Contents
- 1 What’s the best answer to why do you want to work here
- 2 What do you say when applying for a care job
- 3 What are your strengths as a care worker
- 4 Why are you interested in this job
- 5 What inspires you to be a support worker
- 6 Why do I love my job as a carer
- 7 What qualities will you bring to the role
- 8 What are your weaknesses in care
- 9 What interested you in this position
- 10 How to write an application letter for care taker job
What’s the best answer to why do you want to work here
Delivering a smooth response to ‘Why do you want to work here?’ – In an actual interview situation, you want to deliver your prepared answer in a polished but natural way. Consider using one of the following lead-ins as the inspiration for crafting your tailored response:
“I see this opportunity as a way to contribute to an exciting/forward-thinking/fast-moving company/industry, and I feel I can do so by/with my ” “I feel my skills are particularly well-suited to this position because ” “I believe I have the type of knowledge to succeed in this role and at the company because ” “I’m excited about this job opportunity, as it would allow me to ”
When faced with the question “Why do you want to work here?” (or other challenging ones like ” Tell me about yourself ” and ” What are your greatest weaknesses? “), some job seekers freeze up, worried they’ll say the wrong thing. But if you anticipate the question and take time to prepare an answer before the interview, you’ll avoid feeling flummoxed — and your chances of hitting the mark with a winning answer will rise.
Why do you want to be a care support worker?
What’s your reason for leaving your current job? – If you’re currently employed, the interviewer will want to know why you want to leave so they may ask you about your current role. This Support Worker interview question is aimed at ensuring transparency with your work history.
- Stick to the facts and mention any hopes you have for your next job.
- Sample answer: “I am looking for a more rewarding job where I can see my actions are making a positive difference.
- I want to meet and support a variety of people.
- I believe this is a position where I can learn a lot and develop my skills.
In my current role, I don’t interact with clients often. Relationship-building and supporting people is a passion of mine, which is why I believe this role will allow me to explore and develop this passion at a greater level.”
What do you say when applying for a care job
Example 1 – No Previous Experience – Dear Mr Smith, I am writing to you today regarding the Care Worker position advertised on The XX (name of company) website. I would be a great candidate for this role as I have a passion to care for people due to caring for my elderly grandparents for the past four years.
- It would be an honour to work for (name of company) as I believe I share the same values such as compassion, respect and integrity.
- Previously, I have worked in different positions in retail which I believe has developed my skills greatly.
- These skills include active listening, organisation, and time-management, which are all essential skills for the role of a Care Assistant.
Consequently, I find it easy to listen to and understand people’s needs; being organised and able to manage my time effectively means I stay on top of tasks and am always on time for meetings and appointments. Caring for my elderly grandparents has created a desire in me to help make a positive difference in people’s lives.
- In doing so, I have learnt how to be patient and how to support them with their needs whilst ensuring their dignity and independence are of utmost importance.
- Therefore, I would appreciate the opportunity to work for (name of company) so I may continue this role as a career.
- I would like to thank you for taking the time to consider my application for this position.
My passion would make me a great fit for the role of a Care Worker and I would make a positive impact being a part of your team. I look forward to hearing from you to arrange an interview for this role. Yours sincerely, Katherine Duprez
What are your strengths as a care worker
What are your strengths as a caregiver? By Natalie Strouth Are you aware of your individual caregiver strengths? What about your internal resources? What is your greatest strength as a family caregiver?
- Once you recognize the internal resources you already have, you can develop an action plan to utilize these resources to counteract difficulties and challenges you face in the context of caregiving.
- It is extremely important for you to be able to identify your caregiver strengths and then draw on them to shape your caregiving.
- Family caregivers can sometimes feel “swallowed up” by the ongoing demands of the caregiving role and caregiver responsibilities. With reflection and focus on the strengths and capabilities you bring to this role, you can:
- Take greater control over your experiences
- Feel more competent
- Enhance your well-being
- And ultimately, be a happier person
What are your caregiver strengths? Discovering your own strengths may initially be a difficult undertaking because you may have been very focused on the person you have been caring for and haven’t turned your attention inward. Identifying and being aware of your caregiver strengths will serve both you and the person you’re caring for.
Once you recognize the internal resources you already have, you can develop an action plan to utilize these resources to counteract difficulties and challenges you face in the context of caregiving. Finally, think about personal strengths in the broadest of ways. That is, any inner quality that assists you in dealing with the challenges of life — any inner quality that assists you — is a personal strength.
In this way, you may discover hidden caregiver strengths or internal resources of which you had been previously unaware. French novelist Marcel Proust said, “The only real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes.” You will notice that these traits or strengths are not necessarily unique to caregiving.
- Resilience – The ability to withstand or recover quickly from difficult conditions; I can negotiate for what I need and navigate systems.
- Patience – The capacity to accept or tolerate delay, trouble, or suffering without getting angry or upset.
- Flexibility – Ready and able to change so as to adapt to different circumstances; accept what is happening in the moment.
- Compassion – The ability to translate empathic feelings into action (desire to alleviate suffering).
- Optimism – Expect a favourable or positive outcome.
- Confidence – Sure of one’s self and one’s abilities.
- Organization – Methodical and efficient in arrangement or function.
- Ability to Laugh – To easily see and appreciate the humour in the situation.
What are your personal strengths? How many of these traits do you possess? Can you think of more strengths that aren’t on this list? Caregiver Strengths Exercise To identify and acknowledge your personal caregiver strengths, set aside a few minutes for personal reflection. Ask yourself the following questions:
- What gives me energy?
- What am I good at? What do I do best? What do I do well?
- What am I naturally good at? What comes naturally to me?
- What are my best character traits?
- What things do I look forward to doing?
- When faced with challenges or adversity, what strengths do I bring to these challenges?
- What do I handle well?
This is no time for false humility. Do not censor or judge yourself. This is a time for honest reflection on what you do well. It may be an activity, a character trait, a situation, or some combination of all of these. If you find it difficult to assess your caregiver strengths, ask your best friend or someone who knows you well to answer these questions about you.
- In the context of your work life, what would others say are your strengths? If you were applying for a job today, what would you identify as your strengths (you know they are going to ask you this question!).
- Caregiver Strengths Exercise The following statements will help you focus in on your strengths as a family caregiver.
Your task is to decide the strength of your agreement with each statement, using the following scale:
- All the time
- Sometimes
- Hardly ever
There are no “right” or “wrong” answers. Select the number that most closely reflects you. Take your time and consider each statement carefully. I see myself as someone who is
- Resilient ( All the Time, Sometimes, or Hardly Ever – Record your rating )
- Patient
- Flexible
- Compassionate
- Optimistic
- Confident
- Organized
- Able to laugh easily/see the humour in the situation
- Harnessing your caregiver strengths
- Now that you have identified and acknowledged your personal caregiver strengths you can decide to consciously approach your caregiving by harnessing these strengths and applying them to your family caregiving experiences and activities.
- Conversely, what has likely emerged is a conscious understanding of what your greatest challenges are and where you are not at your best.
It is equally important to have this awareness because you can develop a to manage these challenges. Try to limit them to the bare minimum, delegate them to someone else for whom they are strengths, and/or make a decision and plan to nurture and enhance your challenges.
In the field of positive psychology, recent research 1 supports that it is entirely possible to cultivate or further develop traits or personal strengths and it is also possible to strengthen so-called weaknesses. In other words, it is possible for all of us to change how we approach life’s experiences and challenges.
How are you going to harness your caregiver strengths? Look at your list of personal strengths.
- How can you draw upon and really leverage your strengths more as a family caregiver?
- If possible, can you change anything in your caregiving situation to work more with your strengths?
- Can you delegate tasks that don’t align with your strengths?
- On the other hand, are there opportunities for you to work on and strengthen any weaknesses?
- Is there a trait that really matters to you?
Is this an opportunity to set an intention for yourself for the next week? Identify one goal to either leverage a strength more or to further develop and overcome a weakness. Observe any changes that occur when you intentionally put your caregiver strengths into action.
Why are you interested in this job
You can talk about the opportunity to work with a great team, the chance to learn new skills or the potential for growth and advancement within the company. By highlighting these specific factors, you can show your genuine interest in the job and excitement about the potential for this opportunity.
What inspires you to be a support worker
Making A Difference to Those in Need – When you’re asked what motivates you to work in care you may just naturally have a desire to look after other people. Perhaps you don’t have a particular reason, but you’ve always known in your heart that caring for other people is what you want to do.
Regardless of how you approach working in care, you will definitely have a passion for making a difference to people in need, by supporting our customers to remain as independent as possible in the homes they love. At Helping Hands we’ve been providing care at home since 1989; supporting our customers’ dignity and independence for over 30 years.
Therefore, you can have total confidence in us that we’ll give you all the support you need to make a real difference to the lives of everyone you care for.
How do I sell myself as a care assistant?
1. Focus on Your Passion – One of the most common interview questions for entry-level healthcare jobs is simultaneously simple and incredibly complex: Why are you applying for this job? This question is a perfect opportunity to share your enthusiasm for the position and the company itself.
And your response here could be the difference between a job offer and a rejection letter. But, you don’t have to wait for this question to come up to illustrate your passion and interest. Instead of playing the role of passive job applicant, take charge of the interview. Work to sell yourself by sharing what first inspired you to go into healthcare.
Tell them what gets you out of bed every morning. And discuss what excites you most about this company, specifically. A little bit of passion can go a long way in bridging the gap between your skillset and the requirements for the position. Pro tip: Be sure to include researching the company as part of your interview preparation.
How do I sell myself as a support worker?
You can use examples from your own life, interests and passions to show an employer why you care about helping others. Example: ‘I’ve been working in a support worker role for the last five years, but I’ve known I love helping people since I was a teenager. In school, I volunteered at a local care home.
Why do I love my job as a carer
Working as a carer is a job like no other. If you’re interested in a career where you can see the difference your work makes every single day then care work might just be the perfect choice for you. We’ve put together a list of some of our favourite things about being a CareAngel
The feel good factor – Working as a CareAngel can be one of the most rewarding ways to help your community. Our clients are always so grateful for the support that they receive and recognise just how important our work is. You can’t beat the satisfied feeling of knowing that you’ve helped put a smile on someone’s face. Domiciliary carers provide the opportunity for people to remain largely independent in their own homes instead of having to rely on family and friends whom have their own busy lives. Just knowing how much you matter to your clients goes a long way to providing that all important job satisfaction. Flexibility – The great thing about working in home care is how flexible it is. Whether you’d prefer to work part time, full time, nights or even as a Live-In CareAngel there’s work to fit in with your schedule. Most importantly, a contract can be agreed confirming guaranteed hours which means there will be no worries come pay day. Training and qualifications – When you’re working in healthcare, it’s very important to be properly trained for the responsibilities that you will be given and the challenges that you may face. Most care companies will facilitate training and there are different types of funding that can be accessed to assist with this. Qualifications such as a Health and Social Care Diploma / NVQ (which we offer at Guardian Angels) are nationally recognised and can be obtained whilst you work. Every day is different – Care visits aren’t always about preparing food or helping with personal hygiene. There are so many different services offered – you could be walking a dog one hour and then driving a client to a show or activity group in the next. At Guardian Angels we also offer domestic support and companionship so one of your jobs for the day could well be having a cup of tea and a chat with one of your clients. The people you meet – With such a diverse range of clients and colleagues, one of the best things about being a CareAngel is constantly meeting new, interesting people. A career in care gives you the chance to get to know individuals that you otherwise might not have come across. People of all ages with differing experiences and lots of stories to tell. There’s also the opportunity to develop your skills and knowledge inside of a solid support structure of colleagues. There’s no substitute for working with those who have the benefit of years of knowledge and experience in the industry. The benefits – Depending on the company you work for, various perks and benefits may apply. This is certainly true of working for Guardian Angels! Not only do we ensure that our CareAngels are afforded paid holiday and pension contributions, we also provide paid travel and various other benefits. There is even a bonus scheme and a reward for referring a like-minded friend for employment. Career progression – Apart from the aforementioned paid training there are also opportunities to further your career into more senior roles should that be appealing. From Senior Carer to Area Care Manager, you can receive all the skill development needed to get you to where you would like to be.
If you are caring, kind and compassionate by nature and you like what you’ve read, check out our Recruitment page for more information. We currently have some positions available and we’d love to meet you and share our passion for caring for our community.
What qualities will you bring to the role
How to (and how not to) answer the interview question ‘What can you bring to the company?’ – The simple answer to this question is you : you bring all of your skills, qualities, values, interests, academic knowledge, internships and life experience to the company.
But you should never just answer ‘me’. The most impressive graduate-level answers include examples of your achievements and facts about the company: to answer questions like this successfully, you can’t skimp on your employer research! Use what you know about the company to show why you would be a good match.
Think about:
your enthusiasm for the profession and the employer and your desire to make your mark. your personal qualities, such as your drive and willingness to learn. the skills the employer seeks and how you have demonstrated them in the past – your answer should show why you would be competent in the job. some of your achievements: what skills, values or behaviours do they illustrate? How could you use them for the company’s benefit? the company’s values: do you share them? Have you got evidence that you do? Your values are essential because they will drive your behaviour in the workplace. the company’s CSR (corporate social responsibility) activities, such as its charity or community work: do you admire its CSR work? Can you contribute to it? if the company has a number of networking, mentoring or diversity groups, do you want to join them? if your degree is technically based or vocational, what up-to-date knowledge or theory will you bring from it? For example, student engineers will often be taught and be researching the latest technological developments and so may be able to share recent thinking on cutting-edge topics with colleagues who may not have had the time to stay informed on the very latest thinking.
Your answer could include any or all of the above – prioritise the points that your employer research suggests are most important to the company. Neither underselling nor overselling yourself is the way to go with this question: avoid both the ‘Um, not much – me, I suppose’ and ‘Me – because I am the best candidate you will ever interview’ ends of the scale.
You want to come across as someone who has got good self-awareness – who is aware of their strengths and talents but hasn’t exaggerated them. Base your answer on facts and your previous achievements. You should show that you understand the company and know why you would be a good match, but it would be wise to also say that you are aware you have a lot to learn – and that you want to do so at that company.
Get help on answering more difficult interview questions with our article on the top nine tough tricky interview questions and answers, You can try out your answers to a range of tricky interview questions by completing a practice interview using resources from our partners at Shortlist.Me,
What are your weaknesses in care
How to Discuss Your Weaknesses in a Nursing Interview – Most people you meet won’t ask you to point out your shortcomings in everyday conversation, but on job interviews, it’s a standard topic. Fortunately, your interviewer won’t expect you to be too hard on yourself.
Everyone has something they’re great at and something they’re trying to improve upon, and these areas of improvement are the types of “weaknesses” you can mention in your interview. Monster.com suggests you state the professional weakness but emphasize the positive and add your solution for overcoming this shortcoming — because all weaknesses are opportunities for growth.
Any time you mention a weakness, it’s wise to mention what you’re actively doing to overcome the hurdle. This shows that you’re eager to grow professionally and you’re solutions-oriented, which should make you an attractive candidate. This also will show your interviewer that you have the mindset to be willing to learn and change.
- Paying too much attention to detail
- Wanting to do everything at once
- Spending too long on paperwork
- Having a lack of clinical experience (for new grads)
What interested you in this position
Identify specific aspects of the job that excite you, such as the opportunity to work on interesting projects, collaborate with a talented team or learn new skills. Explain how these aspects of the job align with your career goals and interests.
How to write an application letter for care taker job
Dear Hiring Manager, Looking for a reliable Caregiver? Search no further, because I am ready for the job. With over six years’ experience as a Caregiver, I will step in and make an immediate contribution to the Western Avenue Health Services team and ensure your client care goals are met.