What to Put on Your Nanny Resume
How to Make Your Nanny Resume Stand Out
Having a great resume can be the difference between getting your dream nanny position and your resume being overlooked time and time again. Resumes are your first (and possibly only) chance to make a good impression with families. Even if you glow during in-person interviews, you won’t have the opportunity to show your shining personality and love for children if you can’t get past this crucial step. What makes a great resume?
Below we have outlined what to put on your nanny resume and how to make it stand out from the crowd!
Your Childcare Experience
This may seem like common sense, but it’s worth mentioning that your nanny resume should highlight your childcare experience. Leave any other positions off your resume. Even if you worked at other non-childcare positions for a while and you’re newer to nannying, it’s still a good idea to keep it as childcare centered as possible. (More on how to gain relevant childcare experience to put on your resume later.)
Thoroughly Explain Your Positions
When listing out your childcare experience, be thorough about what you did for each family. You want to show your expertise in a detailed and professional way.
Writing your job descriptions too simply (like below) doesn’t sell you as a high-value nanny.
Nanny - I cared for a two and five year old five days a week.
Instead, write clear job titles and thorough job descriptions that will sell you as a valuable addition to any family (Like below).
Nanny Martin Family, March 2018 - June 2020, Seattle, WA
I provided full-time daily childcare for children ages 5 & 2 years old.
This included planning age-appropriate activities that align with their developmental milestones.
Prepared nutritious meals, helped with household tasks such as laundry, baby-proofed, and cleaned common areas/playspaces.
Took children to playdates and participated in the childrens swim, gymnastics, and piano lessons throughout the years.
Add a Summary of Your Skills Section
Sometimes we have specific skills we want to add/bring attention to in our resume in a way that stands out. Adding a summary of our skills section can be extremely helpful in bringing special attention to these skills and showing families how dynamic you genuinely are.
Possible Skills Include:
Second Languages
Newborn and infant experience
Strong communication skills
Drivers License
Mothers helper experience
Proficient at playing the piano
Special needs experience
Education, Certifications & Training
Bringing special attention to your education, certifications, and training/courses you’ve completed will give you all a leg up from other nannies. Even if the education isn’t in a related field like Child Development, it’s still valuable to put on your resume. Families seek educated individuals. If you have certifications like first-aid and CPR training, highlight those in this section. If you don’t have either of those, we highly suggest getting certified, as it’s becoming an industry standard for all nannies to have these certifications. Any extra training you may have in tutoring, water safety, and so on will also be useful to highlight.
Volunteer Work
Volunteer work shows initiative and empathy, which is definitely something all nannies need. Volunteering can also provide you with more childcare experience if you are transitioning from casual babysitting to nannying. Outline all volunteer experience regardless if it involves children or not.
Ideas for volunteer opportunities:
After school programs
Tutoring
Community gardens
Soup kitchens
Big Brothers Big Sisters
CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates)
References and Letters of Recommendation
Two references is standard, but having three is incredible! It’s important to put recent references in your list to give families an updated review of your excellence. As the cherry on top, if you can get a letter of recommendation from your previous employer in addition to using them a reference call, this will wildly boost your chances of landing your dream job.