Sharon Blank, Member Care Representative for Care.com, offers her advice to childcarers across the board, including nannies, babysitters, childminders and au pairs, as to how to navigate Care.com to help find the right match.
The Competition
“As Care.com membership in the UK grows, so does the competition to find that perfect job. As the job market becomes more competitive, families will become more selective in deciding who they want to hire,” says Blank. At Care.com, the average number of applicants per job is about 7. Childcarers often apply to an average number of 20 jobs before they find their match and are hired.
“Location can have a strong influence on salary,” says Blank, who states that a London childcarer job could have many more than the average 7 applicants, and will therefore be able to demand a higher salary. Surveys usually show an average 20% difference between London salaries and elsewhere. Although these facts and figures may seem daunting, it’s a question of providing the right information on your profile and using Care.com’s tools to make your profile stands out.
Your Profile
Your Care.com profile is similar to a formal CV. You should spend the same amount of time and effort on completing your profile as you would on revising your CV, making sure you describe prior jobs and education in enough detail.
As a general rule, it’s important to be honest. Paint a clear picture of the type of childcare situation that you are searching for. For example, if you don’t fancy changing nappies, you may want to specify that you’d prefer to look after children who are already potty-trained.
The same rules apply to your experience and availability, especially if there are duties and times you can’t afford to be flexible on. You should be clear, for instance, if you are a first-time childcarer that has only looked after younger siblings. And if you have a hobby that means you are committed to say, playing in a team every Saturday morning, make sure that you make this clear in your availability schedule.
For more advice on how to promote yourself and your services, have a look at our tip sheet.
Tools
Care.com provides some useful tools to help in your job search:
- New Job Alerts and Emails. Our email inboxes are constantly bombarded with messages, so it can sometimes be easy to overlook important emails. So if you are looking for a job, it’s important to make an effort to read the New Job Alerts from Care.com. These emails tell you when a new job has been posted in your area. Read them regularly and apply to the ones that interest you!
- Message Inbox. Keep your email inbox up to date and respond in a timely manner. When you sign up on Care.com, make sure you that you answer all emails about jobs as soon as you can. This will greatly improve your chances of getting your preferred position.