The nanny job search has modernized with online job boards and social media networking. It’s easier and quicker to share a link with potential employers so they can learn about your childcare training, work experience, and professional associations using LinkedIn. Traditional nanny portfolios contained education, work experience, references, and examples of childcare activities. These can all be represented in your LinkedIn profile.
With 133 million users in the United States*, LinkedIn is a great networking opportunity for nannies as 44% of users take home more than $75,000 per year. Many industry professionals who hire nannies and family assistants use LinkedIn to network and recruit employees. Building a LinkedIn profile can help Nannies and other childcare professionals’ network and engage online with prospective family employers.
It is imperative that you take a few minutes to consider what information you want to share before signing up and building a public profile. You should identify your objectives and goals to ensure you share the right information. You may have a broad professional profile with a variety of job experiences and be open to working as a nanny, in a retail child clothing boutique, or an office assistant. Alternatively, you may want to focus only on a specific type of childcare job such as nanny, daycare employee, or summer camp program leader. Your objectives and goals will drive the information you include in the profile.
Building a Great Nanny Profile
1. Add a professional-looking photo. Selfies on the beach are great for Snapchat but upload a professional-looking photo of yourself, ideally with a uniform background. Also, make sure the photo is recent.
2. Write a key-word headline and your city. The headline identifies what type of position you are seeking. If you are currently working as a nanny or seeking to connect with top families through LinkedIn, use a strong headline. Some examples include: Professional Nanny, Nanny and Family Assistant, Governess and Private Nanny, Certified Professional Childcare Provider. It’s also important to list the city where you want to live and work, but do not include your private address.
3. Be intentional with your introduction. LinkedIn has a section titled “About” that allows you to write a summary of your career or communicate what you are seeking for a new position. Here’s an example: “Live-in Nanny with 8 years of childcare experience with infants through teens including special needs, preemies and twins, and international travel with children (USA passport). Qualifications include a Professional Childcare Diploma from US Nanny Institute, Certified Water Safety, and First Aid and CPR Certified.”
4. List your current and past positions. To illustrate your work experience, share up to 10 years of your work history. Here are a few examples to help you get started.
Live-In Nanny (2017-2018, part-time, special needs). Lewis Family. Orlando, FL. Provided special needs care for 15-year-old male including transportation to school, work, and extracurricular activities. Supported family by completing laundry, meal prep and cooking, pet care, grocery shopping, and running errands. Provided household management services when the family was on vacation which included pet sitting.
Traveling Nanny (2017-2018, full-time, children ages infant to 12 years). Walker Family. Northridge, CA. Provided full-time care, with duties including meal preparation for children, set up and breakdown of classroom, development of activities/lesson plans, diaper changes, toileting, communication with parents, supervision of 2 childcare workers, and purchasing supplies.
Nanny and Family Assistant (2011-2016, full-time, children ages 2 and 10 years). Family Confidential. Los Angeles, CA. Duties included transporting children to and from school, enrichment programs, appointments, and camps. Assisted family with on-call childcare, as well as overnights for house/pet sitting and long-term care. Prepared healthy and well-balanced meals, assisted with feeding, including administering medicine to the youngest child during meals, assisted with dressing and packing lunches/snacks. Coordinated playdates and field trips to strawberry pickings, children’s museums, arts and crafts with weekly trips to the library for events and checking out books. Performed errands such as dry cleaning, prescription pickup, taking pets to the vet, taking kids to doctor’s appointments, taking vehicles in for maintenance, and supervision of contractors working in the home and yard. Also did the vacuuming, sweeping, shoveling, dusting, watering plants, and occasionally, when the family was away, deep cleaning and organizational projects.
5. Include your education. While sitters supervise children for a few hours, professional nannies have invested in childcare training and provide age-appropriate child development activities over and above supervision of the children in their care. Highlighting your education will help you stand out from other applicants and it’s important to communicate the additional skills you have obtained through training. Here are examples of education and training that could be included:
Nanny Institute, Sarasota, FL, 2018 Professional Childcare Certification
Local Community College, Sarasota, FL, 1997-2001 Child Development courses including special needs
National CPR Association. CPR/AED/First Aid Provider, Expires Sept 2020
High School Diploma. Graduated from Anytown High School in 1998.
6. Get recommendations. You can request people provide a reference by writing and sharing their recommendation directly on your LinkedIn page as well as endorse specific skills. If you already have written references and don’t want to ask for an online one, you can load a written reference letter as an image into LinkedIn, but make sure you redact private information beforehand.
7. Personalize the additional fields. You can personalize your LinkedIn profile by adding websites, links, videos, and attachments. This can be in the form of published articles or videos. You may want to add a video demonstration your favorite child activity. If you do, make sure that the article is applicable to the jobs you are seeking, and the video is relevant and doesn’t detract from your professional profile. You also have the option to list professional associations, honors you have received, current and previous volunteer activities, and knowledge of additional languages.
LinkedIn provides an opportunity to build a public profile. A public profile is simply a way to share information that lets other people learn about you. Prospective employers can review your public profile and easily identify your qualifications and special skills. It is a quick and professional way to get this information to families.
To learn more, career courses specifically designed for nannies, including resume writing, interview preparation and job negotiation are available with enrollment in the Basic Childcare program at USNannyInstitute.com.
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