How To Land Your Dream Job With A Winning Resume
The application process for child care is expectedly thorough, in-depth, time-consuming, and not without a fair amount of hoop jumping. Some child care professionals balk mid-way through the process because they were not prepared to provide multiple references, format their resume, participate in multiple interviews, and conduct a paid trial. In reality, you are applying for highly competitive, high-touch positions that involve the complete responsibility of a stranger’s children. This intense amount of screening is completely reasonable and should be expected whether you are working with Adventure Nannies, another agency, or with a family directly.
Your ability to wholeheartedly participate in this screening process is one of the many things that will ultimately convince agencies and families to offer you a total dream job. For starters, it is very important to keep your initial application very general. It is meant to show your entire skill set to a wide variety of families. Be completely honest and showcase your experience and personality. You may find yourself applying for a travel, temporary, live-out, or a live-in position, so don’t get caught up in salary, scheduling details, or listing all of the things that you ideally require from a position. Those things may change depending on the scope of the job and your desire to be considered for a specific position – you don’t want to limit yourself in the first impression! We have seen some of the most incredible applications over the years, and we want to offer you a peek behind the curtain and give you some insider secrets to mastering the first vital step to landing that dream job.
Resume Photo
Most agencies require you to include a photo of yourself at some point in the screening process. This is something that most families like to see along with your resume and references, and these documents together comprise the first impression the prospective family forms of you. As with any first impression, you want to put your best foot forward and represent yourself accurately and in the most flattering light. To take the best photo we suggest that you grab:
-a well-lit light-colored or white wall
-a friend
-a phone or digital camera
-a clean, fresh face without too much makeup, a clean outfit without too much skin or jewelry
-a smile!
- Stand as close to the wall as possible and have your friend who is taking the picture stand about 5 feet away.
- Smile! Have your friend take 5-6 photos of you.
- Send your favorite photo to us at info@adventurenannies.com with the subject line “Your Name Profile Photo”, or upload it to your online profile. Feel free to send us a few options if you aren’t sure which one is best.
- Get introduced to families with confidence, knowing that their first impression of you will be a great one!
Photo by: https://creativemarket.com
Photo by: https://see-me-everywhere.blogspot.com
Your Resume
List your most recent and relevant experience, providing reference contact information for each position. Check out resume-building websites for professional templates if necessary and create an accurate, chronological account of your job experience, with the most relevant experience listed *first*. List your certificates, education experiences, special accomplishments, and of course mention any continuing education that you’ve participated in. If you have any gaps in employment, be sure to include an explanation of why that occurred and what you were up to during that time. Go over your resume and make sure that every detail is accurate, spellchecked, and have a friend review it for you.
Photo by: https://grammarly.com
Interview Attire + Ambiance
If your application is a potentially great fit for the family, the recruitment coordinators will reach out to you right away to set up an interview. When you prepare for your interview keep in mind that other than your profile photo and resume, this is one of the first impressions that the agency will have so you want to put your best foot forward. Follow the tips we listed above for taking your profile photo to prepare for the interview. If the first interview is going to be a phone interview or a Skype interview, we recommend that you find a quiet, well-lit, clean space where you can take the call. Do not schedule your call during a time that you are working, distracted, with other people in the room, or in your car. If the interview is a video interview, make sure to test out your Skype to ensure that it’s connecting properly, then check your video image and be sure that the background that is visible to the interviewer is not distracting or inappropriate. Be prepared with note-taking supplies, a short list of any questions that you may have, and plan to be ready for the interview at least a few minutes ahead of the scheduled call. The position you are applying for is a professional job, and respectable agencies are looking for candidates who are able to conduct themselves professionally. Wear whatever you would wear to your first day of work at a high-level nannying or teaching position. Be prepared to answer questions about yourself, your resume, and why you are interested in pursuing a professional childcare career.
Photo by: https://stylesweekly.com
The Follow Through
Once you’ve submitted your cover letter and resume with your lovely photo attached, the next step is really simple: you wait! We often receive hundreds of resumes per position. The recruitment coordinators and placement managers are inundated with candidates with varying levels of experience and are carefully and purposefully sifting through each individual application to identify the candidates that would be the best fit for the family. Following up by sending multiple emails and making multiple phone calls can be interpreted as overwhelming and even desperate considering the number of candidates that will also be applying. We recommend sending no more than one follow-up email after submitting your resume, knowing that the recruitment coordinators will be contacting the most eligible candidates. If you aren’t contacted for that specific position, consider submitting your application for a different position with a fresh cover letter. Throughout this process, we are typically placing the most eligible candidates based on their ability to model timely and professional communication, follow directions throughout the application process, take ownership over their screening process by being as self-reliant as possible and accessing the many resources we offer, and maintain a professional and unquestionably child-safe social media free of any images, words, or content that would be inappropriate for a child to see.
Do you have any tips that we may have missed? We’d love to hear about your personal experiences applying for positions in child care – reach out to us on Facebook, Instagram, and check out the other posts on our blog!