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Community service worker skills for your resume and career

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Quoted experts

Dr. Florence DiGennaro Reed Ph.D.,

Lillian Wichinsky Ph.D.

Below we've compiled a list of the most critical community service worker skills. We ranked the top skills for community service workers based on the percentage of resumes they appeared on. For example, 18.3% of community service worker resumes contained rehabilitation as a skill. Continue reading to find out what skills a community service worker needs to be successful in the workplace.

15 community service worker skills for your resume and career

1. Rehabilitation

Here's how community service workers use rehabilitation:

Provided direct patient care services in this world-renowned brain injury therapeutic and rehabilitation center, serving individuals with acquired brain injury.
Provided education and vocational counseling for the individual and/or their family members and significant others to ensure healthy lifestyles and rehabilitation.

2. Nursing Home

Here's how community service workers use nursing home:

Expedited backlog of over 1100 cases pending Medicare Optimization for Medicaid Nursing Home Care Unit.
Assisted in summer children's camps and a nursing home program (Volunteer)

3. Home Health

Here's how community service workers use home health:

Develop client care and monitor care provided by home health aide.
Provide recommendations and referrals to home health agencies and community resources* Complete Quality Assurance and administrative duties.

4. Math

Here's how community service workers use math:

Served as a lead math tutor to underclassmen for two years.
Conducted math lessons in a small group setting.

5. 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 community service workers use community resources:

Provided Referral services for individuals to appropriate community resources by:.
Assessed and referred to numerous community resources.

6. Behavior Management

Here's how community service workers use behavior management:

Attended professional training in the areas of diagnostic assessments, person-centered planning, and behavior management.
Discussed with and provided information to clients school, parents/guardians, and other agencies/sources regarding habilitation plan and/or behavior management.

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7. 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 community service workers use financial assistance:

Worked as a team member to expedite financial assistance to clients living in poverty.
Screen and interview applicants for financial assistance and other services.

8. 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 community service workers use mental health:

Provided positive counseling and mentoring to clients with mental health issues, developmental disabilities and substance abuse dependency.
Provided In-home services to assist family in addressing identified mental health/developmental disability goals for youth and adolescents.

9. Crisis Intervention

Here's how community service workers use crisis intervention:

Performed intake and needs assessment, provided information and referral services as well as crisis intervention.
Provided individual, family and group counseling, food, clothing, advocacy and crisis intervention.

10. Community Outreach

Here's how community service workers use community outreach:

Establish working relationships with local agencies to better serve client base, community outreach for fundraising and awareness.
Case Management * Facilitating Groups * Community Outreach * Billing

11. Mental Illness

Here's how community service workers use mental illness:

Conduct client screenings; provide assessments, advocacy and monitoring services for clients with chronic or serious emotional mental illness.
Assisted adults with severe mental illnesses to carry out daily living and coping skills to enhance mental well-being.

13. Child Care

Child care means the care, supervision, or guidance of a child by a person other than the child's parent, guardian, or custodian for periods of less than 24 hours. Childcare could be either center-based such as a daycare or a nursery or home-based care such as nannies or family daycare.

Here's how community service workers use child care:

Ensured proper service allocation and appropriate child care.
Assist with child care Help with dinner duties Keep area clean and maintained

14. Developmental Disabilities

Here's how community service workers use developmental disabilities:

Provided supportive employment services for adults with developmental disabilities.
Assist consumers with mental/developmental disabilities; who reside in an adult foster care setting.

15. Mowing

Here's how community service workers use mowing:

Performed maintenance activities including mowing, refuse removal and cleaning structure.
Performed a variety of tasks, which included any combination of the following: sod laying, mowing and trimming.

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What skills help Community Service Workers find jobs?

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

What skills stand out on community service worker resumes?

Dr. Florence DiGennaro Reed Ph.D.

Associate Professor and Chairperson, Director of the Performance Management Laboratory, University of Kansas

In my experience, employers appreciate real-world experience where students/recent graduates can apply the knowledge they learned in their courses to actual work settings. Thus, graduates who have had service-learning practicum courses, internships, or other relevant experiences have resumes that tend to stand out to future employers.

What soft skills should all community service workers possess?

Lillian Wichinsky Ph.D.

Associate Dean, University of Nevada - Reno

Social workers need to be prepared to work in integrated health and multidisciplinary settings and act as change agents across systems of care. They work with various communities and people, and therefore soft skills are very important to their success. Some of the most important soft skills include:

-Teamwork. ...
-Communication Skills
-Problem-Solving Skills
-Ethics
-Flexibility/Adaptability
-Leadership skills

What hard/technical skills are most important for community service workers?

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 community service worker 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 community service workers need?

Dr. Joseph Constantine Ph.D.

Assistant Professor, California University of Pennsylvania

While adaptability has always been heralded as the key predictor of employment success in the future, rapid changes in the social and economic landscape also bring with them an increased need for more traditional skills such as building relationships, understanding specific community needs, networking with other professionals, and advocating for more intensive treatment protocols.

Do you want to know more?

List of community service worker skills to add to your resume

The most important skills for a community service worker resume and required skills for a community service worker to have include:

Rehabilitation
Nursing Home
Home Health
Math
Community Resources
Behavior Management
Financial Assistance
Mental Health
Crisis Intervention
Community Outreach
Mental Illness

Social Services
Child Care
Developmental Disabilities
Mowing
Medicaid
Substance Abuse
Direct Care
Community Agencies
Community Organizations
Low-Income Families
Medication Administration

Support Services
WIC
Social Security
HIV
Independent Living
Emotional Support
Outreach Services
Conflict Resolution
Domestic Violence
Community Events

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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