Direct support staff resume examples from 2025
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How to write a direct support staff resume
Craft a resume summary statement
A resume summary is your opening statement that highlights your strongest skills and top accomplishments. It is your chance to quickly let recruiters know who you are professionally - and why they should hire you for the direct support staff role.
Step 1: Start with your professional title, or the one you aspire to.
Step 2: Detail your years of experience in direct support staff-related roles and your industry experience.
Step 3: What are your biggest professional wins? Here is your opportunity to highlight your strongest accomplishments by placing them at the start of your resume.
Step 4: Don't forget, your goal is to summarize your experience. Keep it short and sweet, so it's easy for recruiters to quickly understand why you're a great hire.
These four steps should give you a strong elevator pitch and land you some direct support staff interviews.Please upload your resume so Zippia’s job hunt AI can draft a summary statement for you.
List the right project manager skills
Use your Skills section to show you have the knowledge and technical ability to do the job. Here is how to make the most of your skills section and make sure you have the right keywords:
- Look at the job listing and skills listed. You need to include the exact keywords from the job description to get your resume in front of an actual human. Do you have those skills? Fantastic! Be sure to list them.
- Include as many relevant hard or technical direct support staff skills as possible for each job you apply to.
- Be specific with the skills you have and be sure you are using the most up to date and accurate terms.
Here are example skills to include in your “Area of Expertise” on a direct support staff resume:
- Direct Support
- Direct Care
- Transport Clients
- Good Judgment
- Home Maintenance
- Ongoing Support
- Community Events
- Money Management
- Behavioral Issues
- Mental Health
- Community Involvement
- Intellectual Disabilities
- Meal Prep
- Administer Medications
- Independent Living
- Medical Appointments
- ADL
- Vital Signs
- Motor Vehicle
- Incident Reports
- Community Integration
- Patient Care
- Physical Disabilities
- Community Outings
- Mental Illness
- Emotional Support
- Mental Disabilities
- Blood Pressure
- Physical Therapy
- ISP
Zippia’s AI can customize your resume for you.
How to structure your work experience
A work experience section is a vital part of your resume because it shows you have the experience to succeed in your next job.
- Put your most recent experience first. Prospective employers care about your most recent accomplishments the most.
- Put the job title, company name, city, and state on the left. Align dates in month and year format on the right-hand side.
- Include only recent, relevant jobs. This means if you're a fairly experienced worker, you might need to leave off that first internship or other positions in favor of highlighting more pertinent positions.
How to write direct support staff experience bullet points
Remember, your resume is not a list of responsibilities or a job description. This is your chance to show why you're good at your job and what you accomplished.
Use the XYZ formula for your work experience bullet points. Here's how it works:
- Use strong action verbs like Led, Built, or Optimized.
- Follow up with numbers when possible to support your results. How much did performance improve? How much revenue did you drive?
- Wrap it up by explaining the actions you took to achieve the result and how you made an impact.
This creates bullet points that read Achieved X, measured by Y, by doing Z.
Here are effective examples from direct support staff resumes:
Work history example #1
Direct Care Staffer
Bethesda Thrift Shop
- Passed Medication and assisted with any medical treatment plans, Accomplishments Successfully resuscitated an individual using CPR.
- Aided patients in, and performed positive reinforcement to complete Individual Support Plans (ISP's).
- Simulated and implemented various DSP modules, including the DSP portion of location processing, critical to generating an accurate location.
Work history example #2
Personal Attendant
Home Care Solutions
- Assisted in-home physical therapists and nurses.
- Assisted with walking, changing, and running errands.
- Administered medications for elder who was diagnosed with dementia.
- Provided companionship, read books with, and made sure of safety.
- Commended for displaying extraordinary patience handling a patient which was completely incontinent and developed symptoms of senility and confusion.
Work history example #3
Direct Support Staff
Lifes Worc
- Maintained constant communication with management to ensure that the individuals had the best quality of life possible.
- Documented clients daily activities in program books and communication logs.
- Managed communication between upper-level supervisors and base-level staff.
- Assisted dementia patient with their daily activities of eating, bathing and daily activities including doctor's appointments.
- Cared for sisters with Autism, prepared meals, assisted with ADL's and engaged them both in after school activities.
Work history example #4
Direct Support Worker
Sertoma International
- Assisted developmentally delayed adults to attain outcomes on ISP (Individual Support Plan).
- Completed courses in safety procedures, CPR, first aid and self defense.
- Provided assistance to program participants with self-administration of medications and ADL's.
- Trained and Certified in AMAP and SCIP.
- Collaborated with teachers and administration through oral and written communication in order to improve the aftercare environment.
Zippia’s AI can customize your resume for you.
Add an education section to your resume
- The highest degree you have achieved.
- TWhere you attended school, and the dates (Although if you graduated some time ago, leave the date off to avoid ageism)
- TField of study
- TAny honors, relevant coursework, achievements, or pertinent activities
Here are some examples of good education entries for resumes:
Bachelor's Degree in psychology
Arizona State University, Phoenix, AZ
2005 - 2008
High School Diploma
2018 - 2018
Highlight your direct support staff certifications on your resume
Certifications are a great way to showcase special expertise or niche skills. Some jobs even require certifications to be hired.
To list, use the full name of the certification and the organization that issued it, along with the date of achievement.
If you have any of these certifications, be sure to include them on your direct support staff resume:
- Medical Assistant
- Medical G.A.S. Installer (Med)
- Basic Life Support for Healthcare and Public Safety (BLS)
- Medication Aide Certification (MACE)
- Direct Support Professional- Certified (DSP-C)
- Certified Medical Administrative Assistant (CMAA)
- Certified Billing and Coding Specialist (CBCS)
- Certified Medical Office Manager (CMOM)
- Basic Life Support (BLS)
- Certified Clinical Medical Assistant (NHA)