There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a direct support associate. For example, did you know that they make an average of $12.28 an hour? That's $25,541 a year!
Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 36% and produce 1,185,800 job opportunities across the U.S.
There are certain skills that many direct support associates have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed interpersonal skills, physical stamina and detail oriented.
When it comes to the most important skills required to be a direct support associate, we found that a lot of resumes listed 22.0% of direct support associates included intellectual disabilities, while 15.8% of resumes included independent living, and 13.1% of resumes included emotional support. Hard skills like these are helpful to have when it comes to performing essential job responsibilities.
When it comes to searching for a job, many search for a key term or phrase. Instead, it might be more helpful to search by industry, as you might be missing jobs that you never thought about in industries that you didn't even think offered positions related to the direct support associate job title. But what industry to start with? Most direct support associates actually find jobs in the agriculture and non profits industries.
If you're interested in becoming a direct support associate, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 26.8% of direct support associates have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 3.9% of direct support associates have master's degrees. Even though some direct support associates have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.
Choosing the right major is always an important step when researching how to become a direct support associate. When we researched the most common majors for a direct support associate, we found that they most commonly earn high school diploma degrees or bachelor's degree degrees. Other degrees that we often see on direct support associate resumes include associate degree degrees or diploma degrees.
You may find that experience in other jobs will help you become a direct support associate. In fact, many direct support associate jobs require experience in a role such as cashier. Meanwhile, many direct support associates also have previous career experience in roles such as customer service representative or certified nursing assistant.
