How to hire a personal support worker

How to hire a personal support worker, step by step

Here's a step-by-step personal support worker hiring guide:

• Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
• Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
• Step 3: Make a budget
• Step 4: Write a personal support worker job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new personal support worker
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   Before you start hiring a personal support worker, identify what type of worker you actually need. Certain positions might call for a full-time employee, while others can be done by a part-time worker or contractor.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

   Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

   Yes

   No

   A personal support worker's background is also an important factor in determining whether they'll be a good fit for the position. For example, personal support workers from different industries or fields will have radically different experiences and will bring different viewpoints to the role. You also need to consider the candidate's previous level of experience to make sure they'll be comfortable with the job's level of seniority.

   Here's a comparison of personal support worker salaries for various roles:

   Type of Personal Support Worker	Description	Hourly rate
   Personal Support Worker	Personal care aides help clients with self-care and everyday tasks. They also provide social supports and assistance that enable clients to participate in their communities.	$12-25
   Direct Care Staffer	A Direct Care Staffer specializes in providing personal care and supervision to the disabled or elderly. Among the responsibilities include administering medication, managing schedules, assisting in hygienic tasks, preparing meals, and doing light to moderate household chores... Show more	$9-22
   Companion	A companion is responsible for assisting sick and recovered patients, as well as the elderly. Companions perform housekeeping duties, ensuring that a facility is well-maintained and safe for the use of the patients... Show more	$10-18

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • CPR
   • Meal Preparation
   • Home Health
   • Developmental Disabilities
   • Direct Care
   • Support Person
   • Companionship
   • Intellectual Disabilities
   • Cerebral Palsy
   • Community Resources
   • ADL
   • Food Preparation
   • Vital Signs
   • Patient Care

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Assist patient in performing ADL's daily.
   • Perform first aid or CPR when need.
   • SKIP, CPR, Defibulator and CDL certify.
   • Provide assistance for patients with alzheimer's and dementia in their home.
   • Provide community support, ADL care, medication administration, clinical documentation
   • Dispense medication to individuals with disabilities by distributing and administering medications according to the AMAP policy and procedures.

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your personal support worker job description is a great way to entice the best and brightest candidates. A personal support worker salary can vary based on several factors:

   • Location. For example, personal support workers' average salary in north dakota is 46% less than in hawaii.
   • Seniority. Entry-level personal support workers earn 54% less than senior-level personal support workers.
   • Certifications. A personal support worker with a few certifications under their belt will likely demand a higher salary.
   • Company. Working for a prestigious company or an exciting start-up can make a huge difference in a personal support worker's salary.

   Average personal support worker salary

   $37,301yearly

   $17.93 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level personal support worker salary

   $25,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 14, 2025

4. Writing a personal support worker job description

   A job description for a personal support worker role includes a summary of the job's main responsibilities, required skills, and preferred background experience. Including a salary range can also go a long way in attracting more candidates to apply, and showing the first name of the hiring manager can also make applicants more comfortable. As an example, here's a personal support worker job description:

   Personal support worker job description example

   Bay Cove Human Services has been recognized by the Boston Globe as one of the Top Places to Work in 2021. This is the sixth year that Bay Cove has been acknowledged for this distinction.
   Bonus - $750 for every 200 hours worked up to $3,000.
   Job Summary:
   This position is responsible for enforcing the policies and procedures of the program, help maintain a safe environment for the clients, and provide support in the framework of recovery from substance abuse and alcoholism.
   
   Essential Job Duties and Responsibilities (may include some or all of the following, based on modality): Respond appropriately to any emergency situation. Contact on-call staff when necessary. Oversee and monitor the proper distribution and intake of all client medication. Provide care for program participants and maintain order by monitoring client activities, providing crisis intervention and resolving conflicts, as needed. Maintain all safety and security policies and procedures, including bed checks, building security, and fire safety. Maintain daily logs. Monitor and maintain inventory of all program supplies, and assist staff responsible for purchasing of all supplies, as needed. Food preparation, planning, management, and service on a daily basis, as needed. Attend staff meetings as scheduled. Other duties as assigned.
   
   Decisions Made on Own
   
   Enforcement of all program policies and procedures as they pertain to clients, and maintaining protocols in the event of making spot decisions relative to a client's health and safety, including crisis interventions, referrals, and restrictions. Make 911 emergency calls, if necessary. Make decisions as to when a situation needs to be brought to the attention of the Program Director or Senior Treatment Coordinator.
   
   Decisions Requiring Approval
   
   Issues related to client discipline or restriction. Any changes or additions regarding client medication must be brought to the attention of the Program Director.
   
   Education and/or Experience Required
   
   High School Diploma or GED Knowledge of modality specific issues, such as substance abuse or homelessness. Must be knowledgeable with the Confidentiality of Alcohol and Drug Abuse Patient Record (Title 42CFR-Part 2)
   
   Skills Required
   
   Good written and verbal communication skills. Ability to follow and enforce the policies and procedures of the program. Be able to work independently. Ability to perform assigned duties while maintaining a perspective as to the place occupied in the rehabilitative community. Able to accept supervision and be part of a team. Ability to manage stress. Ability to respond physically to needs of the clients or other house issues on all floors.
   
   Certificates, Licenses, Registration Required
   
   CPR/First Aid Training Must stay current with any modality required training, including but not limited to HIV/AIDS, Hep C, Narcan, Servsafe, Crisis Intervention, Harassment, etc. A COVID-19 vaccination is a requirement of the position. One COVID-19 shot is acceptable, contingent on the individual receiving the second shot within the allotted time frame.
   
   Physical and Mental Demands
   
   (The Physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform essential functions.) The employee may regularly be required to sit, stand, use hands, talk, hear, reach with arms, walk, climb, balance, stoop, kneel, crouch, crawl or run. The employee may regularly be required to move, by pushing, pulling or lifting up to 25 pounds.
   The employee may be required to use kitchen equipment such as meat slicers and other kitchen appliances. Further, the employee must be mentally fit enough to exercise sound judgment, remain calm under pressure and establish firm boundaries in order to effectively address client concerns and/or respond to emergencies as they arise.
   
   Work Environment
   
   While performing the duties of this job the employee will be exposed to active substance abuse. You may be exposed to clients that bring traumatic personal histories and vulnerability. The noise level in the work environment is usually loud, moderate, quiet (circle one). Clients very regularly present with long histories of trauma and co-occurring physical and psychiatric disorders. Further, the nature of work in this field involves various uncertain, unpredictable and potentially dangerous situations. Occasionally the employee may encounter individuals who are actively abusing alcohol or other drugs; (s)he may be responsible for responding to emergencies as they arise including administering First Aid, CPR or Narcan or by contacting medical or law enforcement professionals to do so.
   
   Other details
   Pay Type Hourly
   Apply Now

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5. Post your job

   There are a few common ways to find personal support workers for your business:

   • Promoting internally or recruiting from your existing workforce.
   • Ask for referrals from friends, family members, and current employees.
   • Attend job fairs at local colleges to meet candidates with the right educational background.
   • Use social media platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter to recruit passive job-seekers.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your personal support worker job on Zippia to find and recruit personal support worker candidates who meet your exact specifications.
   • Use field-specific websites.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   To successfully recruit personal support workers, your first interview needs to engage with candidates to learn about their interest in the role and experience in the field. You can go into more detail about the company, the role, and the responsibilities during follow-up interviews.

   You should also ask about candidates' unique skills and talents to see if they match the ideal candidate profile you developed earlier. Candidates good enough for the next step can complete the technical interview.

   The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.

7. Send a job offer and onboard your new personal support worker

   Once you've decided on a perfect personal support worker candidate, it's time to write an offer letter. In addition to salary, it should include benefits and perks available to the employee. Qualified candidates may be considered for other positions, so make sure your offer is competitive. Candidates may wish to negotiate. Once you've settled on the details, formalize your agreement with a contract.

   It's also good etiquette to follow up with applicants who don't get the job by sending them an email letting them know that the position has been filled.

   To prepare for the new employee's start date, you can create an onboarding schedule and complete any necessary paperwork, such as employee action forms and onboarding documents like I-9 forms, benefits enrollment, and federal and state tax forms. Human Resources should also ensure that a new employee file is created.

8. Go through the hiring process checklist

   • Determine employee type (full-time, part-time, contractor, etc.)
   • Submit a job requisition form to the HR department
   • Define job responsibilities and requirements
   • Establish budget and timeline
   • Determine hiring decision makers for the role
   • Write job description
   • Post job on job boards, company website, etc.
   • Promote the job internally
   • Process applications through applicant tracking system
   • Review resumes and cover letters
   • Shortlist candidates for screening
   • Hold phone/virtual interview screening with first round of candidates
   • Conduct in-person interviews with top candidates from first round
   • Score candidates based on weighted criteria (e.g., experience, education, background, cultural fit, skill set, etc.)
   • Conduct background checks on top candidates
   • Check references of top candidates
   • Consult with HR and hiring decision makers on job offer specifics
   • Extend offer to top candidate(s)
   • Receive formal job offer acceptance and signed employment contract
   • Inform other candidates that the position has been filled
   • Set and communicate onboarding schedule to new hire(s)
   • Complete new hire paperwork (i9, benefits enrollment, tax forms, etc.)

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