CNA Resume Examples & Writing Tips

Key sections to include in a nursing assistant resume

All great resumes follow a similar structure, like the CNA resume sample above. Include a header with contact details, a resume summary, work experience, education, and skills. If you have volunteer experience or relevant hobbies, we also encourage you to add optional sections to showcase them.

Here are the crucial elements to include, complete with actionable, realistic CNA resume examples.

Header

Your resume header is simple but vital. This short section tells the hiring manager essential personal details, like your email address and phone number, which helps them contact you to schedule an interview.

Be sure to include these important details:

• Full name
• Job title
• Phone number
• Email address
• Location (city and state)
• LinkedIn URL

Here’s a sample header for a certified nursing assistant resume:

Resume summary or objective

Next, let’s write a good CNA description for resumes. This should be either a resume summary or objective – both are two- to four-sentence descriptions of your qualifications and act as a quick way for the hiring manager to check if they want to keep reading your application.

The only difference between the two is that a summary details past work achievements, and an objective describes your skills and aspirations.

For this example, we’ll go with a resume summary:

Work experience

This section is arguably the most important in your resume. Hiring managers want to see relevant work experience and impactful job outcomes, so put most of your effort into this element.

We recommend two to four work entries, each containing a job title, company name, location, date of employment, and bullet point list of accomplishments.

Here’s an example CNA job description for a resume:

Education

Education is always an important section, but CNAs don’t usually have formal, higher education. It’s commonplace for certified nursing assistants to only hold a high school diploma and a CNA certificate.

Here’s an example of what that would look like:

Your certificate can go right in your education section, but we recommend choosing a resume template with a separate Certificates section if you have several certifications. Then, you can comfortably list your CNA certificate and other healthcare certifications, like CPR.

Hard & soft skills

Time to list your skills. We recommend providing five to 10 skills and using a mix of hard and soft skills, with slightly more hard than soft, depending on the role. For CNAs, a balance of both is a good idea because you need a large number of soft skills to interact with patients, organize data, and manage your time.

Here are our top hard CNA resume skills: 

• First aid
• Patient care
• Medical assessment
• In-home care
• Diagnostic testing
• Vital signs and patient monitoring
• Medication administration

Here are the best CNA resume soft skills:

• Emotional intelligence
• Time management
• Attention to detail
• Teamwork
• Communication
• Critical thinking
• Problem-solving

Optional sections

These last sections aren’t necessary, so if your resume is already full, there’s no need to list them. However, if you have room to spare, these sections reinforce your qualifications and help align you with company culture.

The most common optional sections are:

• Volunteer work
• Languages
• Certifications
• Hobbies and interests

We recommend adding volunteer work, certifications, and known languages for CNAs. If you’re looking for inspiration, try looking at a nurse resume for ideas. The roles are similar and benefit from the same optional sections.

Tips for writing a CNA resume

You have the basics, now let’s make sure your resume stands out. Our tips and tricks help give your application the edge it needs to pass an applicant tracking system and grab the hiring manager’s eye.

Use a reverse chronological structure

It’s crucial to use the right structure for your work experience and education. We recommend the reverse-chronological format, also called the chronological resume, which lists your work history and education, starting with the most recent and going backward.

This gives recruiters the most recent, relevant information first, making it easier for them to browse your background and determine your qualifications. Your work experience from 10 years ago is somewhat valuable, but it isn’t relevant enough to lead with.

Tailor resumes to each application

It sounds easy to copy / paste resumes and send the same application to every company, but it isn’t a good strategy. These resumes won’t have a personal feel and won’t align with the employer’s expectations.

We recommend tailoring each resume to the job you’re applying for. Read the job description carefully, including the right skills, work duties, and achievements to show you’re the ideal candidate.

This has an added bonus: using the right keywords helps you build an ATS resume, so your application gets past the company applicant tracking system and into the hiring manager’s inbox.

Quantify achievements

Remember the bullet list under each work entry? This shouldn’t list out job responsibilities like it’s a to-do list – it doesn’t convey your qualifications and won’t impress the hiring manager.

Instead, make sure each bullet describes the outcomes of your actions and the impact they made on the company. If possible, add some measurable metrics to put numbers behind your accomplishments. Here’s an example:

Show your skills with an excellent CNA resume

The right CNA resume can make the hiring manager stop in their tracks. Take our advice, put it to use, and build a CNA resume that showcases your empathy, patient care skills, and teamwork. Remember our top tips:

• Quantify achievements for a more significant impact
• Tailor resumes to every job description 
• Show off your certifications in a separate section
• Balance hard and soft skills to show medical expertise and interpersonal skills

Try these tips out today with CVwizard’s resume builder. Add any unique sections you need and use the drag-and-drop interface to create a resume that’s truly you.