A practical example - Care Assistant

We hope this section helps you when you are writing your supporting statement. Although it is based on a Care Assistant role profile, you can follow the steps for all vacancies.

Although this is not the only way to write a supporting statement, it is a good way to structure it to make sure it covers the key skills and experience on the role profile..

Step 1

Read the role profile to identify the key skills and experience we are looking for

Step 2

Group the key skills/experience. This will help you structure your supporting statement and decide which criteria to focus on. From the Care Assistant role profile, the skills/experience could be grouped as follows;

• Care Assistant Role Profile
• Experience of Care - National Care Standards, Provide support to individuals with personal care needs, undertake physical tasks
• Personal Skills - Work with minimal supervision, make effective decisions, communication skills, work flexibly, team working
• IT Skills - Basic IT skills

Step 3

Think about an example for each 'group' of skills/experience which shows that you meet the key criteria

Step 4

When writing your supporting statement, explain your approach and in each example, make sure you explain what you did. Some handy hints are included below;

Care Assistant Supporting Statement

Explain why you have decided to apply for the role and why you think you would be a good Care Assistant based on your skills and previous experience.

Experience of Care

In this section, tell us if you have worked in the care sector before. If so, can you think of an example of a time when you did need to provide support to someone with personal care needs. Does something stand out which is a good example of what a caring career is all about? If yes, tell us about the situation and what you did.

If you don't have care experience in a workplace, what made you decide to apply? Have you had caring responsibilities in your personal life? Is there an example which really stands out which made you decide you would like to have a caring career?

When talking about your experience, give us an example of a physical tasks you had to undertake. If you do not have an example, you can tell us about any personal interests including fitness or gardening.

If you know about the National Care Standards, tell us a little bit about what they mean to you. If you don't, check them out online and tell us what you find out - you could also use this as an example of how using your IT skills!

Personal Skills

Think about all the criteria here - working without supervision, decision making, communication skills, team working and working flexibly.

Is this a way that you have had to work in the past? Have you had the opportunity to do a piece of work where you had to use these skills at work, school or in your personal life? Make sure you choose a good example which makes your application stand out. If you have an example which is linked to caring for someone, it would be good to use it.

Some examples where you might showcase these skills might be, organising an event (work or social), running a kids football team, working as part of a group on a school or college project or working in a care home setting where you have had responsibility for a specific piece of work.

IT Skills

If you use IT equipment at work, school or college tell us about your experience. If not, remember even your mobile device is an example of IT and if you use your phone for banking, keeping notes, managing your time and staying in touch with others this could all be relevant.

Step 5

Review your answer and complete a spell check before submitting - add your first name and surname (same format as the application form) before you attach it to your application.

Visit Everything you need to know about job applications | My World of Work for lots of helpful hints and tips on completing online application forms.