You’re here because you’re either an agency looking to hire a nanny to add to your support services or you’re a parent in dire need of one since the nanny resumes you’ve received so far just don’t cut it. Either way, you’ve come to the right place.
Ideally, you want to hire someone responsible, dependable, and great with kids! The best nannies also get along with the whole family, helping make your life much easier. When you invite someone into your home and trust them with your children, you don’t want to settle for anything but the best.
This guide includes examples and tips that will show you how to write the ideal job description so you can find the perfect nanny for your situation.
Write Your Finest Nanny Job Description
Job descriptions typically aren’t treated as a work of art. They don’t win Pulitzer Prizes, and they’re not preserved in textbooks for generations of hopeful job description authors to aspire to. But, they still need to attract the right candidate for the job.
All too often, job descriptions are completely nondescript, unoriginal, and unformatted chunks of messy text. Many nannies step away from job descriptions with no idea how many kids the hiring family has, not to mention what the family even needs help with. Sometimes the errors on job descriptions are so egregious that they run the risk of being comical. For example, we’ve seen some job postings out there that list the only qualification as “nannying,” while others have qualification lists so long that your hand gets tired from scrolling down the page.
Think about who you need on your team and why
Your job description should seek to answer questions. At the most basic level, potential employees should quickly be able to get a sense of why you’re hiring. Is your business growing rapidly as more parents get back to in-person work? Do you need a nanny for your own family now because you’re expecting another child? Answering these questions honestly builds trust and understanding. This is the time to be transparent so nannies can decide whether or not they’re the right fit for the job.
Keep in mind the following tips to ensure your nanny job description reflects the values you want your nanny to possess:
- Whether you’re looking to hire a nanny to care for your own kids, or you’re hiring a nanny to provide care for families contracted with your agency, there’s no doubt you’re hoping to find someone who’s reliable, can make even mundane chores a blast, and is patient even with a toddler who absolutely refuses to take a bath, brush their teeth, or eat their veggies. So, what can you do to highlight these values in your job description?
- No one wants their nanny to ghost them five minutes before their kids need to head to school. If you want a reliable nanny, you should emphasize that you reliably provide pay at set intervals each month. Also, it’s worth mentioning that YOU won’t cancel at the last minute if your plans change.
- If you want your kids to enjoy their daily chores, like cleaning up their rooms or doing homework, you should consider making suggestions for your prospective nanny to start a game of “goodnight, toys” before bedtime.
- Patience is sometimes in short supply when you have kids running around and you’re constantly stepping on Legos, but you should be clear that you’ll take the time to discuss your children’s routine and answer any questions your nanny may have along the way.
Polish and perfect for a well-developed job description
Let’s think about the hiring process for a moment. When you’re thinking about hiring a nanny but you notice that their resume is filled with typos, would you reconsider hiring them? When we have so few words to base our hiring decisions on, the words really count. And for potential employees, your job description is their opportunity to vet your attention to detail, consideration, and respect for their time. After you finish writing your job description, take a break and come back with fresh eyes to make revisions and edits for things like grammar, clarity, format, and length.
Start Off Well by Outlining Your Nanny Job Description
If you’ve made it this far into this guide, you already know that your job description is the determining factor in whether or not you’ll soon be rolling in qualified nanny resumes. Consider this outline your gateway to crafting a job post that attracts the perfect nanny for the job.
Job details
It’s a very confusing world we live in where job details sections rarely include any details about the job, and yet that’s our reality. Make the world a better place by providing information about who you want to hire (what skills are particularly important? Do you need a full-time or part-time nanny? Are you hoping for a live-in nanny?) and what sorts of work they can expect to do. Remember that this is greatly impacted by the age of your children, so please let them know how many children you have and their ages.
About the company
This is the perfect place for job candidates to get to know you and your family (if you’re hiring a nanny for your own family) or the agency they’ll work for. Please specify the job location here if you didn’t mention it in the job details section, but make sure you keep this section short—two sentences or so is plenty.
What you’ll be doing
Vague, nonspecific job requirements are frustrating. Try to focus your requirements bullet points by listing what you want a nanny to achieve, followed by how they can achieve it.
- Handle tantrums calmly in children with autism, providing low stimulation environments and redirecting attention whenever possible to avoid sensory overload
- Collaborate with parents to design strategies to aid in child development, incorporating games and activities like natural art projects, gardening, and card matching
- Enhance childhood development by providing crafts, projects, and activities that allow children to practice things like fine motor skills and socialization
Qualifications
When a nanny is browsing through job postings, they’ll typically first glance over the responsibilities to see if the job interests them before scanning down to the qualifications sections to ensure they’re eligible. Be clear and upfront about the essentials, including minimum age requirements, education level, and the more niche qualifications like Red Cross Water Safety Certification.
- Minimum associates degree in special education or early childhood development, bachelor’s preferred
- Valid driver’s license with clean driving record
- Willing and able to pass background checks
- Second language proficiency preferred
Benefits
At this point in your job description, there’s a lot of text discussing how a nanny could benefit you. Now is the time to let nannies know how working for you will benefit them. Be direct about salary, providing nannies with a reasonably-sized range of wages they can expect to earn (e.g., don’t list a salary range of $10–100K, please). Nannying also provides unique perks, so let prospective employees know if they’ll have access to a gym membership while the kids are at basketball practice, or if you’re willing to cover gas and maintenance for their vehicle.
Roles and Responsibilities Inside the Nanny Industry
Nannies work with all sorts of different families. Depending on their qualifications, they may work with infants or teens, children with special needs, large or small families, groups of kids from multiple families, as a live-in or live-out nanny, or as a part-time or full-time nanny. There are endless possibilities for the role that any given nanny will fill, but these are some good ideas to consider for your job description.
Problem solver
- From determining how to inspire a stubborn teen to clean their bedroom to figuring out a new approach to explain long division, nannies are constantly faced with new obstacles that require new approaches to resolving issues.
- Aid our eldest children, Oliver and Brego, in completing homework, and finding new ways to keep them motivated, such as by judging a sibling dance-off competition once homework is done.
- In this role, nannies will need to be creative, fast thinkers with great interpersonal skills and charisma.
Conflict resolver
- Part of growing up is learning how to cooperate with others. It’s natural for children to butt heads with each other, but a great nanny can teach children in these moments about respect and consideration.
- Help our children learn to treat others kindly, particularly their own siblings, by sitting them down after they get in an argument and teaching them how to vocalize frustrations without being hurtful.
- Patience is a critical skill in conflict resolution, as is remaining calm and tactful with words. Knowledge of child development and psychology improves the ability to perform in this role.
Cheerleader
- When children do something well, it’s important to celebrate that and improve their self-confidence. By increasing the perception of successes in relation to failures, scientific writer Mizuho Hosogi claims we can build up children’s self-esteem.
- Celebrate small wins along the way, whether it be with a fun new game or a small treat, to help kids feel a sense of accomplishment and motivation to continue working at their goals.
- In this function, nannies will need to possess the ability to slow down and acknowledge little victories throughout the day. Attention to detail, communication, and a positive attitude are essential.
Decision maker
- At some point after school, homework needs to be done, chores completed, and lights turned off. Nannying is all about balancing having fun with instilling life lessons that will help prepare children to become adults.
- Instill healthy habits in our kids, balancing fun activities with responsibility (they should help out with chores such as cooking and cleaning up.)
- Strong ground rules and unwillingness to bend those set rules (which may incidentally teach children to manipulate) are necessary to fulfill this role. Clear communication about expectations is needed.
Chauffeur
- A big part of many nannying jobs is ensuring that children get to their various commitments on time, be it school, sports practice, play dates, or appointments. It’s not the most enjoyable part of the job, but it’s a major role that parents need help with.
- Transport children to and from school, activities, doctor’s appointments, and playdates
- Safety and time management are the biggest priorities in this role. Leaving plenty of time between appointments leaves nannies extra time to drive carefully. Clean driver’s records, driver’s license, and access to reliable transportation are often non-negotiable for the job because of how essential this role is.
