Why Work with Smart Sitting
As former sitters and nannies, we’re passionate about helping you find a nanny job that fits your life, pays you what you’re worth, and sets you up for long-term success.
Our mission is simple: to connect caregivers with opportunities where their skills are valued and their contributions to childcare are truly recognized. You deserve nothing less — and we’re here to make that happen.
Professional guidance for the long term
Smart Sitting believes that exceptional nannies and families deserve reliable professional support and ongoing relationship management. Once you are a member of the Smart Sitting community, our team helps you navigate the entire journey so you can balance personal and professional with confidence.
Empowering your best interests and success
While childcare is deeply personal, we believe families should approach the process of hiring and working with a nanny with care and professionalism. We actively manage job expectations and communication with families to help facilitate the best possible work environment.
Smart Sitting is redefining childcare
We are proud to support and empower our nannies as true professionals, facilitating the right placements and elevating your role as an essential part of a family’s life. Head to our “About” page to learn more about who we are and what we believe.
We help manage the professional side of childcare employment, so you can focus on what you do best — caring for kids.
At Smart Sitting, we believe every caregiver deserves to be respected, supported, and fairly compensated for the vital role they play in families’ lives. That’s why our diverse community of nannies and sitters enjoys access to meaningful job opportunities — with the pay, environment, and recognition their work truly deserves. Whatever your career goals, we’re here to help you reach them.
Become a SmartSitter
We believe that when childcare professionals have professional employment opportunities that pay their worth, our whole society benefits.
SmartSitter rates are $25-40/hour for long-term positions, and $20-25/hour for flexible, temp positions. For long-term positions, we advocate on your behalf for compensation based on your qualifications and the demands of the position, as well as opportunities for paid time off and health care benefits. Short-term placements are also available for direct hiring through Smart Sitting, where we ensure you are getting the best market rate for your work. Our mission is for every type of childcare hire to include some form of benefit addition as part of compensation.
We are able to provide the most rewarding positions because our nannies and babysitters show up with extraordinary skills. Smart Sitting nannies and sitters possess:
At least two years of recent professional experience working with children, ideally including in-home childcare experience.
At least three strong references from recent professional childcare-related positions.
Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal.
A demonstrated passion for working with children.
Problem-solving skills, a can-do attitude, and a willingness to communicate openly.
Family-friendly social media presence.
Ability to be paid as a W-2 employee.
Ability to work with Smart Sitting for at least six months.
And are non-smokers.
If you are hoping to be a SmartSitter and don’t quite tick the boxes yet, don’t stress. We’d love to hear from you when you’re ready so one of our Specialists can help find the perfect position for your skills to shine.
Smart Sitting connects compassionate, engaged nannies with wonderful families for a variety of positions—helping make each child’s day extraordinary.
Our Personalized Job Matching Process
Smart Sitting is proud to represent the best of the best. By narrowing the field and working with only 6% of applicants, we are able to devote our time to personally interview and get to know each nanny and sitter in our community. This helps us make sure that each job connection we make helps both families and caregivers reach their goals.
Our hiring process invites loving, trustworthy, and skilled candidates from all backgrounds, as Smart Sitting values diversity and inclusivity within our network. Please take your time applying and be as thorough as possible. We also conduct thorough interviews with our families, to ensure our nannies are connected with families that embrace their individuality and skillset.
Step 1 | Application
Get to know how we work and fill out our online application so we can get to know you in return. We consider candidates on the following criteria:
Experience and educational background
Passion for working with children
Communication skills
Problem solving skills
Emotional intelligence
Reliability and punctuality
Step 2 | Interview
Those few candidates with exceptional applications are contacted to set up an interview with a Recruitment Specialist. Walk through childcare experience, discuss and evaluate core values, and discuss your ideal job expectations and current open positions with a job expert.
Step 3 | References
After a successful interview, we reach out to at least three childcare-related references. Transcripts of these conversations are kept on file for families to review. Only candidates with stellar references move forward in our process - and Smart Sitters love that these transcripts mean they no longer have to inconvenience their references when interviewing for new positions.
Step 4 | Background Check
All candidates undergo a National Criminal Background Check, Social Security Verification, Sex Offender check, and extensive Manual County checks which we keep on file for families to review. Our background check policies are modeled after best practices for the childcare industry.
Step 5 | Onboarding
Throughout the screening process, each candidate’s written and verbal communication are assessed. We require SmartSitters to respond to emails and text messages within 24 hours. Once in the network, you are invited to set up a profile while we help you finalize the process so you are ready to find your nanny job.
Step 6 | Position Matching and Community
After successfully completing all other steps, Smart Sitting Family Specialists get to know each nanny and babysitter one-on-one and personally work together to handpick positions that are best suited for your skills, experience, and availability, to ensure positive and successful connections for both sides. Once in our network, SmartSitters stay at the top of their game through ongoing training, group events, and mentorship, while we continue to support you in your professional journey.
