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Case manager skills for your resume and career

Updated January 8, 2025

5 min read

Quoted experts

Adam Greer,

Sam Terrazas Ph.D.

One of the most important hard skills a case manager can possess is experience creating treatment plans because plans such as these are often the basis of progress for your client's situation. It's also important for case managers to have the hard skill of providing access to community resources. They may also need the hard skills of experience with healthcare and patient care, depending on the industry.

When it comes to soft skills, case managers should have strong communication skills above all else. Case managers need to have frequent conversations with clients, and with other professionals assisting their clients, so communication skills are crucial.

Below we've compiled a list of the most critical case manager skills. We ranked the top skills for case managers based on the percentage of resumes they appeared on. For example, 16.6% of case manager resumes contained social work as a skill. Continue reading to find out what skills a case manager needs to be successful in the workplace.

15 case manager skills for your resume and career

2. Patients

Here's how case managers use patients:

Reviewed financial documents for Patient Assistance Program evaluations, and referred patients to charitable copay assistance organizations.
Coordinated medical treatment and assisted patients in obtaining adequate housing, retirement, and disability benefits.

3. Community Resources

Community resources are a set of resources that are used in the day to day life of people which improves their lifestyle in some way. People, sites or houses, and population assistance can come under the services offered by community resources.

Here's how case managers use community resources:

Facilitated constant coordination of care by scheduling of aftercare appointments, participating in placement planning, and linkage to community resources.
Recommended appropriate interventions and services needed to preserve placement, or utilized community resources to seek alternative placement for foster children.

4. Substance Abuse

Here's how case managers use substance abuse:

Administered housing case management services to clients suffering from mental and intellectual disabilities, alcohol and substance abuse addiction.
Authorize and/or review utilization of mental health and substance abuse services provided in inpatient and intermediate care settings.

5. Crisis Intervention

Here's how case managers use crisis intervention:

Provided mission-critical crisis intervention recommendations.
Document resident activities of daily living, response to all interventions including crisis interventions, and significant behavior changes as appropriate.

6. Rehabilitation

Here's how case managers use rehabilitation:

Facilitated vocational rehabilitation and related community services.
Coordinated care between rehabilitation facilities, nursing homes, specialized injury units, and durable medical equipment for accident victims.

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7. Discharge Planning

Here's how case managers use discharge planning:

Coordinate with appropriate discharge planning team members, facility utilization management department, physicians and members to coordinate timely discharges.
Performed early identification of continuing care needs to facilitate discharge to appropriate setting and handled discharge planning and coordination.

8. Patient Care

Patient care entails the diagnosis, recovery, and control of sickness as well as the maintenance of physical and emotional well-being through the use of healthcare providers' services. Patient care is described as services provided to patients by health practitioners or non-professionals under guidance.

Here's how case managers use patient care:

Performed independent and multidisciplinary decisions regarding patient care and need for discharge when home health services no longer necessary.
Functioned as a Resource Consultant to staff including nurses, medical students and residents regarding pediatric medical/surgical patient care.

9. Home Health

Here's how case managers use home health:

Provide case management to coordinate medically necessary home health services for individuals living in the community as an alternative to institutionalization.
Managed compliance with Quality Improvement projects particularly Home Health Buddy telephone management.

10. Customer Service

Customer service is the process of offering assistance to all the current and potential customers -- answering questions, fixing problems, and providing excellent service. The main goal of customer service is to build a strong relationship with the customers so that they keep coming back for more business.

Here's how case managers use customer service:

Maintained strong relationships with claimants to facilitate efficient case reviews, while communicating accurate policy information and providing exceptional customer service.
Provided superior customer service to all levels of internal and external customers including insurance agents, insurance companies and vendors.

11. Mental Health

Mental health is the state of wellbeing in which an individual can cope with the regular stresses and tensions of life, and can work productively without having any emotional or psychological breakdown. Mental health is essential for a person of any age and helps them make the right decisions in their life.

Here's how case managers use mental health:

Collaborated daily with a treatment team of Mental Health professionals to maintain a Sub-Acute facility of Severely Mentally Disabled individuals.
Transport residents to educational, medical appointments and recreational outings, schedule medical /mental health appointments and fill prescriptions.

12. Intake Assessments

Here's how case managers use intake assessments:

Conducted intake assessments of program participants' basic academic and occupational needs, interests and determined individual barriers to employment.
Performed initial intake process with accepted veteran which included intake assessment, military assessment and case management assessment.

13. Financial Assistance

Financial assistance refers to governmental assistance one may receive for a variety of reasons. This help is typically in the form of money, whether a loan, scholarship, grant, or reduced taxes provided to an individual or organization. One of the more common forms of financial assistance is student loans, which offer many prospective students a chance for higher education.

Here's how case managers use financial assistance:

Assisted families in becoming self-sufficient through career development programs as well as temporary financial assistance and other forms of government assistance.
Linked individuals to community mental health programs, assisted with applying for housing/financial assistance, transported to and from medical/psychiatric appointments.

14. Mental Illness

Here's how case managers use mental illness:

Conducted assessment, treatment planning, stabilization, and ongoing care for individuals diagnosed with developmental disabilities and severe mental illness.
Provided case management to long-term homeless women diagnosed with Severe and Persistent Mental illnesses in a federally funded rental subsidy program.

15. Child Abuse

When a child who is under 18 is mistreated by an adult, it is considered child abuse. There are many forms of intentional harm and mistreatment for example physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, medical abuse, and neglect in providing adequate basic life necessities.

Here's how case managers use child abuse:

Led educational seminars and lectures at local community centers to educate community partners in recognizing and reporting child abuse and neglect.
Investigated allegations of child abuse and neglect by interviewing children, family members and collateral contacts and determining validity of allegations.

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What skills help Case Managers find jobs?

Tell us what job you are looking for, we’ll show you what skills employers want.

What skills stand out on case manager resumes?

Adam Greer

Career Services Specialist, Auburn University

Clearly, the distance/online working skills will stand out with our HDFS majors. Our students have a strong foundation in learning to work with people, and now they have a new way to work with people and remove barriers that might have previously prevented an in-person meeting.

What soft skills should all case managers possess?

Sam Terrazas Ph.D.

Professor and Academic Chair Department of Social Work, The University of Texas Permian Basin

Social workers need to be skillful in documentation in writing case notes, assessments, and good managers of their time. Managing a client's case requires social workers to be diligent and ensure that all required documentation is completed on time and within professional standards. Social workers must also be effective communicators understanding their own power and the multiple professional roles they hold.

What hard/technical skills are most important for case managers?

Sam Terrazas Ph.D.

Professor and Academic Chair Department of Social Work, The University of Texas Permian Basin

Social workers practice in various areas of practice and organizational auspices that may differ in the hard/technical skills that are most important. In general, the hard/technical skills most important can be categorized based on the level of education-BSW (Bachelors of Social Work) versus MSW (Masters of Social Work).

BSW's practice in a range of organizations providing various types of services; however, in general practice in the realm of case management that requires that ability to demonstrate cultural responsiveness, develop an alliance with clients, apply NASW and a state's ethics and professional standards of practice, conduct assessments, and to develop plans to meet a client's goals.

MSW's practice in many areas such as administration, clinical, public policy and advocacy, child welfare, public safety, and health care. Each of these practice areas requires specific technical skills; however, in general, MSW's are trained to assess individuals, families, groups, and communities. To that end, MSW's must understand the cultural context and how socio/economic local, state, federal policies impact social welfare problems such as poverty, intimate partner violence, and mental illness. MSW's must possess strong engagement skills/therapeutic alliance-building, diagnostic/evaluation skills, ethical application of interventions and therapeutic approaches, and advocacy skills.

What case manager skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?

Joyce Serido Ph.D.

Associate Professor and Extension Specialist, University of Minnesota

If this pandemic has taught us anything, it is the need to be resilient in the face of uncertainty - so seek out opportunities for creative problem solving, be willing to contribute as part of a team. Use this as an apprenticeship period, learn from experienced leaders in areas that interest you, and ask for advice and insight. And stay open to opportunities that emerge. In other words, explore options as you prepare for the next step, be that particular industry or further education. Perhaps the goal for this year is not to have "the answer" - but rather "the next step."

What type of skills will young case managers need?

Samantha Fletcher Ph.D.

Executive Director, National Association of Social Workers, New York State

The core skills of social work do not change over time. These skills include empathy, active listening, critical thinking, assessment, intervention, evaluation, advocacy, policy analysis, and adaptability. Social workers also need to evaluate the organizations they work in to assess for oppressive practices and policies. One of the profession's core values is social justice, which directs social workers to "pursue social change, particularly with and on behalf of vulnerable and oppressed individuals and groups of people. Social workers' social change efforts are focused primarily on issues of poverty, unemployment, discrimination, and other forms of social injustice" (National Association of Social Workers, 2017). As a profession, social workers aim to dismantle racist, sexist, heterosexist, xenophobic, ableist, classist, and religiously biased systems and structures.

What technical skills for a case manager stand out to employers?

William Weston

Professor, Centre College

The ability to write clearly and think critically. The deep sense that other people in other cultures, and other positions in our own culture, see the world differently, enabling students to respond to a broad range of people appropriately.

Do you want to know more?

List of case manager skills to add to your resume

The most important skills for a case manager resume and required skills for a case manager to have include:

Social Work
Patients
Community Resources
Substance Abuse
Crisis Intervention
Rehabilitation
Discharge Planning
Patient Care
Home Health
Customer Service
Mental Health
Intake Assessments
Financial Assistance
Mental Illness
Child Abuse
Utilization Review
Support Services

Community Agencies
Social Security
Developmental Disabilities
Community Services
Medical Necessity
Medical Care
Independent Living
Eating Disorders
InterQual
DHS
IV
Psychosocial Assessments
Intake Interviews
Group Sessions
Group Therapy
Management System
Domestic Violence

Law Enforcement
Court Hearings
Tuberculosis
Housing Assistance
Social Service Agencies
Medication Management
First Aid Training
Crisis Situations
Medical Appointments
DME
Court Reports
Emotional Support
Anger Management
Early Intervention
IEP

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

Updated January 8, 2025

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