winning work as a nanny – Nannyjob blog

The experience trap

Can’t get a job without experience, can’t get experience without a job? It’s the catch-22 for the new nanny or maternity nurse. Good news is there are things that you can do to get you started and help you become a nanny.
1. Work for free

Okay so it’s not the highly paid job of your dreams but volunteering to help friends or neighbours, or even trying to get in touch with training companies who offer work experience schemes in childcare, will help you get that foot in the door. What’s most important is a reference and there’s always someone who will appreciate an extra pair of hands in return for a reference. This is particularly good for getting experience of newborns or twins and is a short term solution while you look for work.
2. Think outside the box, or country

Au pairing abroad is another way to get experience with children and get paid while doing so. Some families don’t even require any childcare qualifications or experience, but babysitting and voluntary work with children demonstrate your commitment to working with children and will give you a leg up to help you get a job. You can be an au pair for the summer or a full year, so it require a bit more commitment but gives you more experience in return. If you want to go on to be a nanny then look for families with children under 5 as most families will want experience in that age range.

3. Do a course

You can either do the course at college or as an apprentice working in a nursery. If you already have a level 3 qualification consider doing a nanny specific course. Or if you need to work and earn there are plenty of online courses that could help you secure the job you dream of. Check out some of the ones we have suggested here Training for Nannies – Nannyjob

Nanny Jobs – Beating the Competition

Families will quite rightly be picky when choosing a nanny for their children – after all, the nanny will be spending a great deal of time with their children and may even be living in their home. So how can you give yourself the edge over other applicants?

Nanny jobs are desirable to many. They are the most well-paying of childcare professions (although this is no surprise, considering that they are usually the most physically and emotionally taxing, too), and offer a lot of perks.

We often talk about the importance of a family finding the right nanny, but it is equally important for the nanny to find the right family.

Formal Qualifications

Although formal qualifications are not legally required to work as a nanny, most families will be interested in any qualifications you do have. You need to be able to prove your skills and your ability to not only keep their children safe, but to facilitate their learning and stimulate them. If you don’t have very many formal qualifications, you should think about changing that and ‘skilling up.’ There is a vast array of courses available in childcare, early years education and paediatric first aid, which are the kind of qualification the family will be looking for. (Check out our website for some great offers on courses)

Good References

As previously mentioned, it is not legally required for nannies to possess any formal qualifications. In fact, some of the most well-paid and sought-after nannies are older women who have very few qualifications, but experience and great references from other families. If you are just starting out as a nanny, you’ll need to have previous experience of childcare to demonstrate that you can carry out the tasks required. You might consider doing some voluntary work in a child-orientated setting before starting to apply for nanny jobs.

A Driving License

Being able to drive the family car (or your own car) to ferry children around to school and various extra-curricular activities will most definitely give you an advantage over other applicants. Of course, depending on where the family lives, using public transport may be easier in certain situations but the freedom of being able to drive a private vehicle will not just make your life easier – it will make you more attractive as an employee.

Professional Attitude

Professional nannies are well-prepared for their interviews and well-prepared to be hired. Be sure to have any paperwork ready for the family to see should they wish to (proof of qualifications and DBS documents are important ones) and have a contract of employment prepared.

Love Your Work

Primarily, the family are going to want to see that you genuinely love children and have a passion for your work. As the saying goes, “if you love your job, you’ll never work a day in your life.” Allow the family to see just how much your work means to you.

What gets you a nanny job?

We’ve talked before about the importance of a good profile in winning you work as a nanny, but a CV – and your experience and qualifications – will only get you as far as the interview.

Imagine opening a mystery box of chocolates. You have preferences – for example you prefer milk chocolate and don’t like nuts – and you can make decisions about what you see on the outside. That’s what your CV is for, to help the family pick out the milk chocolates and discard the nuts. Other things you can only tell by biting into the chocolate and discovering the hidden nuts inside. Sometimes a really tasty-looking chocolate can be disappointing, and sometimes a chocolate that seems plain on the outside can have a surprising centre.

Once you actually meet the parents, what is it that will land you the job?

Remember that the interview is first and foremost a chance for you and the family to interact, so don’t sit there passively! Taking an active part in the discussion and asking well- timed questions will show that you’re interested in hearing about them and their expectations as well as being prepared to answer questions about your experience and approach to childcare. Respond to the family’s cues and where they ask you what you would do in certain situations you should answer the question and then reflect it back to them to find out what their preferences are.

Let your enthusiasm for your job, and children, shine through. A happy, animated nanny who is able to describe what they do on a day to day basis is much more likeable than a coldly, professional nanny who gives textbook answers. Also show enthusiasm for the children if they are there. Try to get to know your future charges by smiling, waving and asking them questions, getting down on their level and responding to any overtures they make such as bringing you a favourite toy.

You probably have a list of questions in your head (or on paper!) that you want answered and chances are some of these will be covered before they ask whether you have any questions at the end of the interview. Pay attention to what the family say all the way through so unless you’ve genuinely forgotten the answer (in which case you should apologise and just ask them for clarification) you don’t ask for information you’ve already been given.

Also make sure your questions don’t focus solely on hours, pay and holidays, although that is obviously very important ground to cover. Ask about the children’s favourite activities, how the parents like to communicate during the day and what their priorities are as a family. Taking an interest in them as people will also help you decide whether you feel able to work with them.

The main objective of an interview is to establish a good relationship between you and the family, so you both leave with the impression that you could work well together.

Childcare is Tough! Stay Energised with These Top Tips!

Being a parent is tough! Being a nanny is tough! Working in a nursery is tough! Raising a child is one of the most rewarding, but also one of the most challenging things you could ever do. The trouble with constantly taking care of the needs of your child or young charges is that it’s easy to push aside your own which can quickly lead to burnout that can affect both you and your children.

Try these top tips to help you take care of and re-energise yourself:

Continue reading “Childcare is Tough! Stay Energised with These Top Tips!”

Continuing professional development for nannies

In a competitive market a nanny who regularly refreshes and expands their skills will stand out from the crowd. Luckily a number of training providers have stepped in to fill the gap but it can still be hard to find a course that is on a date that suits you in a location that you find convenient. To help you along Nannyjob have secured discounted courses for you. Check out the courses on offer here Training for Nannies – Nannyjob

In celebration of this we’ve pulled together 3 top tips to make sure you get bang for your buck!

1. Ask About Course content

Don’t be afraid to ask questions about what is covered in the course. A good training company will be able to give you a fairly detailed breakdown of the topics you’ll encounter, which will help you decide whether the course is worth your time.

2. Check Accreditation

A course which has been accredited will have undergone a certain amount of scrutiny from the awarding body, which means you can have a measure of confidence in the delivery and assessment procedures. Some awarding bodies, such as CACHE, will also check the content of the course to ensure that it’s factual and based on best practice.

3. Get opinions

It’s rare to find a course or training provider that everyone raves about, although they do exist, and one nanny’s meat is another nanny’s poison and all that BUT if you get overwhelmingly negative reviews or the same bad points keep coming out then do take that into account.

Make your nanny profile shine

At Nannyjob we know the essential information parents need to make a decision – location, experience, availability and what kind of job you want – so make sure these details on your nanny profile are accurate. If they aren’t, then you won’t show up when parents search! Here are some other top tips for making your profile stand out from the crowd.

The first question to ask yourself: what do parents want to know about you?

Be specific because when you’re too vague about location or availability then parents won’t bother to contact you if they don’t see what they’re looking for, or something similar, on your profile – you can select multiple regions but you probably don’t want to select all of them, particularly if you’re looking for a live out job!

Make sure the details on your profile make sense – your total years of experience should be equal to the number of years as a nanny, as a nursery nurse and in other childcare (which includes teacher or nursing). If you say you have more than 5 years experience but none as a nanny or as a nursery nurse or in childcare then how can you have more than 5 years relevant experience?

Select your job types carefully. You may be genuinely happy to work as anything but remember people will contact you based on what you say you want to do.

Add a photo! It makes it easier for parents to connect what you write to a real person if they have an idea of what you look like.

Use appropriate paragraphs and punctuation to make your description easy to read.

If you have any restrictions (for example you’re looking for a Monday and Tuesday job because you already have a job the other days state this early on.

If you’re looking to work in an area where you don’t currently live, say when you would be available to move and start work.

Give details of your qualifications and experience, as well as talking about the personal qualities which make you a great candidate. Remember that this section is all about what you can do for the family, how you interact with children, what you like to do in your job and how you use the knowledge and skills that you’ve gained. Make sure you really tailor it for a nanny job. Your interests, hobbies and family background are less important than skills which are relevant to childcare and show real passion and enthusiasm for your work.

Above all, be yourself!

Nanny references

Writing a nanny a reference can be tough. It usually means your childcarer is moving on and whether it’s your choice or theirs it’s often an emotional time. A glowing reference will help your nanny find a wonderful new job and show them how much you appreciate the job they’ve done for you.

Writing a nanny a reference can be tough. It usually means your child carer is moving on and whether it’s your choice or theirs it’s often an emotional time. A glowing reference will help your nanny find a wonderful new job and show them how much you appreciate the job they’ve done for you.

A good reference is about a page of A4 long. It often takes the form of a letter and includes your contact details so prospective employers can contact you. It should be written in the first person and split into easily readable paragraphs, each with a theme, for example your nanny’s day to day duties, their attitude to work, any particular skills they have and times they’ve gone above and beyond. You might find it helpful to refer to previous annual performance reviews when you sit down to write.

Give plenty of detail about your nanny’s current job and how that has evolved over time. If your nanny started when your child was a baby and they’re now at school you have 4+ years of very varied duties to cover! Don’t assume that a new-to-the-nannying-world prospective employer will know what ‘usual nursery duties’ or ‘daily care’ involves. Expanding on these shows what your expectations of your nanny were on a day to day basis, and of course you should comment on how well these expectations were met.

Providing specific examples will also help a prospective employer build up a complete picture of your nanny. Perhaps your nanny helped your child overcome shyness or transformed a fussy eater? By giving details of how they accomplished that you can demonstrate their approach to the children in their care as well as showcasing a positive impact they’ve had on your family.

Think about the kind of skills or attributes you really appreciate in your nanny. If your nanny is very organised or an excellent time-keeper then mention that in their reference. If the children are always laughing when you come home in the evening or they always have something they created that day to show you then share that with prospective employers. Bear in mind when writing a reference that your nanny may not always work as a nanny, or even in childcare, so highlight two or three highly transferrable skills.

A trickier task is writing a reference for a nanny who has been less than satisfactory. In this case a brief reference confirming length of employment and duties with an invitation for prospective employers to contact you will be more than sufficient.

Expect to be contacted whether you give a positive or neutral reference. Prospective employers will want to both check the veracity of your reference and ask detailed questions of their own. Be factual and honest – if they ask whether you ever needed to use a disciplinary procedure and you did then you should answer the question fully and truthfully. If that was the cause for terminating the nanny’s employment you are allowed to share that. If it was resolved satisfactorily use it as an example of how your nanny took your feedback on board and improved their performance.

Writing a reference is one of the kindest and most lasting things you can do for an excellent nanny and it will serve them all through their career, so it’s worth taking the time to do the task fully and well.

What are parents looking for when they are interviewing for a Nanny?

One thing every family wants when looking for a Nanny is that extra special person to take care of their precious children so whilst they are looking for someone with experience and energy there is so much more to it.
Want to present your best self at your next interview, check out these tips on how to be the best Nanny ever!

Want to present your best self at your next interview, check out these tips on how to be the best Nanny ever!

Act professional, calm, and always mature when in contact with the family, whether it’s face to face, phone calls or emails, the family will be scrutinising every thing you say and do for signs that you are / or aren’t the right person for them.
Be Honest – Parents are looking to ensure that their standards and idles are mirrored with yours, that you can handle situations with their children and that you are available when they need you to be. However, much you want a job, if it doesn’t fit with you then don’t take it thinking that you will make changes when you are working for the family. Trust is hugely important between a nanny and their employer and if you aren’t completely honest at interview or in communications prior to being offered the role then it might mean that the relationship gets off on the wrong foot.
Talk about your upbringing and your previous roles, show how it has moulded your beliefs and morals and made you the dependable, patient and person of good character that you have now become. Nannying is all about personality and interacting with the children and parents need to be reassured that you will take care of them in the same way they would.
Share your wisdom, new parents, in particular, are probably worried about some issue or other with their child by offering helpful suggestions they will see you as a team player and font of knowledge. By showing an interest and demonstrating that you are knowledgeable and can show initiative this will reassure the parents that you are good at your job. A good example of how to do this with parents of slightly older children is to present examples of how you turn activities into learning opportunities without children even realising, parents will love this!
Show respect and compassion, parents may want things done in a certain way because it allows them to be involved, for example bedtimes or routines around meals, if they work long hours make suggestions as to how you can help with maintaining good, healthy routines for their children whilst ensuring they spend quality time with Mum and Dad.
Whilst it’s important to be as communicative as possible for both the Nanny and the family about expectations it’s also important to recognise that things change over time and particularly as children get older, suggest ways of communicating with each other that shows you want to be involved in changes and that you know that regular communication is important.
You must be you; you are a Nanny because you love children, make sure that shines through, showing enthusiasm for your job will endear you to all families, at the end of the day they want someone who is happy to be around their children and for that happiness to reflect in their family life!

As we say @Nannyjob there is nothing more important than finding the nanny who will make a child happy. Highlighting these qualities will show any potential new family just how you’ll fit into their everyday life

Ofsted Courses

Paediatric First Aid

As a nanny you will be looking after and caring for young children. This course is aimed specifically for first aid in relation to children and will include –

Bleeding Cuts and Grazes, Broken Bones

Shock, Anaphylactic, Electrical

Choking, Resuscitation

Allergic reaction, Head Injuries

Common Core Skills for a Nanny

This course is aimed at helping nannies develop and enhance their work experience and knowledge of working with children and their families and will include –

Communicating with children, young people, their parents and carers

Child and young person development

Safeguarding and promoting the welfare of the child

Supporting transitions

Multi-agency working

Sharing information

Ofsted Registration Process

Nannies at present are not required by law to hold any childcare qualifications.

However if they wish to become part of the Voluntary Ofsted Childcare Register (OCR) they have the same requirements as a childminder, the only difference being is that they are caring for the children in their own home.

To register, a nanny needs to complete online application via the Government Gateway website.

https://online.ofsted.gov.uk/OnlineOfsted

It will cost around £103 and needs renewing every 3 years.

As a nanny you will also need a Paediatric First Aid certificate, The Common Cores Skills and Knowledge in Childcare, Enhanced DBS Check and Public Liability Insurance.