Embarking on a career as an NHS Healthcare Assistant requires a CV that showcases your compassion, dedication, and essential healthcare skills.
To guide you through the process of presenting your experience and qualifications most effectively, we’ve created this handy NHS Healthcare Assistant CV writing guide.
Refer to our NHS Healthcare Assistant CV example for a comprehensive illustration of how to craft an interview-winning profile.
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NHS Healthcare Assistant CV example
This is a good example of a NHS Healthcare Assistant CV which is professionally formatted, and structured in a way that allows recruiters to easily find and understand the candidate’s key selling points.
Take some time to look at this CV and refer to it throughout the writing of your own CV for best results.
NHS Healthcare Assistant CV format and structure
Think your CV is just about the content within it? Think again.
Your CV needs to look professional and be easy for recruiters to read, meaning the structure and format of your CV are just as important as the written content within it.
Facilitate ease of reading by using a simple structure which allows anybody to easily navigate your experience.
Tips for formatting your NHS Healthcare Assistant CV
- Length: If you want to hold the reader’s attention and ensure your CV isn’t yawn-worthy, it’s best to stick to two sides of A4 or less. This is more than enough room to highlight why you’re a good match for the role – anything more can quickly become tedious!
- Readability: By formatting your section headings with bold or a different colour font and using bullet points to break up large blocks of text, you can help busy recruiters quickly scan through your CV. This makes it easier for them to find important details without wasting time.
- Design & format: Your CV needs to look professional, sleek and easy to read. A subtle colour palette, clear font and simple design are generally best for this, as fancy designs are often harder to navigate.
- Photos: Headshot photos aren’t required in a CV by most employers, but some creative and artistic industries like to see them. If you decide to include one, make sure you look smart and professional in the picture.
Quick tip: Creating a professional CV style can be difficult and time-consuming when using Microsoft Word or Google Docs. To create a winning CV quickly, try our quick-and-easy CV Builder and use one of our eye-catching professional CV templates.
CV structure
As you write your CV, work to the simple but effective structure below:
- Name and contact details – Pop them at the top of your CV, so it’s easy for recruiters to contact you.
- CV profile – Write a snappy overview of what makes you a good fit for the role; discussing your key experience, skills and accomplishments.
- Core skills section – Add a short but snappy list of your relevant skills and knowledge.
- Work experience – A list of your relevant work experience, starting with your current role.
- Education – A summary of your relevant qualifications and professional/vocational training.
- Hobbies and interests – An optional sections, which you could use to write a short description of any relevant hobbies or interests.
Now you understand the basic layout of a CV, here’s what you should include in each section of yours.
Contact Details
Begin by sharing your contact details, so it’s easy for employers to give you a call.
Keep to the basics, such as:
- Mobile number
- Email address – It should sound professional, with no slang or nicknames. Make a new one for your job applications if necessary.
- Location – Simply share your vague location, for example ‘Manchester’, rather than a full address.
- LinkedIn profile or portfolio URL – Remember to update them before you send your application.
NHS Healthcare Assistant CV Profile
Your CV profile (or personal statement, if you’re an entry-level applicant) provides a brief overview of your skills, abilities and suitability for a position.
It’s ideal for busy recruiters and hiring managers, who don’t want to waste time reading unsuitable applications.
Think of it as your personal sales pitch. You’ve got just a few lines to sell yourself and prove you’re a great match for the job – make it count!
How to write a good CV profile:
- Make it short and sharp: Recruiters have piles of CVs to read through and limited time to dedicate to each, so it pays to showcase your abilities in as few words as possible. 3-4 lines is ideal.
- Tailor it: The biggest CV mistake? A generic, mass-produced document which is sent out to tens of employers. If you want to land an interview, you need to tailor your CV profile (and your application as a whole) to the specific roles you’re applying for. So, before you start writing, remember to read over those job descriptions and make a list of the skills, knowledge and experience the employers are looking for.
- Don’t add an objective: Leave your career objectives or goals out of your profile. You only have limited space to work with, so they’re best suited to your cover letter.
- Avoid generic phrases: Cheesy clichès and generic phrases won’t impress recruiters, who read the same statements several times per day. Impress them with your skill-set, experience and accomplishments instead!
Example CV profile for NHS Healthcare Assistant
What to include in your NHS Healthcare Assistant CV profile?
- Experience overview: To give employers an idea of your capabilities, show them your track record by giving an overview of the types of companies you have worked for in the past and the roles you have carried out for previous employers – but keep it high level and save the details for your experience section.
- Targeted skills: Employers need to know what skills you can bring to their organisation, and ideally they want to see skills that match their job vacancy. So, research your target roles thoroughly and add the most important NHS Healthcare Assistant skills to your profile.
- Important qualifications: If you have any qualifications which are highly relevant to NHS Healthcare Assistant jobs, then highlight them in your profile so that employers do not miss them.
Quick tip: If you are finding it difficult to write an attention-grabbing CV profile, choose from hundreds of pre-written profiles across all industries, and add one to your CV with one click in our quick-and-easy CV Builder. All profiles are written by recruitment experts and easily tailored to suit your unique skillset.
Core skills section
To ensure that your most relevant skills catch the eye of readers, create a core skills section below your profile.
This section should be presented in 2-3 columns of bullet points highlighting your applicable skills. Before crafting this section, carefully examine the job description and create a list of any required skills, specialisms, or knowledge.
Use this list to include the necessary information in your section and present yourself as the ideal match for the position.
Important skills for your NHS Healthcare Assistant CV
Clinical Observations – Recording and monitoring patients’ vital signs like blood pressure, temperature, and heart rate to ensure their well-being.
Patient Mobility Assistance – Aiding patients with mobility, including using hoists or support techniques to help them move safely and comfortably.
Infection Control – Applying stringent infection control measures including the proper use of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to minimise the spread of infections.
Wound Care – Administering basic wound care, including dressing changes and monitoring signs of infection as part of patient treatment plans.
Feeding and Nutrition Support – Assisting patients with their nutritional needs, including oral feeding or via nasogastric tubes as required.
Medication Administration – Dispensing prescribed medications to patients under the supervision of a nurse or a physician, following strict protocols.
Health and Safety Compliance – Adhering to health and safety guidelines to ensure a safe environment for patients, staff, and visitors.
Sample Collection – Collecting various patient samples such as blood, urine, or swabs for diagnostic testing.
Personal Care Provision – Delivering personal care to patients, including bathing, dressing, and toileting, while maintaining dignity and privacy.
Record Keeping – Accurately documenting patient care and interventions in their health records for continuity of care and legal compliance.
Quick tip: Our quick-and-easy CV Builder has thousands of in-demand skills for all industries and professions, that can be added to your CV in seconds – This will save you time and ensure you get noticed by recruiters.
Work experience
Now it’s time to get stuck into your work experience, which should make up the bulk of your CV.
Begin with your current (or most recent) job, and work your way backwards.
If you’ve got too much experience to fit onto two pages, prioritise space for your most recent and relevant roles.
Structuring each job
The structure of your work experience section can seriously affect its impact.
This is generally the biggest section of a CV, and with no thought to structure, it can look bulky and important information can get lost.
Use my 3-step structure below to allow for easy navigation, so employers can find what they are looking for:
Outline
Start with a 1-2 sentence summary of your role as a whole, detailing what the goal of your position was, who you reported to or managed, and the type of organisation you worked for.
Key responsibilities
Next up, you should write a short list of your day-to-day duties within the job.
Recruiters are most interested in your sector-specific skills and knowledge, so highlight these wherever possible.
Key achievements
To finish off each role and prove the impact you made, list 1-3 stand out achievements, results or accomplishments.
This could be anything which had a positive outcome for the company you worked for, or perhaps a client/customer.
Where applicable, quantify your examples with facts and figures.
Sample job description for NHS Healthcare Assistant CV
Outline
Work on an 18-bed surgical ward at a large NHS hospital, supporting the clinical team and providing outstanding patient care.
Key Responsibilities
- Perform and record non-clinical tests such as blood pressure and heart rate.
- Assist patients with washing and using hygiene facilities, utilising equipment such as commodes, wet rooms and chair lifts.
- Distribute food and drinks during meal times, assisting patients in eating if needed.
- Catheterise patients in the absence of a nurse or doctor, or in an emergency.
Quick tip: Create impressive job descriptions easily in our quick-and-easy CV Builder by adding pre-written job phrases for every industry and career stage.
Education section
Although there should be mentions of your highest and most relevant qualifications earlier on in your CV, save your exhaustive list of qualifications for the bottom.
If you’re an experienced candidate, simply include the qualifications that are highly relevant to NHS Healthcare Assistant roles.
However, less experienced candidates can provide a more thorough list of qualifications, including A-Levels and GCSEs.
You can also dedicate more space to your degree, discussing relevant exams, assignments and modules in more detail, if your target employers consider them to be important.
Hobbies and interests
Although this is an optional section, it can be useful if your hobbies and interests will add further depth to your CV.
Interests which are related to the sector you are applying to, or which show transferable skills like leadership or teamwork, can worth listing.
On the other hand, generic hobbies like “going out with friends” won’t add any value to your application, so are best left off your CV.
Creating a strong NHS Healthcare Assistant CV requires a blend of punchy content, considered structure and format, and heavy tailoring.
By creating a punchy profile and core skills list, you’ll be able to hook recruiter’s attention and ensure your CV gets read.
Remember that research and relevance is the key to a good CV, so research your target roles before you start writing and pack your CV with relevant skills.
Best of luck with your next application!