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Youth worker skills for your resume and career

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Quoted experts

Dr. Carla Alphonso,

Christina Erickson Ph.D.

Below we've compiled a list of the most critical youth worker skills. We ranked the top skills for youth workers based on the percentage of resumes they appeared on. For example, 11.8% of youth worker resumes contained direct supervision as a skill. Continue reading to find out what skills a youth worker needs to be successful in the workplace.

15 youth worker skills for your resume and career

1. Direct Supervision

Direct supervision is a term used to indicate that a person is supervising a certain task or a certain person while being physically present or in close proximity. It refers to the presence of a person and the availability of their supervision in something if it is needed.

Here's how youth workers use direct supervision:

Provided direct supervision to at least 32 juveniles in a residential setting between the ages of 12 and 18.
Direct supervision of RCH residents, provide a safe and secure environment for residents and staff.

2. CPR

Cardiopulmonary resuscitation or CPR is a medical procedure that involves chest compression to help a patient breathe. This artificial ventilation helps in keeping the brain function in place and regulates blood throughout the body. CPR is a lifesaving procedure that is used in emergencies.

Here's how youth workers use cpr:

Keep facility clean by removing contraband and trash *Certification in First Aid and CPR *Certification in Handle With Care Restraint Techniques
Certified in CPR, First Aid and Therapeutic Crisis Intervention.

3. Crisis Intervention

Here's how youth workers use crisis intervention:

Demonstrated proactive, appropriate, and effective approaches with residents while maintaining self-control during crisis interventions with behavior management techniques.
Implemented behavior management to include crisis intervention as well as oversight of daily living and social skills of resident adolescents.

4. at-Risk Youth

A child who is unlikely to transition successfully into adulthood is considered an at-risk youth. Success can mean job readiness, academic success, or competence to be financially independent. It may also refer to the ability to avoid a life of crime by becoming a positive representative of society. At-risk students may show/have to show indifference for academics, low educational performance, absenteeism, disconnect from the school, emotional, and behavioral problems.

Here's how youth workers use at-risk youth:

Monitored daily behavior and provided individual and group counseling with at-risk youth.
Supervised daily self-care activities for at-risk youth in residential shelter.

5. Youth Development

Youth Development is a gradual process that is designed to equip a young person, teenager, or adolescent with the necessary skills and mindset to grow into a mature and successful adult. This involves initiating activities that will help the youth advance mentally, socially, psychologically and grow in cognitive reasoning. The activities may include community service, mentoring programs, physical training, skill training, and many other innovative ways the youth development expert can come up with to achieve the goal.

Here's how youth workers use youth development:

Plan, develop, and implement academic enrichment, positive youth development and recreational activities for elementary school student in after-school program
Perform intake, assessment and service coordination utilizing positive youth development.

6. Role Model

A role model is a person with desirable qualities who inspires other people to emulate their example.

Here's how youth workers use role model:

Serve as a positive role model utilizing behavior modification techniques to increase desirable behaviors.
Respect human diversity by demonstrating role modeling cultural competency.

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7. 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 youth workers use child care:

Provided Child Care support for grade levels Kindergarten through Fourth grade with groups of up to 30 children.
Experience dealing with various issues, including mental health, substance abuse, physical abuse and child care.

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 youth workers use mental health:

Provide rehabilitation services to children with substance abuse/mental health problems.
Worked as a professional with at risk youth who have varying degrees of mental health diagnoses and substance abuse issues.

9. Support Services

Support services are services that support the organization internally and are usually non-revenue generating. Examples include, IT, admin, HR, etc.

Here's how youth workers use support services:

Provided technical resources and educational support services for the economically disadvantaged.
Provided tutoring support services to students with academic and learning disabilities.

10. Incident Reports

An Incident Report, in a medical facility such as hospitals and nursing homes, is a type of paperwork filled out immediately after and in the case of an incident of some sort, with the goal of describing the incident and its consequences, as well as the measurements taken after or during the incident, as well as any other information relevant to said incident. Such an incident might be a patient acting out or a patient being injured.

Here's how youth workers use incident reports:

Documented flow sheets, processed incident reports, and documented medications dispensed.
Submitted written documentation including unusual incident reports on a daily basis.

11. Youth Program

Here's how youth workers use youth program:

Modeled positive relationships for youth * Provided direct service delivery of hands-on academic and social activities in an evening youth program.
Developed and spearheaded youth programs which are designed to facilitate successful transition to adulthood.

12. Substance Abuse

Here's how youth workers use substance abuse:

Helped clients create positive alternatives to substance abuse and self-destructive behaviors.
Planned, developed and implemented substance abuse prevention/education programs.

13. Community Services

Community ѕеrvісе is аn unраіd activity in which аn individual оr grоuр еngаgеѕ tо bеnеfіt thе lосаl, nаtіоnаl оr glоbаl соmmunіtу. It іѕ also uѕеd as аn аltеrnаtіvе to imprisonment аnd іѕ intended tо connect offenders to the victim or society ѕо thаt they can undеrѕtаnd how their асtіоnѕ аffесt оthеrѕ.

Here's how youth workers use community services:

Communicate information about community services and resources available for young people.
Provided information about community services and resources available for youth.

14. Independent Living

Here's how youth workers use independent living:

Assisted in developing mental and personal growth towards placement or independent living through therapeutic relationships and implementation of the level system.
Provided supervision and advocacy through enrichment activities and taught proper display of social skills toward independent living.

15. Meal Preparation

Here's how youth workers use meal preparation:

Assist the participants in developing their Life Skills with meal planning, grocery shopping, budgeting and meal preparation.
Operated a 16 room facility with meal preparation, accompanied youths on scheduled appointments and field trips.

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What skills help Youth Workers find jobs?

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

What skills stand out on youth worker resumes?

Dr. Carla Alphonso

Professor of Sociology, Presbyterian College

Skills involving data collection and analysis remain important, and are one of the qualities that help sociology majors to stand out compared to their peers. Communication skills, especially strong writing skills but also confident, effective public speaking, are helpful in today's job market. Sociology students are also well-positioned in terms of problem solving and critical thinking skills. Many jobs that our students enter need applicants who are solutions-focused, and sociology helps students in that area.

What youth worker skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?

Christina Erickson Ph.D.

Professor and Director of the Bachelor of Social Work Program, Augsburg University

Gap years are welcome for students. Generally, I see a great deal of maturity as students move through the four years of college and this is necessary to prepare them for the demands of being a professional social worker. A gap year often increases the maturity level of students and can provide rich experiences that prepare them for college. A good gap year for a social work student includes human interactions that require students to work across human differences. That difference can be in a variety of forms, age, culture, gender, faith tradition, experiences, or even ways of thinking. What matters most is the student's ability to describe their own growth as they worked across those differences. Not about how other people changed because of their interaction, but how they changed to meet their goals and learn from others. Experience solving problems is helpful, too. Even learning how to take the first steps to deal with a challenge and being able to describe the steps, grows critical thinking and evaluation skills important for the most successful social work practitioners.

What type of skills will young youth workers 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 soft skills should all youth workers possess?

Isaac Karikari Ph.D.

MSW Program Director, Chemical Dependency Minor, Assistant Professor, University of North Dakota

By default, social work practice is integrative. The levels of practice, broadly speaking, the micro-and macro-levels, intersect in ways that may not always be apparent. The capacity for critical and analytical thinking in identifying the nuances, seeing how these levels intersect, and understanding the implications for clients is essential for effective practice.
Relatedly, social work practice involves working with a diverse array of people across different systems and levels. A social worker needs to be able to navigate these systems. Systems thinking and the person-in-environment perspective are relevant.
Good interpersonal and communication skills are essential in helping one build and make the needed connections. These skills apply across the micro and macro levels.
The capacity to work collaboratively and with interdisciplinary teams is important. Other skills include genuinely demonstrating respect, empathy, reliability, integrity, and adaptability. Forbearance and emotional intelligence are often understated.
Social workers also need to have grit. Achieving and maintaining successful outcomes can be challenging.

What hard/technical skills are most important for youth workers?

Michelle Kelley Shuler Ph.D.

Department Chair: Human Services, Austin Community College

a. Must have strong basic computer skills and knowledge of software such as excel spreadsheets, google docs, etc. Most, if not all, agencies use electronic health records and treatment planning, so it is necessary to be competent in this area.
b. A degree and additional certifications will assist you in seeking employment. It will also increase your level of competency and diversify the communities you serve. For example, at Austin Community College, we offer our students a chance to complete a certification in Mental Health First Aid Training. This increases their marketability and skill level.

Do you want to know more?

List of youth worker skills to add to your resume

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

Direct Supervision
CPR
Crisis Intervention
at-Risk Youth
Youth Development
Role Model
Child Care
Mental Health
Support Services
Incident Reports
Youth Program
Substance Abuse
Community Services

Independent Living
Meal Preparation
Community Resources
Direct Care
Conflict Resolution
Mathematics
Group Sessions
DCF
Summer Youth
Front Desk
Behavioral Problems
Behavioral Issues
Social Development

Community Events
Behavioral Management
Anger Management
Summer Program
Leadership
Homeless Youth
Received Training
Crisis Situations
Residential Facility
Bible
Healthy Environment
Delinquent Youth
Juvenile Offenders

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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