Professional Portfolios: The Difference Between Skating By and Standing Out in Your Job Search
Have you ever wondered why you are being passed over for interviews? You spend weeks searching for the perfect family and they disappear without a trace after you provide your resume. Maybe you are looking in the wrong places…or maybe your professional portfolio (or lack-thereof) is falling short.
What is a Nanny Portfolio and Why Is It Important?
If you’ve ever wondered “what do I need to do to get an edge in the market?!” - the best place to start is your professional nanny portfolio. How do you showcase your talents and qualifications? How do you highlight your experience?
I always compare hiring nannies (and interviewing as a nanny) to online dating. If you have ever done online dating - the goals are relatively the same… Get into the market, make a connection, find a strong match, get a commitment and get off the market. Nobody wants to find themselves back on the market quickly. A revolving door of jobs is draining for nannies, and a revolving door of nannies is exhausting for families. Career nannies are looking for long-term placements that match their career goals, and families are looking for a nanny that will stay with them until they don’t need a nanny anymore.
The whole process is more personal than professional because nannies work intimately in families’ homes. You start with minimal information on the position and they start with minimal information on you and jointly you both have to decide to swipe right and get more information - to potentially waste time and energy scheduling a call, meeting for coffee, or a combination of both. That is where having a professional portfolio can tip the scales in your favor, because it highlights the qualities that make you a quality match for a family right off the bat.
Highlight the 5 P’s
Real talk - your resume is just a fraction of your professional portfolio, and nobody is going to hire you based on a resume alone. Your resume is a bare minimum that shows you have the experience and qualifications to be considered, but families are not choosing you based on your resume alone. So what are the hiring parameters? Professionalism. Proficiency. Personality. Passion. Parenting Philosophy.
• Professionalism
Professionalism is the underpinning of your job search - without it, nothing else in your portfolio or experience matters. Having a well-written childcare resume is a bare minimum for professionalism. Having a full professional portfolio indicates to families and agencies that you consider childcare your career and operate with an elevated sense of professionalism. Professionalism appears in three ways in your professional portfolio: the quality and comprehensiveness of your portfolio, your professional resume, and your recommendation letters.
• Proficiency
Proficiency is your ability to do your job and the knowledge and expertise you bring to the position. Families want to see that you have prior experience and skills that will transfer to their position. A candidate who is able to demonstrate not only prior experience but also a commitment to growth, education, and high quality care is going to stand out in the interview process. Proficiency appears in three ways in your portfolio: your professional resume, your continuing education, and your recommendation letters.
• Personality
This is the vibe check. Nannying is personal. Even if you work for a family where you never even see the parents - nannying is personal. As a nanny you become intimately aware of the inner workings of the families you work for. You work inside their homes, you know their habits and favorite foods, and you are tasked with caring for their children. Whether you realize it or not, you are being judged on whether your personality is a match for the family. Are you detail-oriented and highly organized? Are you active and sporty? Are you outdoorsy and adventurous? Personality appears in two ways in your portfolio: your nanny bio and your recommendation letters.
• Passion
Passion is a bit more subjective, but just as important. Families and agencies aren’t looking for candidates that are just warm bodies to fill positions. They are looking for people who are excited and enthusiastic about working with children, who view nannying as more than a pitstop on their way to bigger and better things. Passion appears in two ways in your portfolio: your nanny bio and your recommendation letters.
• Parenting Philosophy
Parenting philosophy is the lens through which you view childcare. It is okay if you are just starting out and you don’t have a clearly defined parenting philosophy, but your philosophy of childcare should grow and sharpen as you build into your career. In order to have the best possible working environment, it is important to find families that align closely with your philosophies of childcare and discipline. While parents are the ultimate decision makers on how their children are raised, a mismatch in parenting philosophies is a prominent indicator of job dissatisfaction and burn out. Parents want to know that the way you raise kids is the way that they want their kids to be raised. Parenting philosophy appears in two ways in your portfolio: your nanny bio and your recommendation letters.
Professionalism and Proficiency - Your Nanny Resume
What to Include
Name, Job Title
Contact Information - Phone Number, Email Address, City/State.
Ditch the middle school email address CuTiEpIe320394303@whatever in favor of a professional email address YourName@domain.
Skip the address. City and state is sufficient.
Summary - Put a short summary. One paragraph 3-5 sentences that summarizes your experience, skill sets, and qualifications.
Professional Experience - Formal paid work experience directly related to childcare from age 18+ that is not for family members.
Additional Childcare Experience - babysitting, volunteer work, youth group, camp counselor, etc.
Education - Certifications, certificates of completion, etc. directly related to childcare.
Skills and Qualifications - tangible skills and soft skills. A lot of nannying happens in the soft skills - time-management, patience, good communication.
Formatting and Language
Your resume should be clean, organized and easy-to-read.
Make sure to use headers that separate sections to make your resume easy to navigate.
Make sure your name, job title, and contact information are prominent at the top.
One to two pages.
Utilize child-centric language.
Organize based on importance.
Summary at the top
Professional experience prominent first section - taking up the bulk of the resume
Additional childcare experience - short and sweet, can be bullets
Education - highlight most important certifications and certificates. Make sure CPR/First Aid is prominently displayed and up-to-date. You can expand on this in a separate document so this is just a highlight reel.
Skills and Qualifications - bullet points that showcase your best skills and qualities.
Leave It Out
This is a childcare resume. Do not include your previous job in sales or food service. It is okay to have breaks in your employment history, but irrelevant experience will muddy your resume and make it harder to highlight the skills that are important for the position. Leave out the reason you left a position. If it is important then it can come up in the interview.
Personality, Passion, and Philosophy - Your Nanny Bio
The Power of a Picture
I don’t put my picture on my resume, but I do add it to my nanny bio. As I am writing this, my hair is blue, purple, and pink and I have an appointment to get another tattoo on my calendar. While I am incredibly professional in my work, I also show up as authentically myself - ink and all. I would rather know up front if I am not a match for a family based on my skin tone, hair color, ink, or any other aspect of my physical appearance. So I introduce myself with a photo that shows my personality.
Introduce Yourself
In one paragraph introduce yourself not as a nanny but as a person. If you were speed-dating what would be the most important things to share about yourself in 5 minutes or less? What are your values, hobbies, interests, passions? Let agencies and prospective employers get to know your personality and the things that make you unique.
I always say, “I am not a white couch nanny.” That doesn’t mean that I don’t work in homes that have white couches, that would be silly. But I am an exploratory, adventure first, messy development nanny. My introduction paragraph lets families know that I am not afraid of mess, I enjoy arts and crafts, I am all about creepy crawly bugs and playing in the dirt. Why? Because that is part of who I am as a person but also part of how I believe children learn best. I don’t want to be cooped up inside a house all day, and I don’t want to be afraid of my nanny kids getting dirt on them. By letting families know who I am, I also give them a pretty good idea of whether I am a match for how their household operates.
Does that sometimes mean I don’t get the job? Sure. But it also means that I don’t wind up working in a position that is a mismatch for me. I want longevity, not burnout. And I would rather wait to find the right position, than force myself to fit into a box that wasn’t designed for me.
Why Work with Children
Let your passion for childcare soar. This is where you introduce yourself as a childcare provider. Why did you go into this profession? What made you decide you want to work as a nanny instead of other aspects of childcare? How long have you been working with kids? What do you enjoy about doing the job? What are your long term career goals?
What Is Your Parenting Philosophy
If you are new to childcare this section might be short and sweet, but as you grow in your career this parenting philosophy should expand, become more research based, and become more clearly defined. This is a great place to highlight the education and research that is the foundation of your philosophy.
Your parenting philosophy should answer:
How do I believe children learn best and why? How do children grow and develop? What makes children thrive?
Is this based on experience? Research? Education?
Do you follow any established childcare philosophies or schools of thought?
Montessori? Reggio Emilia? Waldorf? RIE? Love and Logic? Connection-centered? Attachment theory? Gentle parenting?
Do you utilize a singular method? Or a mix of multiple?
What level of training or education do you have in that theory?
What is my role as an adult in helping children reach these goals?
What Does Your Philosophy Look Like in Action
Sometimes I call this the philosophy of discipline. This is what it looks like when the rubber hits the road. While a lot of the parenting philosophy can be somewhat theoretical it is helpful to describe what it looks like in practice. “Gentle parenting” can mean anything from letting children run rampant to maintaining firm and loving boundaries while respecting children’s autonomy. At the end of the day, it is your responsibility to make sure that you are defining what terms mean to you in concrete ways to avoid miscommunication.
This is a great space to use real life examples:
When dealing with a child who expressed this behavior, I responded by doing this.
Based on my belief in this parenting method, I handle discipline by using these methods.
I believe discipline for children is about growth and learning, so I try to handle situations like this.
Proficiency - Education and Certifications
Commitment to Quality Care
None of us can say that we know everything there is to know about childcare. None of us can say that we never run into situations on the job that we have no idea how to handle. You can handle it the best you can in the moment, but the real defining factor is what are you going to do about it for the future…
There is only so far you can go as a nanny on experience alone. If you really want to make it in this career, you need to invest in continuing education to stay on top of current research and best practices. Showing that you stay on top of learning shows families and agencies that you are committed to showing up as your best self and providing the highest quality of care possible to your kids.
Make Yourself an Expert
You don’t need to write a dissertation or give a TED talk on childcare, but have you done enough studying and research that you could effectively talk someone through the pros and cons of a certain parenting approach? Could you lead first time parents through developmental milestones and possible hiccups along the way? Could you explain the why behind the ways you interact with your children?
Professionalism, Personality, Passion - Recommendation Letters
As part of your portfolio your recommendation letters show how the families you have previously cared for see your value. Having stellar recommendation letters is the icing on the cake for a high quality professional portfolio. They often indicate your professional standards and performance as well as the aspects of your personality, passion for childcare, and parenting philosophies.
If you haven't already read our blog post on recommendation letters you can find it here: Top 4 Reasons Nannies Should Ask For An Annual Recommendation Letter
