use clear section headings like “Work Experience,” “Education,” and “Skills” – this way, Applicant Tracking Systems scroll and find the needed info more easily.
Send Your CV to Olive Recruit
We hope we helped you create your well-structured CV for your next mental health support worker role. Now, it’s time to shine. Send your CV to Olive Recruit or browse through our open vacancies here. Our experienced team, who have specialised in the healthcare industry recruitment, would match your skills and qualifications with the requirements of our clients, and get back to you shortly with an appointment for an interview.
Good luck with your job search!
