Nanny Resume Example & Writing Guide

Working with children and their families can be rewarding. The intimate nature of childcare, especially if you are working in—or even living in—someone’s home makes obtaining a nanny’s job a very personal proposition. That’s why crafting a nanny resume that shines and conveys a positive personal image is so important.  

Parents want the best for their children, so convincing them you’re the right person for the job takes skill. You must highlight your skills, but also show enough of who you are that parents will want to invite you into their lives. 

Using resume.io, our builder tool and layout options, you will be set to create a resume that gets you a job with a family who will appreciate all you do for their child. This guide covers the following topics:

• What does a nanny do?
• How to write a nanny resume that gets past Applicant Tracking Systems and into the hands of a recruiter
• The best format to organize your resume for maximum appeal
• Highlighting the skills most desired by parents in each section of your resume: summary, work history, education, skills
• Creating a visually pleasing layout and avoiding formatting errors

A nanny’s resume should give the impression of efficiency, trustworthiness, and warmth. You want a family to trust you with their child and with access to personal details of their lives. 

What does a nanny do? Your career

This job can be as flexible or as challenging as you need it to be. Highly-skilled nannies are in demand, but first-time nannies can also find work. Your duties and situation as a nanny may vary widely, but the bottom line is that you have responsibility for the care and safety of another family’s child or children. 

Parents may have very different requirements for a nanny. Some are looking for college-educated, career child-care workers, while others are looking for a summer caretaker or someone just starting their life in the workforce. Some nannies work part-time while they are in school and others are full-time, live-in helpers.

The bad news is that you are unlikely to get rich as a nanny. The median hourly wage is $16.45, according to Payscale in May 2023, but the more skilled you are and the more hours you are willing to work, the more you can earn. Income is also highly dependent on the city in which you work and the demands of the family for whom you work. If you are a live-in nanny, you may earn less money because you are given housing. Other factors that affect your pay are the hours you are available and whether you can make a long-term commitment to the family. The good news is that it’s a job where a positive personality often wins over formal qualifications and it can give people wonderful employment opportunities where none would have existed otherwise. Moreover, it’s a highly rewarding job for those who are natural caretakers.

Some nannies have special qualifications in newborn care, sleep training, or working with multiples such as twins or triplets. Some are more general caregivers. A type of specialty nanny is a governess, usually a qualified teacher. The governess does not usually perform duties other than educating children in their home. Many sought-after nanny jobs are listed with placement agencies, some of which specialize in higher-paying jobs. Agencies charge parents a finder’s fee but are free to nannies. If you decide to list your services through an agency, you have to get through its interview process before you ever meet with parents. 

If you choose not to use an agency, you can look at general job listing sites or ones that cater to nanny positions such as Care.com or SitterCity. Either way, you have to get past the Applicant Tracking System that many agencies and websites use to eliminate resumes of less qualified candidates. However, because you may be applying directly with an individual family, you will also have to consider other factors.

How to write a nanny resume

A nanny’s resume should give the impression of efficiency, trustworthiness, and warmth. You want a family to trust you with their child and with access to personal details of their lives.

The first step in writing your nanny resume is understanding what sections to include. Your CV should contain the following elements:

• The resume summary (also known as profile or personal statement)
• The employment history section
• The education section
• The resume skills section

Whether you use an agency or not, you have to get past the Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) that many agencies and websites use to eliminate resumes of less qualified candidates. However, because you may be applying directly with an individual family, you will also have to consider other factors.

Applicant Tracking Systems

In a nutshell, ATS programs scan your resume and rank it based on keywords and other data such as location, experience and so on. Your first job is to make sure you have analyzed each job listing and know what is important to an agency or employer. Then, try to use the exact words you found in the listing to boost your ranking with the ATS.

Choosing the best resume format for a nanny

The best format for structuring a nanny resume depends on your career path. Past experience is one consideration, but so is your vision of the job you are seeking next and beyond. It usually comes down to choosing the right resume focus for now and the future. 

Should you emphasize where and when you’ve worked as a nanny or in related types of work? Or what specialized skills and competencies are most relevant to your goals and interests?

The most commonly used chronological resume format works well for job seekers in almost any occupation whose work history has followed a linear employment path. In that resume section, progressive job experience and accomplishments are organized by employer in reverse order from most recent to earliest dates. This format would be ideal for nannies who have gained experience through a series of child care positions over time.

Alternative resume formats are sometimes better suited to job candidates who are new to the workforce or changing careers, or those with a more varied occupational background. Self-employed professionals working on a freelance or contract basis might opt for a project-based “functional” resume format. Other functional resumes emphasize special skills or niche abilities, rather than work history. Nannies with specialty qualifications might consider adopting the functional resume, or even a hybrid (combination) document that reflects their background, skills and interests.

Resume summary example: personality counts

Because you are helping raise a child, your approach to your nanny resume should be different from one for a less personal career. Go ahead and be creative here. You should remain professional, but give yourself a little leeway to explain why you will be a great nanny. 

The number one quality any child-care worker needs is a love of children. You would be remiss if you didn’t point that out through examples of how you entertain and treat children in the one section of your resume that allows you to be yourself. A typical resume profile is two to four sentences. You are not writing a biography. Instead, this introduction should point out your career successes and the attributes that will make children respect and like you and parents trust you. Use vivid descriptive language and strong action verbs that tell the story of your career achievements.

Don’t fall back on clichés like “I love children!” Instead, illustrate your love of children with an example. Perhaps you started babysitting when you were 12 years old or mentored younger students in your school. These details are a better way of showing your long-term desire to work with children. Describe your caregiving style here, too. Parents are looking for someone whose philosophy agrees with their own. 

Keep in mind that a resume is not a static “one-size-fits-all”document, but a flexible basis for your job applications. Nanny work is very personal and your resume should reflect that. In your profile, be sure to highlight the attributes named in each job for which you apply. In that way, you are much more likely to get past the ATS and impress agencies and parents.

Employment history sample: Your experience 

All your work with children, including raising your own family, counts when it comes to creating a great nanny resume. Even if you are looking for your first nanny job, you may have experience that shows you are dedicated to the field. 

Your employment history tells agencies and parents that you are serious about your work as a nanny. If you have raised your own family, this is one job where you should definitely show that off. What are your biggest parenting successes? Consider adding parenting as a “job” and listing some of your philosophies and parenting achievements.

Once again, avoid clichés in this section. If you have childcare experience, agencies will know that you have been responsible for the safety and well-being of a child. Instead, use those strong action verbs to describe your achievements and successes in the field. Here are some ideas:

• Instead of: Gave child after-school snack daily.
• Try: Sang silly song about fruits and vegetables to encourage healthy after-school snacking.
   
• Instead of: Performed routine first aid.
• Try: Attended to playground scrapes without a fuss.
   
• Instead of: Communicated with parents daily.
• Try: Developed routine of weekly “newspaper” report by child to parents.

The details are the key here. The second descriptions offer a glimpse into your style and creativity. They also distinguish you from the crowd. Make sure you are still thinking about the keywords that will get you past the ATS and into a person’s hands. Then, impress with your successes and accomplishments. For instance, consider whether you regulated a child’s sleep schedule or helped improve his or her grades.

If you have not had a nanny job, think about other childcare experience you may have. Have you babysat, even if it was for a younger sibling? Did you tutor or mentor children? What about coaching a sports team or teaching an art class? All of those required you to take responsibility for other people’s children. Remember that many of the skills needed to be a great nanny are also needed in other jobs. Reliability, trustworthiness, and communication among others can be demonstrated through your work in a different field.

Skills example: highlight knowledge and talents

Give agencies and parents a chance to quickly view all the abilities you will bring to the job with your nanny resume skills listing. Working with families requires the ability to understand and get along with people, but that’s just the beginning. 

Understanding and interpersonal skills are called soft skills, but hard skills are also a necessity. Hard skills are the distinct knowledge you need to get your job done. 

Before you finalize your skills section, you should do two things:

1. Make a master list of all your job skills, successes, and achievements. Cherry-pick the most relevant ones for each specific case.
2. Analyze each job listing for keywords you should try to include in the skills section.

Once you have your master list, you can refer to it whenever you apply for a job. Choose the top five to 10 skills mentioned in a job listing and alter your skills section to include those words. Here are some skills all nannies need to get your list started:

Soft skills

• Trustworthiness
• Patience
• Reliability
• Organization and time management
• Communication with parents and children
• Confidence
• Flexibility.

Hard skills

• Child development knowledge
• First-aid and CPR certification
• Nutrition and cooking knowledge
• Driver’s license with a clean record.

These are just some of the skills nanny agencies suggest parents seek. You may have demonstrated others, such as creativity or staying calm during emergencies. If you speak a language other than English or have training in special needs care, those are valuable skills.

Nanny resume education example: Your classes count

The entry point for a nanny job is a high school diploma, but many parents are looking for more. If you took early childhood education classes or have a higher degree, make sure you list them in the education section of your nanny resume. 

Having a bachelor’s degree in child development, education, or another related field will increase your desirability as a candidate. Many agencies require a bachelor’s degree or at least an associate’s degree or certificate in a childcare-related subject. Many college students work nanny jobs because they can still fit in their classes. If this is you, list your expected date of graduation and any childcare or related classes. Any certifications you have, including your first aid and CPR training, should also go in this section.

Hobbies and interests: building rapport

This section is not typically included in resumes, but your personal passions could be the connection point to a perfect family match. Resumes should be kept professional, but because you are trying to show how you will enrich a child’s life, adding your hobbies may be a good choice. Do you love photography or making movies? Do you dabble in creating apps? Do you play tennis or another sport? Even if a child does not share these exact interests, they show you are a well-rounded person who has something new to teach. Like the skills section, this can be a simple list of hobbies unless you have achieved something that demonstrates your mastery or expertise.

Resume layout and design

Your nanny resume allows a bit more creativity than is typical because of your career path. Your design should still be clean and professional, although you may take into account the age of the children when developing your design. You want to show parents you understand child development.

The best resumes are the ones that bring you closer to your dream job. To do that, it has to pass the ATS through the strategic use of keywords, and then make an agency or parent think, “Wow! I want to meet this person!” Neither of those will happen if your resume contains formatting errors or an overly busy layout.

Your goal is to get your resume read and that means keeping it simple. Big blocks of type or cute fonts present a barrier to easy reading. A touch of color is fine, but more is distracting. Even though you may be applying to work with a small child, stay away from primary colors, they are too bright for eyes that are scanning dozens of resumes. Here are some tips and hacks to help you:

• Agencies will be looking for your contact information, your last job, and your skills first, so make sure they are prominently placed.
• Do not put any information into headers or footers because ATS programs may not “see” them when they scan.
• Always save your completed resume as a PDF file. Formatting errors may be introduced when a file is opened in different word processing software or in different versions of the same software. Use the resume.io builder tool or another dedicated resume software to avoid that problem.
• Have a friend proofread your resume before you send it.

If you’re not a design pro, consider using one of Resume.io’s expertly-designed, customizable resume templates.

Key takeaways for a nanny resume

1. Make sure to custom-tailor your resume for each specific job application for the best possible results. Pay close attention to the wording and requirements of job listings.
2. Make your resume showcase a warm, caring person with creative, organizational and/or educational strengths. This is especially important in the summary section.
3. Be detailed in your descriptions of past duties, achievements and successes.
4. Describe both hard and soft skills when possible.
5. Make sure your layout and formatting are clean and readable and use software that protects you from formatting bugs and technical issues.