Nursing Assistant CV: Example and Structure (Switzerland)

"Which training do I put down, since the title isn't protected?" "Where do I mention my Red Cross certificate?" When you rebuild a nursing assistant CV, it is not the human skills that are missing, it is the way to organise them. A care manager in a Swiss care home skims through an application in less than a minute before deciding whether to call.

The good news is that the nursing assistant CV follows a very readable logic in Switzerland. First we clarify what the word "nursing assistant" actually covers, then we lay out the structure block by block.

What does "nursing assistant" mean in Switzerland?

First thing to understand: in Switzerland, "nursing assistant" is not a single official title. It is a generic term that covers several distinct qualifications. Spelling it out on your CV avoids any confusion and shows that you understand how the sector works in Switzerland.

The Swiss Red Cross health auxiliary certificate is recognised throughout Switzerland: it is one of the most widely taken qualifications in the care field, offered by the cantonal Red Cross associations. Since the title is not protected, a foreign qualification such as the French DEAS lets you work in the field, often in care homes. In that case, state the exact name and the year you obtained it.

What structure should a nursing assistant CV follow?

In French-speaking Switzerland, the nursing assistant CV follows the same restrained codes as other professions: reverse chronological career history, job title placed up front, nothing superfluous. The difference lies in the content of each block, which has to speak the language of the sector, that of the care home and home care.

Here is the order that works, from the top of the first page downwards.

The idea is not to say everything, but to make each block useful. A nursing assistant with fifteen years of experience does not detail her first placements: she keeps the detail on recent roles and summarises the rest. On the question of length, our article on the Swiss CV format in 2026 gives the full rule.

How should you present your education and certification?

This is the point that reassures the recruiter. Because the nursing assistant title is not regulated, a clear certification makes the difference between a credible profile and a vague one. Three scenarios come up most often:

• Swiss Red Cross health auxiliary certificate: mention it with the year and the cantonal association. It is the reference in long-term care, immediately readable for a care home recruiter.
• ASSC federal diploma or ASA federal certificate: state the exact federal title and the year. The ASSC diploma opens a wider scope, including medical-technical procedures, which is worth showing right from the header.
• Foreign qualification (the French DEAS, for example): write the official name, the country and the year. Unlike the nurse profession, no formal recognition is required to work as a nursing assistant, but a precise title avoids questions.

If you are aiming for this profession without a certification, an ongoing Swiss Red Cross health auxiliary training can be mentioned honestly, with the expected date. A clear plan is better than silence.

What should the experience section contain?

This is the block that makes the difference in the first screening. A common mistake: writing "Nursing assistant, Care Home X, 2019 to 2023" and stopping there. The recruiter then knows neither which population you cared for, nor with what degree of autonomy you worked.

For each role, structure it like this:

1. The setting and the population, not just the establishment. "Care home, psychogeriatric unit," "home care," "facility for people with disabilities": it is this context that makes you relevant to the posting.
2. Two to four concrete duties, starting with an action verb: "support with daily living activities," "help with washing and mobility," "monitoring of general condition and handover to the nursing team."
3. An element that shows the volume or the responsibility where possible, without exaggerating anything: number of residents supported, work in a multidisciplinary team, being a point of reference for certain families.

Example of a well-built block:

Keep the detail on the last ten to fifteen years and summarise older roles in a single line. Reverse chronological order remains the expected norm in Switzerland, the same as for a nurse CV, against which your profile will sometimes be compared.

Which skills should you put on a nursing assistant CV?

Recruiters in care homes and home-care services are trying to quickly spot your command of basic care and your interpersonal skills. The skills section should therefore not be a list of vague qualities, but a concrete and readable inventory.

Two points often make the difference. First, languages with the CEFR framework: stating "French C2, German B1" is better than a vague "good knowledge." Second, availability for rotations: care homes run on staggered hours, and a candidate who indicates accepting nights and weekends directly answers an organisational need.

Be careful not to bury the information under a list of thirty skills. Eight to twelve skills targeted at the role you want are better than a generic inventory, all the more so because automatic screening software dilutes the keywords that matter when there is too much noise, as explained in our article on how the ATS works.

A sought-after profession, but a CV that must stay simple

The context works in your favour. Healthcare is one of the sectors most affected by the staff shortage in Switzerland, with thousands of positions to fill, and long-term care is under particular strain: care homes and home-care services are actively recruiting nursing assistants and health auxiliaries. On pay, according to Swiss job sites, the gross monthly salary of a nursing assistant most often falls between CHF 4,000 and 6,000, with starting figures around CHF 4,200 to 4,600. Night and weekend bonuses and the 13th salary noticeably change the net figure.

This strong demand does not remove the need for a polished CV, quite the opposite: a confusing application gets set aside even when positions abound, often for avoidable reasons listed in our article on the mistakes that get an application rejected in Switzerland.

One reflex that changes everything: do not write your CV "in general," write it for the specific posting. A psychogeriatrics role and a home-care role do not highlight the same settings or the same procedures. By adapting the order and the vocabulary to each advert, you gain relevance without inventing anything.

That is exactly what candidat.app does: from your real background, the tool generates a CV calibrated for each posting, following Swiss codes and the right length, while keeping your certification, your care settings and your skills exactly as they are.

In short

A nursing assistant CV in Switzerland fits on one to two pages, in reverse chronological order, built around five blocks: header and title, education and certification, experience by care setting, skills and interpersonal qualities, languages and availability. Since the title is not protected, a clear certification (Swiss Red Cross health auxiliary, ASSC federal diploma or a precise foreign qualification) reassures right away. The experience section gains from specifying the setting and the population cared for, rather than just the name of the establishment. Finally, languages in CEFR and availability for rotations often tip the balance. The profession is in high demand, but a clear CV targeted at the posting remains your best asset.