Nanny resume tips to land your dream job
Do you remember being a babysitter in high school? Your mom’s friend from the neighborhood needed someone, and she volunteered you, or maybe your neighbor caught you on your way home and said, “You look responsible enough, can you watch my kids?” Well, now that you are an in-demand, professional nanny in a demanding - and rewarding - career, those days of easy referrals are long gone.
Now you need a proper nanny resume to get the job – and we know just what needs to be in it. Here are our top tips for creating a professional resume that no family can ignore.
Why does a nanny resume matter?
Some nannies may be tempted to think a nanny resume doesn’t matter. You could wow a family in conversation, right? But the truth is, busy professional families or agencies looking for a high-end nanny are scouring dozens - if not hundreds - of applications, so without a resume you may not even get to the chatting stage.
Having a nanny resume means you can:
Showcase your experience in a way that’s easy for parents to get an overview over quickly
Highlight particular skills and interests that may not be instantly obvious when just checking boxes of your childcare experience
Add a sense of professionalism to the role, which puts you in line for more well-crafted career roles, with better rates and potential for other employment benefits
What to include in a nanny resume
There are a few key areas you want to make sure to include in your nanny resume: childcare experience, other professional experience, and relevant interests, hobbies, or memberships. All of these can show a potential employer that not only can you take care of children, but you are also the exact right person for their particular family.
Childcare experience, including:
Ages of children
Experience with cooking, cleaning, driving to practice, juggling different schedules
Any work with infants, twins, or children with special needs
Special duties like homework help or tutoring, coaxing finicky eaters, transitions through the ages, sleep training, etc.
This way, the family can find and connect with specific needs they have in their family. For families with infants - or who may expect to have one down the road - that may jump out at them. Families with a child in advanced math may be looking for a sitter who can keep up with calculus. List each childcare position you’ve had, the ages of the children you worked with in each, and any particular requirements of the job or skills that you employed in each role.
Other professional experience relevant to childcare:
Maybe you had an office admin job that required keeping up on scheduling and tracking team member contributions that would be a great skill in juggling a busy family’s schedule.
Maybe you had a delivery job that required you to know - down to the minute - how long it would take to get anywhere within city limits.
Maybe a previous job required a clear and concise rundown of your work each day, so you are used to communicating with a manager or boss about the day’s events, which can come in handy when families wonder how the day went.
Having professional experience of any kind is always useful, but sometimes it can be even more effective when families see how that experience translates into your work with children. Take a moment to think through what you learned from each role and highlight that in your resume.
Interests and hobbies that make you a unique candidate
Even interests and hobbies that you do simply because you love them can be a huge asset in working with families - and may be the one detail that gets you the interview over another candidate. Not only is it possible one of the kids in the family is into the same hobby, it also makes you look a little more three-dimensional (which we know you are!) and makes a good childcare resume great.
Among other things, you may want to list:
Languages you speak
Any sports you play or have played
If you have experience with dance, musical instruments, chess playing, photography, or theater
Any particular skills in arts and crafts
Skiing, swimming, or horseback riding - and if you have lifeguard experience, absolutely list that where it’s noticeable
Memberships and certifications related to childcare
Additional experience or training in childcare-related fields give more weight to your resume. If you have an infant care certificate, are First Aid and CPR certified, or have received any certifications for working with children — perhaps at a summer camp or in an education setting — those will be beneficial bonuses to your resume. If you are a member of or volunteer with any organizations that you feel may be relevant to a nanny job, squeeze it in there.
Lastly, if you have a degree in a childcare related field or education, put it front and center on the resume. You worked hard for that knowledge, and for some of the top positions, it’s the number one requirement.
Don’t forget these nanny resume must-haves!
At the end of the day, your nanny resume should reflect who you are. It should give parents and potential employers an easy overview of your experience and skillset, so they can get the sense that you’d be right for their role. Make it professional, but also make it you. It’s better to let a little of your personality shine through than to try to copy someone else’s resume, and to let it be a little more human than if you were applying for a corporate position.
Before you send your nanny resume, make sure that you:
Spellcheck the entire document to make it ultra professional
Include all your contact information where it’s easy to find
Never, ever, ever lie about your experience
Follow these steps and you’ll soon have in your hands a top nanny resume. And remember, it isn’t really the resume that gets the job - it’s you. Good luck!