Can You Hire Caregivers With No Experience? A 30-Day Training Plan
Yes. Hire for reliability and judgment, meet your state's training minimum before the first visit, pay for training time, and use shadow shifts before solo work.
By Caregiver Scheduling Team ·
Yes, and most agencies have to. Many of the best caregivers start with no paid experience, often after caring for a parent or spouse. Hire for reliability, patience and judgment, then train: finish your state’s required hours before the first visit, add hands-on skills practice, run shadow shifts with an experienced caregiver, and start them with a straightforward client.
Who should you hire without experience?
Hire the person who shows up on time to the interview, answers messages the same day, and talks about older adults with respect. Skills can be taught; reliability cannot. Look for:
- Family caregiving or volunteer experience
- Honesty about limits (“I’ve never used a gait belt”) rather than bluffing
- A car and schedule that match the clients you need to cover
- Comfort with a phone app, since check-in and notes happen there
The BLS median wage for home health and personal care aides was $17.21 an hour in May 2025. Pay at or above your local median or trainees leave. See caregiver interview questions.
What training does your state require before the first visit?
State minimums range from 5 hours to 75. The Medicare home health aide rule is separate but a useful benchmark.
| Rule | Before first client contact | Ongoing | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| California (affiliated home care aide) | 5 hours (2 orientation, 3 safety) | 5 hours a year | HSC 1796.44 |
| Illinois (home services worker) | 5 hours, plus 5 more within 30 days, each followed by a competency test | 10 hours a year | 77 Ill. Adm. Code 245.71 |
| Washington (long-term care worker) | 5 hours (2 orientation, 3 safety); the rest of 75 hours within 120 days, certification within 200 days of hire | 12 hours a year | RCW 74.39A.074, DSHS |
| Medicare home health aide (benchmark) | 75 hours, including at least 16 classroom and 16 supervised practical | 12 hours a year | 42 CFR 484.80 |
Treat the minimum as the floor. Illinois’ required topic list is a good syllabus anywhere: job limits, dementia communication, observing and reporting changes, personal care tasks, infection control, emergencies, confidentiality and abuse reporting. Look up your state in the training requirements directory and caregiver training requirements by state.
Do you have to pay for training and shadow shifts?
Yes. Under the FLSA, required training is hours worked. Training is unpaid only when it is outside working hours, truly voluntary, not directly related to the job, and no productive work is done (29 CFR 785.27). Required orientation fails that test on every count. Shadow shifts are paid for both caregivers, and the hours count toward the 40-hour overtime threshold. See home care overtime rules.
A 10-hour orientation plus two 4-hour shadow shifts at $17 an hour is about $306 in wages before the first billable hour. That’s cheap next to a bad hire: the 2025 Activated Insights Benchmarking Report, an industry survey, put home care turnover at 75 percent.
What does a first-month training plan look like?
Front-load the required hours, then move from watching to doing to working alone.
| When | What happens | Who signs off |
|---|---|---|
| Before day 1 | Background check, state registry, TB test, app set up, policies read | Office |
| Days 1 to 2 | State-required classroom hours: role and limits, safety, infection control, abuse reporting | Trainer |
| Days 3 to 4 | Hands-on practice: gait belt, transfers, bathing safety, glove use, hand hygiene | Trainer, skills checklist |
| Days 5 to 7 | Two shadow shifts with a senior caregiver, then one shift where the new hire leads | Senior caregiver |
| Week 2 | First solo client with a simple care plan; phone check-in after each visit | Supervisor |
| Weeks 3 to 4 | Add a second client; one unannounced supervisory visit | Supervisor |
| Day 30 | Review notes, punctuality and client feedback; set the next training topics | Supervisor |
Keep the first solo client simple: no two-person transfers, no dementia behaviors, a family that is easy to reach. See the caregiver onboarding checklist.
How do you know a new caregiver is ready to work alone?
When they pass a skills check you watched, not when the hours are done. Illinois writes this into its rule: no assignment until the worker passes a competency evaluation on the first five hours of training.
Drill these rules before solo work:
- Never lift alone when the care plan says two-person assist
- Call the office before leaving for any fall, injury or change in condition
- Medication reminders only, unless your state and the care plan allow more. See can caregivers give medication?
- Check in and out from the client’s home and write the note before driving away
Keep training after day 30. Caregivers who feel unprepared leave early. See why caregivers quit.
How Caregiver Scheduling handles this
Credential tracking holds each caregiver’s training hours, background check and TB test, and on Growth and up blocks scheduling until they are complete. Shadow shifts are scheduled as two caregivers on one visit, so both check-ins are verified. The task list in the caregiver app tells a new hire exactly what to do, and AI visit notes let them dictate the note. $199/month for up to 10 caregivers or $299/month for up to 50, free for 30 days.
FAQ
Can I hire caregivers with no certification? In most states, yes, for non-medical care, once they complete the required training hours. Washington is the main exception, with certification due within 200 days.
How long until a new caregiver works alone? One to two weeks in most states: required hours, a skills check, and two or three shadow shifts.
Do I have to pay caregivers for orientation? Yes. Required training is hours worked under the FLSA, and it counts toward overtime.
This article is general information, not legal advice. Check your state’s training and wage rules.