Improving Your Babysitting Resume

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In today’s modern and competitive world, parents often search for potential babysitters and nannies through the internet, especially in a large city like Toronto. If parents are using a website like nannyservices.ca, one of the first things they’ll see is your resume. Here are five tips for ensuring that your resume reflects your capabilities.
  • List any formal experience you have. If you’ve taken any formal child care courses, CPR or emergency medical training courses, or majored in Early Childhood Education, make sure to include this in your resume. Even though first aid is not directly related to babysitting, parents sure do feel reassured to know that their babysitter will be able to help their children should something happen. 
  • List relevant work experience – If you are a veteran babysitter or nanny in Toronto, make sure to list these jobs on your resume. You don’t have to list every single job; the best ones to list are those that you know your employer was satisfied, and those that you’ve had long term. When parents are looking to hire a regular babysitter, they want to know that the person that they hire is in it for the long run. 
If this is your first entry into the world of babysitting or professional nannies, list other experience in which you used skills that can be applied to child care. You can also list jobs in which you know you will get a great recommendation from your previous employer. 
  • Use power words in the descriptions of your jobs that will highlight that you will be a good babysitter. Some examples: responsible, creative, organized, team player, multi-task, clean, ability to maintain, supervise, conduct, oversee, loves children.
  • References. You don’t have to actually list references on your resume, but you should make sure to have them ready to give to your potential employer. If you’ve ever been a summer camp counselor, you can ask your supervisor or even one of the parents of your campers to be your reference. You can also ask previous babysitting employers, former (or current) bosses and colleagues. It’s best not to use family members or friends as references, since they are obviously biased and employers don’t think much of them.
  • Customize your resume to the position you’re applying for. If you are applying to be a full time nanny, your resume should reflect that you know how to deal with all aspects of child care. If you’re applying for an afternoon babysitting job, perhaps you want to include that you are ready and willing to help with homework. Whatever position you are applying for, customizing your resume makes the parents understand that you are the right person for the job!