Here are the keywords and skills that appear most frequently on recent Direct Support Professional job postings. In other words, these are the most sought after skills by recruiters and hiring managers. Go to Sample Templates ↓ below to see how to include them on your resume.
Remember that every job is different. Instead of including all keywords on your resume, identify those that are most relevant to the job you're applying to. Use the free Targeted Resume tool to help with this.
Does your resume contain all the right skills? Paste in your resume in the AI Resume Scan ↓ section below and get an instant score.
Paste your resume below and our AI will identify which keywords are missing from your resume from the list above (and what you need to include). Including the right keywords will help you get past Applicant Tracking Systems (i.e. resume screeners) which may scan your resume for keywords to see if you're a match for the job.
Go through the Direct Support Professional posting you're applying to, and identify hard skills the company is looking for. For example, skills like Healthcare, Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) and Developmental Disabilities are possible skills. These are skills you should try to include on your resume.
The following word cloud highlights the most popular keywords that appear on Direct Support Professional job descriptions. The bigger the word, the more frequently it shows up on employer's job postings. If you have experience with these keywords, include them on your resume.
Here are common soft skills that appear on Direct Support Professional job postings. Unlike hard skills, which refer to tools, software or techniques, soft skills focus on character traits and interpersonal skills. Instead of listing these phrases on your resume, try to show them through your bullet points like in the examples below.
Tip: Do not list these words or phrases on your resume, and instead focus on the hard skills we described above.
Here are examples of proven resumes in related jobs and industries, approved by experienced hiring managers. Use them as inspiration when you're writing your own resume. You can even download and edit the resume template in Google Docs.
Logistics support specialists ensure that a company's products arrive at their destinations in a timely and efficient manner by working with customers and vendors. In addition, they provide support to customers by planning and implementing the pick-up and delivery of the company's products or services. However, the skills/techniques section explains more details and gives the recruiter more perspective. Additionally, this job seeker highlights, "open to remote work" on their resume — this is something that's becoming more common more recently due to work from home becoming more normal.
Showing that you can use tools relevant to logistics management shows that you will be able to deliver efficiently. For example, tools like Microsoft Project are essential for logistics management.
Finance plays a vital role in every organization. One of the core factors of logistics management is procurement, and financial management has a significant role in procurement. Having financial management skills will demonstrate how you can help strategize, plan, organize and utilize the organization’s resources.
This professional is also a customer service representative. They are mainly responsible for customer and client queries, complaints and inquiries. They are usually the first contact point with customers whenever an issue crops up and for introductory information. In some cases, they can perform proactive maintenance and other technical assistance. This desktop support representative resume example highlights the applicant’s core duties and responsibilities throughout their career. Being a highly technical field, the resume has a separate skills section that showcases the applicant’s skill set. All of these are built on a solid Computer Information Technology educational background.
Hiring managers do not have enough time to go through entire resumes. So they mostly skim through in under 8 seconds as they look for the ideal candidate. Therefore, condense your key achievements and strengths in the resume summary where they can’t be missed. Keep it short and precise, 3-4 sentences. Notice how this applicant captures their expertise in Windows OS in the resume summary.
Numbers Don’t Lie – show the hiring manager that you’re results-oriented by quantifying your accomplishments. Use numbers and percentages when highlighting what you’ve done and achieved. For example, simply saying “Enhanced customer satisfaction and reduced costs” isn’t as impactful as “Enhanced customer satisfaction by 48% and reduced costs by an average of 37% by….”
Support analysts analyze, repair and maintain computer software and hardware systems. They can also communicate directly with clients while responding to tickets, troubleshooting or resolving problems. In larger organizations, they may be tasked with developing and enforcing IT policies that promote the organization’s overall objectives. This desktop support analyst resume template solely focuses on the applicant’s relevant job experience. This is useful if an applicant targets a specific role and wants to match their skill set to those in the job description. Moreover, a solid academic background in Information Technology demonstrates the applicant’s foundational knowledge and ties to their career.
So you might have worked in several different desktop support roles, and it may be impractical to list everything you’ve done in your career. The standard practice is to structure your resume to focus more on the new role you’re applying for. You could feature other responsibilities that match those of the job you’re applying for. This resume effectively captures this concept.
Using technical language effectively demonstrates your expertise in the job position you’re applying for. So terms and phrases like “laptop rollout deployment,” “load sets for Windows,” “software version tracking,” “troubleshooting,” and so on makes your resume sound professional and prove you’re familiar with such concepts.
A desktop support specialist is an upper-tier role. The holder of this office essentially performs the functions of a desktop support analyst but on a broader scope. In addition to technical support, a desktop support specialist also offers administrative support. These professionals typically have extensive knowledge of an organization’s IT infrastructure and, therefore, oversee its maintenance. As this desktop support specialist resume template indicates, applicants for such top-tier desktop support roles must demonstrate a wealth of experience and an expansive skill set. So, the resume focuses more on these two components. The resume shows the applicant’s broader knowledge (Master’s degree in Psychology), which can be handy when working with other people and teams on projects.
At this level, hiring managers are more interested in applicants with people, coordination and organizational skills. These are important for cooperative teamwork, mentoring, supervision, and project management. This resume showcases the applicant’s ability to train other employees, cooperate/work with different teams, and lead projects.
Notice how this resume template highlights many of the applicant’s technical skills. Desktop support roles are typically skill-intensive, so if you have the skills, flaunt them. For such senior positions, more skills show you have the baseline abilities to fill the position. It also shows you’re an ambitious person.
This professional carries out various duties, including fixing software and hardware issues, security and server problems, and customer queries and inquiries. Apart from a strong educational background, proven work experience and advanced knowledge of computers, chipsets, hardware and software systems, and peripherals are major requirements for applicants. This desktop support engineer resume example shows an applicant with extensive industry experience and an equally impressive skill set. The resume zeroes in on the recent roles and responsibilities the applicant performed in the capacity of a support engineer in other workstations. A strong educational background in Network Engineering coupled with a CompTIA A+ certification strengthens this resume significantly.
One of the top-selling points for applicants seeking high-profile roles like these is the ability to impact the company’s bottom line, i.e., costs and revenues. So, demonstrate how your contributions directly or indirectly led to increased revenue, reduced costs, or improved work efficiency. For example, this applicant indicates they “designed a training course that increased efficiency by 25%.” This shows they possess the expertise to identify and eradicate deadweights to boost efficiency.
For top-tier roles like this one, it’s vital to prove that you can handle the demands of the position. This means showing the hiring manager you have the proper academic credentials, experience, and certifications. Notice the emphasis on ‘proper.’ For example, highly valued degrees are Information Technology, Computer Networking and Computer Science. Similarly, top in-demand certifications include Citrix Certified Administrator, Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE), etc.
Have you ever used the tech support chat to solve a random problem on any software like Microsoft? The person helping you out with a solution is a software support technician. A software support technician is in charge of fixing software application problems, identifying system errors, and documenting solutions. They improve the customer experience within SaaS companies! To efficiently produce support tickets and resolve customers' difficulties, a software support technician needs to be very organized, have great communication, and have computer tool and application navigational abilities. Academically, you will need to have a bachelor's degree in computer science or IT support as well as some prior experience working as a support technician. This is how you make an interesting software support technician resume:
Employers need candidates with experience in computer science and knowledge of the subject. To grab their attention, be sure to highlight your degrees, certifications, and any merit-based honors in the field.
Before users became aware of the software server's outage, did you diagnose any issues? Have customers praised your customer service abilities in reviews? In a prior position, did you create simple FAQs? Your resume should include these. It helps potential employers identify you as a practical and technical solution to their tech problems.
The most common skills and keywords we found on Direct Support Professional resumes and job postings were Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR), Developmental Disabilities, Medication Administration, Mental Health, First Aid, Social Services, Intellectual Disabilities and Healthcare.
Skills like Nonprofit Organizations, Community Outreach, Customer Service, Direct Patient Care and Adult CPR also appeared on related job postings.
While the keywords above are a good indication of what skills you need on your resume, you should try to find additional keywords that are specific to the job. To do this, use the free Targeted Resume tool. It analyzes the job you are applying to and finds the most important keywords you need on your resume.
It is personalized to your resume, and is the best way to ensure your resume will pass the automated resume filters.
Thank you for the checklist! I realized I was making so many mistakes on my resume that I've now fixed. I'm much more confident in my resume now.
