Nannies With Agency Stand Out
What do I mean by nannies with agency?
Agency is about taking control of your career. Your sense of agency will significantly impact your search for a new family, whether you use a nanny agency or search under your own steam.
In today’s marketplace, nannies must establish themselves as small businesses, ready to engage with agencies and families.
You are all entrepreneurs running a business – and that business is YOU.
While traditional agencies will offer excellent roles you will not see anywhere else, you can also independently discover excellent opportunities. And the more professional your setup, the more it impresses both agencies and families.
Here are six top tips for nannies to build their sense of agency.
Tip 1: Have a killer CV and organised paperwork
The role of a CV is to secure you an interview. EVERY word and line should work to that purpose.
– Give too little, and it gets overlooked.
– Give too much, and it won’t get read.
If you have limited experience, a well-presented, sharp one-page is fine.
If you’re a career nanny and your CV goes on and on, try to trim it down by moving older roles into your portfolio.
Keep your CV current and relevant, and don’t make it an autobiography. If people want your career history in detail, you can provide it later.
Be careful about oversharing on your CV. For example, don’t put the contract details of your referees on your CV. These contacts are of great value to you, and if they get pestered by lots of speculative calls, they may withdraw their support. Instead, share their contact details later on in the recruitment journey.
The presentation of your CV is important. If you need to refresh the look of your CV, we have a template that you can easily adapt to your needs. Please contact us, and we’ll happily share the template.
Presenting the right information at the right time
When a family or agency wants more (and they will), your portfolio presents your career history, qualifications, completed training, and a copy of your references for follow-up. Pull this together and keep it current, as it will impress at the interview stage.
Keep your original certificates and accreditations safe and organised (ideally, in your portfolio). It’s fine to share digital or physical copies early in the process. However, families will want to see the originals before an appointment. However, only do this in person to minimise the risk of losing your original documents.
Tip 2: Make yourself stand out
I frequently come across bland CVs, talk to the nanny, and find out they are dancers, musicians, linguists, educators, keen cooks, and experts in a specific age group, among other things. And it’s all hidden away.
Consider how these skills apply to childcare and showcase them. Ask yourself what sets me apart and build around it.
Nanny Sarah
I always try to find my own work. I am a creative person, and I work in the arts and with children. My typical role is part-time, and I tend to work simultaneously in a few different jobs. Some agencies struggle to see my value as I do more than nannying; therefore, they don’t see me as a ‘real’ nanny. And they often don’t support part-time roles. So, direct approaches to families are really important to me.
Tip 3: Be confident and negotiate
Negotiation for any role goes beyond salary. It also encompasses the hours, duties, expectations, working relationship, and all other terms outlined in the contract.
The negotiation is a series of conversations to ensure you are aligned before entering an employment relationship. And, like any relationship at this early stage, they’ll likely be give and take on both sides.
The more aligned you are with your employer, the happier the relationship will be. And if you don’t set things out properly at the beginning, it’s more likely that cracks will appear later on.
I often see nannies commenting on roles where the pay is too low, the hours are too long, or the family demands too much of their desired nanny. Nannies with agency recognise the potential of the role on offer and negotiate (and educate) the family.
Yes, that’s not always realistic, as the family may be way off, but there will be occasions when a role is poorly presented because they don’t know any better. That’s not a moment to vent. It’s an opportunity to take the initiative and lead the way.
And you’re always only a couple of clicks away from help and support. The nanny community is so supportive. If you post a question to the right group, you will get guidance on approaching a particular issue or challenge.
UK Nanny offers a supportive nanny group if you want guidance and support from other nannies.
Tip 4: Be as flexible as you are willing to be
It is undoubtedly a challenging marketplace right now, so it’s essential to offer as much flexibility as you can to broaden the potential pool of roles that you can apply for.
For many families, it’s a real positive when a nanny offers family assistance and light housekeeping duties.
Families are increasingly offering ‘Nanny +’ roles, and the demands of the families typically dictate the shape of the industry; after all, they are the employers.
However, there should be checks and balances in place to ensure that a nanny is not overloaded and that the childcare they provide isn’t compromised.
This does not work for all nannies, and that’s fine. However, being inflexible may mean that finding a new role takes longer.
The post about managing role creep discusses how to manage your employment relationship when additional duties begin to overshadow your childcare responsibilities.
Tip 5: Run and present your childcare services as a business
This is as much about mindset as anything else. Think of yourself as a business rather than a domestic employee. You are joining a family to make it work rather than working for a family.
I see this more with Maternity Nurses than with nannies, and I think it’s great. Perhaps it’s because they are more likely to be self-employed and therefore more business-minded?
Nannies with agency will lead the relationship and shape the role to what it needs to be. After all, you are the childcare expert, and they are paying for your expertise.
Tip 6: Polish your social footprint and make strong approaches
Nannies with agency have a sharp social footprint. Any family (or agency) running a search will check your social footprint.
Check your profiles, pics, comments, etc. Better still, create a page or single-page website and set up your nannying as a business – it will help you control what people see when they check you out. And they will.
Also, make strong initial approaches, as first impressions count.
I’m seeing more nannies replying to posts with a warm and welcoming introduction and an invitation to connect. Often alongside a well-designed ad card.
These replies grab attention and get more engagement from families and agencies. They send out a signal that you mean business and that you’re professional.
Supporting your search
There is much more to share, but these are my top five. Hit our socials to tell me what I have missed!
If you’re ready to start your search, please create a profile on our site, and we’ll begin matching you with searches from agencies and families.
