We surveyed 7,200 personal care aides to better understand the work environment and required skills of a typical personal care aide. Here are the results.
How much intelligence is required as a personal care aide?
Low
High
Working as a personal care aide typically doesn’t require the use of high levels of intelligence in daily tasks.
Can I learn to become a personal care aide?
Intrinsic Talent
Acquired Talent
A career as a personal care aide typically depends predominantly on qualities you can gain through experience, with a small aspect of skills you are born with.
Is it easy to get a job as a personal care aide?
Easy
Hard
It’s typically not very difficult to find a job as a personal care aide. If you’re curious about the numbers, check out the job market for personal care aides.
Do personal care aides work full-time or part-time?
55% of personal care aides work in full-time roles while 45% work part-time.
Is being a personal care aide stressful?
Low
High
Stress is very commonplace for personal care aides, contributing negatively towards career satisfaction.
Is being organized important as a personal care aide?
Low
High
Some level of organization is generally required to be a personal care aide.
How competitive is the workplace for personal care aides?
Low
High
Competition at work is not common for personal care aides.
Does being a personal care aide require frequent time pressure to complete tasks?
Low
High
Time pressure tends not to be a major contributor of stress for personal care aides.
Are personal care aides allowed to express themselves creatively?
Low
High
Personal care aides rarely get a chance to express themselves creatively.
Do personal care aides have control over the direction of their work?
Low
High
Personal care aides tend to have a set and inflexible work schedule that they are unable to deviate from too much.
Is being a personal care aide physically demanding?
Low
High
Being a personal care aide requires significant physical work, and is not a career for those unable to perform continuous and/or strenuous physical activity.
Are personal care aides exposed to a wide variety of work?
Low
High
The workload of a personal care aide changes frequently, with their day-to-day rarely being the same.
Does being a personal care aide require attention to detail?
Low
High
As in many careers, attention to detail is quite helpful for personal care aides.
Does being a good personal care aide require compassion and empathy?
Low
High
Strong compassion and empathy are critical to success as a personal care aide.