For Participants enrolled in Self-Direction, one of your roles is to hire your own Direct Care Professionals (DCP), or employees. Before you hire anyone, it’s important have a list of qualified applicants to interview. The best way to do this is to create a job description that describes the duties and responsibilities required of a DCP to provide support services to you. The LKiChoice Job Description Template can support you in drafting a job description that accurately describes who you are, the duties and responsibilities you need support with, and the type of candidate you are looking for.
Job Title
The job title will always be the first element listed on your job description. It should be listed in bold, easy-to-read lettering at the top of your description. Job titles should convey what you are looking for in an employee. Though, the title can be whatever you want so feel free to be creative with catchy names that will attract more attention!
Date Posted
It is important for applicants to know when the job was posted. After a posting has been active for more than a few months, applicants may begin to question whether or not the posting is still active. If you have not filled your position within 1-2 months of posting it, consider re-listing your posting and make any necessary edits to the job description to attract new applicants. If you are posting your job description and listing to a job board, such as Indeed, re-listing it will also move it back to the top of any Most Recent job filters for your listing’s job category.
Job Location
For any position that is not remote, it is necessary to list the position’s location. This is required on most job listing sites. Listing the position location is important to both the Participant and Direct Care Professional. Applicants will want to know if the position is within a distance they can easily commute to on a daily basis.
Important note – Do not list your full home address if you plan on posting your job description to public job boards (i.e., Indeed). Providing only your city and state will suffice.
Duties and Responsibilities
Listing the job duties and responsibilities is one of the most important elements of a job description. This section should list the day-to-day responsibilities you will require your candidate to perform. The responsibilities should be presented in a bulleted or numbered list with the most frequent and important responsibilities at the top. The list should descend to the least frequent and important responsibilities at the bottom.
Working Conditions
Applicants will want to know the types of working conditions they will experience on the job. This will include potential safety and climate elements the Direct Care Professional may encounter. Physical conditions, ranging from the space (your living situation) DCPs will work in should be noted as well as health and safety conditions, such as providing support during inclement weather.
Direct Report
The Direct Report is the person the applicant will be reporting to. In Self-Direction, this is you: the Participant or an authorized representative (parent, guardian, family member, etc.). This designation should be made clear in the job description, throughout the interview process, and understood at the beginning of the working relationship.
Resources
If you’d like to learn more about the first steps of creating a job description, read Drafting a Job Description (Part II).
Download our full Job Description Template to get started on your next job opening.
For more helpful resources on hiring Direct Care Professionals, like creating a list of questions to ask with an Interview Form, visit the LKiChoice Resources page.