As a support worker, you’ve chosen a valuable career in which you often help and guidance to those in need. You are the backbone holding together families or individuals in need. With your communication skills and empathy, you may think the task of writing a support worker cover letter would be a breeze, but getting the attention of hiring managers and patting yourself on the back without bragging are very specific skills.
Your cover letter content will vary depending on the environment in which you choose to work, but the bottom line is that you must convey to hiring managers how you can make the lives of everyone you support easier as you help them run their lives more smoothly.
Support worker full text-only cover letter example
Dear Mrs. Winkerton,
Having spent seven years working in elderly care settings where most residents suffer with dementia, I understand that a support worker needs to do far more than satisfy their basic human needs. I am sensitive to the situation of each individual and their families.
My previous employer ran three care homes in Seattle, all with 100+ residents, 80% of whom had complex mental health needs. I was a lead support worker for dementia care and helped to train the wider team in identifying the right levels of support for our patients.
I am a trustworthy and able colleague and am studying in night school towards a degree in nursing. Putting my patients first is always my priority and understanding more about the theoretical aspects of medical care is helping me to become a better support worker. I mainly worked morning and afternoon shifts and have experience of managing all aspects of care home provision, including:
- Facilitating daily patient nutrition and care routines
- Managing resident documentation and health records
- Coordinating critical and end-of-life care arrangements
- Communicating with families and educating where required
I understand that the role at Oak Lodge offers an opportunity for a flexible work schedule, which is particularly of interest as the care needs of my elderly parents sometimes vary. I am available at short notice as I only live fifteen minutes away and am always happy to help with urgent staffing shortages.
I would welcome the opportunity to visit your care home for an interview to understand the nature of the role. One of my friend’s parents is a resident and she speaks incredibly highly of the standards that you set.
Sincerely,
Theresa Kalpan
Sections of a support worker cover letter
Support workers provided a needed service with compassion and efficiency. A support worker cover letter needs to show that you can have not only the skills, but the temperament for this valuable work. Infuse those qualities into each of the following sections:
- Cover letter header. Start by listing your contact details and the date in an easy-to-follow format.
- Greeting. Start with a friendly hello. Using the name of the hiring manager or the person you will report to opens the door to a personal relationship.
- Introduction. Put your best foot forward, with an opening that expresses your enthusiasm and qualifications.
- Body. Present an efficient, yet compassionate and flexible persona. No wasted time; no wasted words, but clear, honest communication.
- Conclusion. Wrap up your story by summarizing your qualifications and reiterating your interest in the role. Don’t forget a call to action.
- Signature. End with a professional goodbye, including your name.
For more general advice on writing a cover letter, head over to Resume.io’s comprehensive cover letter guide. Below you will find specific advice on how to maximize the effectiveness of each specific letter paragraph and section.
Looking for even more resources to write a great cover letter? Check out Resume.io’s dozens of free cover letter examples complete with sample sentences and tips.
If you’re looking for additional inspiration for cover letter writing, you can check out our related support personnel cover letter examples:
Introduction of a support worker cover letter
You’ve already shaken hands with the recruiter, now you have to keep their interest up. That’s why your cover letter introduction is so important. You have a few sentences to pique a hiring manager’s interest and give them an idea of what’s to come.
Dear Mrs. Winkerton,
Having spent seven years working in elderly care settings where most residents suffer with dementia, I understand that a support worker needs to do far more than satisfy their basic human needs. I am sensitive to the situation of each individual and their families.
Hi!
I love hanging out with my grandparents and think I would make a great support worker for the elderly.
The goal of your support worker cover letter is to answer the question, “Why am I the right person for the job?” With your introduction, you should jump right into describing the experience and successes you have that will intrigue hiring managers and keep them reading.
As a support worker, you probably have a great story of success with a particular client; use that. It tells a lot about how you interact with clients and the services you provide. Carefully look over the job listing to discover what problems the agency is trying to solve by hiring you. Then, give an example of how you have already solved that problem and achieved great results.
The introduction should say, “I’m supportive and here’s how.”
Career coach and author Martin Yate suggests several different ways to address the hiring manager in your support worker cover letter – all of them begin with “Dear” as does our cover letter example above. If you cannot find the name of the hiring manager or your application is going to a hiring committee, you may say “Dear [name of employer] Hiring Committee.” Absolutely do not fall back on the old-fashioned and stilted “To Whom It May Concern.”
Here are five ways to find out to whom you should address your cover letter:
- Look on the company’s website
- Make a phone call to the company (and ask for the correct spelling of the person’s name and their preferred title)
- Search online on LinkedIn or an industry website
- Read the job listing to see if contact information is included
- Research who you would be reporting to and use that person’s name.
Support worker cover letter body
The body, or middle part, of your support worker cover letter gives you some room to expand on your career and inject a bit of personality. You may choose to focus attention on several achievements with a bullet-pointed list that includes data or evidence of your hard work.
Follow these guidelines:
- Describe your skills and experience
- Explain why your philosophy and personality are a great fit for the organization
- End on a high note with a memorable paragraph
- Leave the hiring manager with a call to action that compels them to contact you
First body paragraph: Your suitability for the role (skills & experience)
What makes you the right person for the job? Within the first body paragraph of your support worker cover letter, showcase your skills and how you apply them to enhance the comfort and safety of your charges.
Engage your reader by highlighting your qualifications throughout.
- Detail your education. Any training you have had in first aid, health and safety or even psychology all apply.
- Showcase experience in helping roles. Provide an anecdote about your connection with a person you’ve assisted and whose life you enhanced with your service.
- Illustrate your flexibility. Support work requires schedule changes and a variety of tasks depending on the wants and needs of clients. Demonstrate that you can go with the flow and still perform your duties at the highest level.
- List volunteer experience. Volunteer work, especially any that is related to the position you seek, shows your dedication to helping others and your ability to make and keep commitments to others.
Second body paragraph(s): Alignment with the organization
Take a deeper dive into what makes you the right fit for this particular job. (That’s why you need to personalize your support worker cover letter for each position.) If you’re having a tough time organizing your thoughts, consider asking yourself the following questions to guide you:
- How do I successfully juggle multiple clients?
- What type of environment do I foster?
- How do I build and maintain relationships with clients and other service providers?
- What is my work style?
- What high-level talents do I bring to the workplace?
- Why do I choose to do this work?
Use these questions to help you bring out the qualities hiring managers seek.
For Oak Lodge in our support worker cover letter sample, the writer highlights:
- Ethic of putting her clients first
- Desire to learn more about medical care to better assist patients
- Ability to fulfill the need for scheduling flexibility
My previous employer ran three care homes in Seattle, all with 100+ residents, 80% of whom had complex mental health needs. I was a lead support worker for dementia care and helped to train the wider team in identifying the right levels of support for our patients.
I am a trustworthy and able colleague and am studying in night school towards a degree in nursing. Putting my patients first is always my priority and understanding more about the theoretical aspects of medical care is helping me to become a better support worker. I mainly worked morning and afternoon shifts and have experience of managing all aspects of care home provision, including:
- Facilitating daily patient nutrition and care routines
- Managing resident documentation and health records
- Coordinating critical and end-of-life care arrangements
- Communicating with families and educating where required
I understand that the role at Oak Lodge offers an opportunity for a flexible work schedule, which is particularly of interest as the care needs of my elderly parents sometimes vary. I am available at short notice as I only live fifteen minutes away and am always happy to help with urgent staffing shortages.
Call to action & conclusion: Finish off strong
You’ve wowed them with your personality and experience, now you have to close your support worker cover letter with confidence and style. Your role requires empathy and excellent communication, so use those attributes to summarize why you are the right person for the job.
Then, try to leave them with an anecdote or work experience that will leave them wanting more -- during your interview of course.
Wrap up with a call to action or suggestion for an interview to discuss the opportunity in more detail.
I would welcome the opportunity to visit your care home for an interview to understand the nature of the role. One of my friend’s parents is a resident and she speaks incredibly highly of the standards that you set.
Sincerely,
Theresa Kalpan
Support worker cover letter with no experience
You have to start somewhere. If you don’t have any experience as a support worker, how do you write a cover letter that demonstrates you would be great at the job? With these helpful tips and our cover letter example text, you’re already well on your way.
Your first task is to consider the jobs you have had and how the skills you used translate into the attributes necessary for a support worker. Can you demonstrate great listening skills? How about empathy or organization that will allow you to juggle several clients and their needs?
Highlight these points:
- Transferable skills. Showing that you have the basic job skills of reliability, time management, and professionalism will go a long way toward getting you an entry-level position. Make sure you demonstrate how the skills you used in your previous positions will help you in your desired support worker role.
- Volunteer work. If you are entering the job market for the first time, use any positions of responsibility you have held in your community, especially those that require communication, organization or interpersonal skills.
- School or extracurricular activities. Note whether you have held a leadership role or how much time and commitment these activities required.
- Explain what attracts you to this work. Support work can be challenging, both physically and emotionally. Explaining why this work is your calling will create a connection to the hiring manager.
These points will help balance out the lack of direct experience in your cover letter and demonstrate the soft skills employers seek in entry-level workers.
Write a cover letter sample that shows that you fulfill general requirements for a support worker and then adapt it to each job.
Why? First, it lets your prospective employer know you thought carefully about the position they have open. Second, it gives you a boost in clearing the Applicant Tracking System (ATS) hurdle.
The ATS recruitment software is a tool used by human resources to scan your data into their systems and then rank applications. When you apply online with your resume and cover letter, the ATS is searching for keywords or phrases that match each open position. By personalizing your cover letter, you give yourself a better chance of reaching the eyes of a human being.
Key takeaways
Give hiring managers an idea of the atmosphere you project in your support role and use stories that demonstrate the skills and experience your future employer seeks.
Illustrate your workplace personality with one or two strong adjectives. Throughout your letter, focus on how your unique combination of skills and attributes makes you the right person for the job.
Try one of our ready-made and carefully market-researched cover letter templates and simply start writing. Well, the clicking part is easy, but we hope that we have given you some ideas to help with the writing.
