Household Blog Kith and Kin Nanny Agency NYC

KITH & KIN featured on Yoga | Birth | Babies Podcast!

7/24/2018

Last month, our founder, Christa, sat down for a conversation with the founder of the Prenatal Yoga Center, Deb Flashenberg, on her podcast Yoga | Birth | Babies. The episode is called NANNY 101. Shared within it are tips and tricks for hiring and employing a nanny or babysitter, whether temporarily or long-term. It's completely appropriate and helpful for nannies, too!

Have a listen here and catch some helpful gems!

Are you overwhelmed by the thought of how to hire a nanny in NYC?
Have you started the nanny search on your own, but need to run a nanny background check?
We are here to help you.
Send us an email and tell us about your family's needs - we'd love to help you hire a nanny in NYC, or help you vet your own candidates properly!

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How to Write a Nanny Resume Like a Champ

4/2/2018

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We here at KITH & KIN often get some very well qualified nannies, but their resumes are either incomplete, or not up to date. But what if you've never written a superb and professional nanny or housekeeper resume before? We're here to help!

Finding a new nanny job in NYC can be a daunting endeavor. There will be a lot of highly experienced, ready-for-anything nannies vying for that amazing position. When you’re up against dozens of other competent nanny candidates, families and agencies will often not even consider candidates who don’t have a professional nanny resume. Having a polished, professional nanny resume is the very best way to ensure that you will get your foot in the door past that first hurdle, and onto an interview.
When working with kids, it’s okay to have a little more fun on your resume than you might in other job fields - but you want to make sure that you’re still keeping it professional and always including a few key pieces of information.

Here are our tips to help you create the best professional nanny resume to help you stand out!

STEP ONE: Begin with a Clear Layout.

A good resume is visually straightforward. Your name should always be at the top of the page, in a clear easy-to-read font. Underneath should always follow whatever contact info you feel comfortable sharing. We recommend listing only your current home city and state and your preferred email address. Some candidates will include a job title directly beneath their name, which read something like “Childcare Professional” or a jazzier “Modern Day Mary Poppins”. Totally up to you! Think of your résumé more like a CV (curriculum vitae) - one page may not be enough to cover your experience, so feel free to scrap that old "one page only" rule.

Do you have more experience beyond a nanny or housekeeping positions? Don't be afraid to have two or three separate headings, if need be.
"Nanny Experience" for nanny-specific positions, and "Other Childcare Experience," or, "Teaching Experience," is appropriate for childcare settings, teaching experience, or volunteer positions.
If you have other work experience that is unrelated, say in retail or food service, you can create another heading that says, "Additional Work Experience," to make up for any gaps in your employment, just know that these will be verified.

Beneath each subsection you will want to outline each position. Here, indentation is key. Your layout should be visually clear, making use of whitespace and implementing a clear font. Bullet points and differently weighted font will make all the difference.

STEP TWO: Who are You?

Start off your resume with a brief description of your skillset. Here is your opportunity to let yourself shine!

Create a heading that says something like, "Introduction," or, "Background". Place under this heading a one or two sentence introduction where you can briefly state what your qualifications and personal values are, what you are seeking in a position (temporary, long-term, part or full time, etc.).
You can create a second heading that says "Special Skills," if you have anything that sets you apart. Are you skilled in baby sign language? Do you know how to prepare specialty meals? Have you studied, lived, or worked abroad? Do you have a high-level of schedule flexibility? Put it here!
Make a third heading that states something similar to, "Education," or, "Education and Trainings," if you have additional specializations. This may also be put at the bottom on the résumé. Here you may list your achievements such as degrees or coursework, CPR/First Aid certifications, INA Basic Skills Assessment, and any additional trainings or further education in childhood development. NOTE: If you don't have a full degree, do not state that you do! Instead, write, "Coursework toward xyz degree" and the date.

STEP THREE: Position Details - Clear and Complete.

 Household Experience
For each and every Nanny or Housekeeper position you have held we always recommend listing your relevant positions in reverse chronological order (most recent at the top). When listing your childcare experience be sure to include:

On one line, state only the last name of the family, if permitted (no first names), and the city and state job was located
Month and year of start and end of position: be specific to give a clear picture
Specify whether full or part time; long-term, or temporary
The number and ages of children when you started (ex: "3 month old and 4 year old at start of position")
Bulleted list of duties, with between 2 to 5 bullet points, condensing where necessary (avoid the paragraphs - one sentence per bullet will do)

• Use the bullet points or indentation to give a quick description of each childcare position, for instance “Responsible for the full-care of their infant son including: bottle feeding, naps, diapers, tummy time, and laundry” or “Assisted with after-school care for two children ranging from travel between activities, homework help, dinner preparation, and bedtime routine”.
• Be specific without writing an essay. If you were taking on tasks such as arranging playdates, or scheduling for the gardeners to come, this can be described as “Activity planning” or “Arranging household maintenance”. No task is too small to consider, it’s just a matter of presenting it as an employable skill!

Other Experience
For positions outside of nanny or housekeeping, feel free to follow to same basic structure. Some parents will appreciate seeing that you’re a fully rounded human, with professional experience outside of your nanny background.
While we don’t recommend including every part-time hostess job you’ve ever worked, it could be to your benefit to include certain outside experiences. For instance, summer camp positions with kids can show a sense of your ability to be active, and manage a group. Even retail and hospitality positions can give evidence to your personable disposition and people-skills.
And this goes without saying, but these likely be verified by an employer as well, so be truthful, as always.

STEP FOUR: Discretion!

Especially when applying to a position through Craigslist or some other mass sourcing location, you do not know to whom you are actually giving your name, phone number or full address. Leave that off - you can simply put your city and state.
For references, hold your past employers' privacy in high-regard: write, "References available upon request." Do not put their full name, full address, phone number, or email anywhere on your résumé if they have not given you permission to distribute that.

STEP FIVE: Save an Editable Resume

The biggest mistake we see is when a candidate has a resume, but needs to add, remove, or edit experience on the document, but has no way to do it, and has to start all over. Beware of companies promising to build you a resume if it is not yours to edit forever. What's the point in spending all this time making an awesome resume if it's going to be invalid in a year?

There are two places from where we recommend building resumes:

1. CANVA, for some fancy, visually stunning goodness
2. Good ol' Google Docs using their template builders (see our example we built below)
You need to have an account with each of these services, but first, it's free, and second, you can save it forever and edit it whenever you want over the years! Once you finish your degree, you can change "in progress" to "graduated". If your boss moves away and you just finished your position, change "currently employed" to the month and year it ended. The bottom line is, keep your resume editable and accessible.

Here is a sample resume we have built. Note how have a visually clear and detailed resume works wonders - the viewer actually wants to review it.

We hope this helps you in your quest to presenting yourself as a professional, polished, and competent caregiver. Happy job hunting!

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Why Didn't I Receive a Response to My Nanny Application?

5/17/2017

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As a nanny agency in NYC, we have seen thousands of nannies come to our agency seeking employment. Unfortunately, only about half of those people receive a follow up email, and only a very small portion of those candidates make it to an in person interview (usually around 15% of applicants!).

Why are only roughly 15% of applicants being interviewed? Why aren't you interviewing more qualified people?

Going through a housekeeping and nanny agency in NYC to find your ideal position is highly competitive and selective. For each position that is posted, an average of 125 applications and resumes will be submitted. While the applicant could be a fantastic caregiver with stellar references, we may never get to meet them because of the way a candidate presents himself or herself. In a stack of resumes and emails, it is important to make yourself stand out.
We get it. Applying for a new job is a ton of work. We've been there! You're likely applying at a lot of places, but if you really believe you are a good match for a listing, put yourself fully into it, and do it to the best of your ability.

Here are a few pointers to capture our agency's (and a family's!) attention:

1. Have well-written and thoughtful answers to the questions on our application, and in your cover letter.

When a candidate answers a question in one short sentence (or even worse, just a few adjectives), it is impossible to get a clear picture of what that candidate is about, and what they really believe about child rearing. Our nanny agency seeks to hire out nannies who are grounded in their developmental theory and experience, and if this isn't displayed at first, we simply don't have the time to give hundreds of candidates multiple chances. No need to write a multiple-paragraph essay (this isn't a high school English class! :)), but between 2-4 sentences is usually enough to concisely convey your answer.

2. Use your very best professional communication.

Informal language, specifically "text talk" and abbreviations, are not appropriate in a professional setting. Check for spelling errors on your resume, and if you need help, reach out to a friend or family member for an extra set of eyes. If you want your application to be taken seriously, present yourself as polished and professional. When we receive emails and resumes that don't use appropriate grammar or conventions (starting a sentence with a capital letter, and ending it with a period), it shows that your interactions are rushed and you may appear thoughtless, even when your character may go above and beyond! If you are perceived by a family as thoughtless and rushed, you likely won't even receive a response back. Start an email with a greeting such as, "Good morning, Kelly," or "Dear Ayesha," and end it with a closing. When an email lacks these elements, it lacks professionalism, and you may inadvertently, or intentionally, get overlooked.

3. Follow the directions in a job position, exactly.

It really is that easy! If a posting says send a PDF, make sure you figure out how to save your word doc as a PDF before you send it (Google it for your specific software). If a posting says you must have recent infant experience, be sure to note it specifically in your cover letter. If a posting says to send three professional references, don't send the contact information of your cousin or aunt (and on that note, we say this in love: don't even consider sending a false reference. This is our job, and we can spot them from a mile away - you will immediately be disqualified. It's best to say that you only have two supervisor references than put down a friend who will cover for you). If you are having trouble with any part of the application, it is totally fine to note this, because it shows that you are paying attention to the details and trying your best.

4. Be sure you meet the requirements of the job.

Our particular job advertisements are detailed for a reason - to save you time by giving you a clear picture of what the required qualifications are, the desired (not mandatory) traits, and the duties you can expect if you were to be hired. There is simply no sense in you taking 30 minutes to go through the process of applying if you don't meet the requirements or wouldn't be interested in the job. For instance, if you can't travel, but a family needs you to spend a month in the Hamptons, you'll feel like you've wasted your time when we won't be able to move forward.

5. Above all, be respectful.

This goes without saying, but be respectful in communication. If you haven't heard back about a position, and you've followed the four points above, a kind follow up is always welcome. Simply saying, "Hello! How are you today? I'm just checking back in about my application," is completely appropriate, and quite frankly, appreciated due to the amount of applicants. Impatiently writing, "I haven't heard anything back? Where are you?!" will not go far. Assume the best. No one means to offend you.

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KITH & KIN featured on Yoga | Birth | Babies Podcast!

​Have a listen here and catch some helpful gems!

How to Write a Nanny Resume Like a Champ

​Here are our tips to help you create the best professional nanny resume to help you stand out!

STEP ONE: Begin with a Clear Layout.

STEP TWO: Who are You?

STEP THREE: Position Details - Clear and Complete.

STEP FOUR: Discretion!

STEP FIVE: Save an Editable Resume

There are two places from where we recommend building resumes:

We hope this helps you in your quest to presenting yourself as a professional, polished, and competent caregiver. Happy job hunting!

Why Didn't I Receive a Response to My Nanny Application?

Why are only roughly 15% of applicants being interviewed? Why aren't you interviewing more qualified people?

​Here are a few pointers to capture our agency's (and a family's!) attention:

1. Have well-written and thoughtful answers to the questions on our application, and in your cover letter.

2. Use your very best professional communication.

3. Follow the directions in a job position, exactly. ​

4. Be sure you meet the requirements of the job. ​

5. Above all, be respectful.

Categories

Have a listen here and catch some helpful gems!

Here are our tips to help you create the best professional nanny resume to help you stand out!

Here are a few pointers to capture our agency's (and a family's!) attention:

3. Follow the directions in a job position, exactly.

4. Be sure you meet the requirements of the job.