What To Include on Your CV As a Nanny

Here at The Nanny Connection, as you can imagine, we see lots of Nanny CV’s! Over the years I have been very shocked at the quality of some of the CV’s. You can do so much now with your CV, be creative and have fun with it, but keep it professional and in tone with the industry.

Writing your CV is one of the most important things you will do in your career. Especially if you are going to be changing positions regularly.

Your CV is the FIRST impression a future employer will experience of YOU! A CV can tell so much about a person, and not just about employment history! For example, if I received a CV with just an address, a list of jobs and qualifications, I would switch off immediately, as it would not really tell me about the person applying, compared to a CV where it has a selection of different sections, introducing me to the person, a summary of their career and what they are looking for now, education and qualifications relevant to the field, employment history with duties performed, any work experience or volunteering, skill set and hobbies and interests.

Why do we need different sections on a CV?

Having sections on a CV, spaces everything out, and makes it more pleasing to the eye, as well as breaking down the information so easier to understand and digest. Having sections where you are telling them about you as a person really helps in a Nanny role, as it is such a personal job working in people’s homes and looking after their children.

Here are the categories we like to see on a Nanny CV:

Your details

State your full name, town and first part of the postcode, email address and contact number. You do NOT need to write your date of birth.

Personal profile

This is an introduction of yourself, outlining your career so far and what you are looking for in your next position.

Education and qualifications

It is important to list your studies to back up your experience and tell your employer your knowledge and expertise. Personally, I also like to see dates as well, as this lets the employer know how long you studied for, and how long ago you studied! Include your First Aid details and whether you have a up to date DBS certificate.

Skill set

Your skill set is important, as this breaks down your expertise you may specialise in. For example, if you have weaned a baby, or potty trained before. You could also include if you drive or if you speak other languages. This lets the employer know you are confident in your abilities in these areas.

Employment and Professional Experience

This is an important section as you are listing your experience and if you have a consistent employment record. If you have gaps in your employment, it is best to be honest and list why. For example, if you had a career break due to having your own child, or a sabbatical due to illness. You need to include the town you worked in, family name (NOT first names or where they work/name of their employers!) ages of children you cared for and when you started, and the dates of your full employment. You then need to list your duties you performed in that role in a concise way. This may be things like, bottle feeding and weaning, providing stimulating activities, nursery duties, helping with homework, travel with the family, providing healthy meals. This lets the employer know what you are familiar with and what skills you learnt in that particular role. Try not to go off on a tangent and tell your whole life story about your time with the families. Keep it professional and not over familiar.

Work Experience and Volunteering

I think this is important as it tells the employer what you may be doing in your free time, how you have contributed or contributing to the local community, what is important to you, and also your commitments out of work, as well as how you manage your time.

Hobbies and Interests

I think this is also important, as it tells the employer what sort of things you enjoy doing, if you have similar interests and things in common, as well as what you might be up to in your own time and how that might impact your employment.

If you need any support with writing your CV, please do get in touch with us! We have lots of ideas and can be quite creative with templates, as well as advising you what to write if you are struggling.