5 Things You Must Include On Your Nanny Resume To Stand Out (Plus 15 Skills to Show You’re a Pro)
Resumes often feel formal, cold, and impersonal — the opposite of the first impression you want to make on families who will be inviting you into their homes! Your resume must present you as a professional and personable candidate while setting you apart from the crowd of applicants.
Your resume is your first chance to show that you’re someone who can handle the demands of the nanny position a family is seeking to fill while being an integral part of their household and family life. If you are a job-seeker interested in one of our open positions, having an impressive resume is a must to be considered for an interview with a family.
Building trust and connection with your resume begin with clarifying and simplifying the information you share.
Include Only Nanny-Relevant Experience
The resume you use to apply for nanny positions shouldn’t detail your entire work history. Families are looking for the most relevant experience that shows off your childcare background and household-management expertise. If your resume is full of retail and hospitality experience, for instance, families are going to doubt that your work history makes you a quality candidate.
The Nanny Solution agrees that to stand out with your nanny resume you need to, “make your resume specific to nanny experience.”
For each of your previous relevant job positions create clear and detailed job descriptions.
Respect the privacy and confidentiality of past employers by using just a last name in your job titles such as, “Smith Household.” Prospective families can match your references to past experience as well when they have this bit of information.
Describe the specific responsibilities you had for each job. This should include the number of children you cared for and the ages of the children when you began working with them. It’s also important to include what caring for those children looked like. Did you transport them to and from activities or school? Did you plan activities and keep up a daily routine? Were you responsible for them when they were swimming? Did you help with household chores, manage vendors, or meal prep?
Remember that what families will be looking for on your nanny resume is anything that reduces their workload. The more responsible and independent you are, the less managing they need to do and the more valuable you will be to their family.
Be Honest and Upfront About Your Past Care Experiences
For each job on your nanny resume, include a specific range of dates that you worked as well as the hours you worked. For example, “June 2020 to July 2021, Part-Time.” If you held multiple positions simultaneously, this information will help prospective families make sense of your work history.
Be prepared to explain your reasons for leaving the past positions outlined in your nanny resume. Your ability to maintain professionalism and honesty about your experience builds trust with prospective families. Common reasons that nanny positions end are:
Position transitioned to part-time because of children enrolling in school and the nanny prefers to work more hours for one family
A parent decides to stay home with their children
Families move away
Work environments aren’t a good cultural fit
If a family wasn’t a good fit for you, think of a few simple things that didn’t work well for you and why that was a deal-breaker. You may not need to explain these in-depth in an interview, however, thinking about them proactively gives you time to think about how your reasons are strengths of yours and have given you valuable perspectives on caring for families.
Highlight Special Nanny Skills That Parents Are Looking For
There are many nanny skills that a family will look for on your resume. These skills may feel basic to you, yet they are essential to share. When families see that you have these vital qualifications, it easily elevates you above candidates who lack them or fail to include them on their resumes.
When deciding which skills to include in your nanny resume, follow the same advice as in the job description section above and only include what is relevant to the job you’re hoping to be hired for. Skills that pertain to office jobs, for example, are only relevant if the job you’re applying for includes personal assisting or household management duties.
Here are 15 skills you might consider adding to your resume:
CPR & First-Aid Certified
COVID Vaccinated
Valid Driver’s License
Clean Driving Record
Reliable Car
Non-smoker
Comfortable with Pets
Native English Speaker
Speaks Spanish/French/etc.
Travel-Ready (Domestic or International) with a valid US Passport
Strong Swimmer
Able to Apply Principles of Basic Nutrition to Meals and Snacks
Experienced in Sleep Training
Experienced in Potty Training
Share Relevant Personal Hobbies
Since nannying is such personal work, families are often looking for a nanny that is capable of fulfilling the job requirements and who fits in with their family personality and lifestyle.
Sharing your hobbies on your nanny resume can give families a chance to imagine what you might like to be involved in as a nanny. For example, a family who is looking for an active and engaging nanny may want to know about your athletic and outdoorsy interests. A family who travels and would like to bring their nanny with them may feel reassured in hiring a nanny who has done a lot of traveling themselves.
Make a Memorable Impression Visually with Your Nanny Resume
While everyone appreciates a visually appealing resume, when you apply through an agency like My Household Managed, it’s more about the content of your resume that matters. We format your resume before presenting it to a family, so you can spend less time worrying about including fancy graphics or fonts and more time focusing on highlighting your skills and experience.
Including a professional headshot as a photo in your resume can be a nice touch. When you apply through My Household Managed there is a place for you to upload a profile photo in our internal matchmaking portal. We find that uploading a photo here is more important than including one in your resume as it will be the first thing potential employers see when we send them your profile.
In need of additional inspiration? Check out our resume guide.
You’ve got enough on your plate in your day-to-day life — let us make your life easier by handling your unique household staffing needs.
If you are a family looking to hire a nanny, household employee or other home service, submit an application with My Household Managed.
If you are a professional nanny, house manager, or other household employee looking for a job, apply at My Household Managed.
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