How to Sell Your Skills as a Babysitter

By Kaitlin Hurtado on May 23, 2017

Whether you’re going to college full-time or part-time, you can often find your hands tied when it comes to having a busy schedule. One of the contributors to that busy schedule is often the part-time job you pick up to pay for rent, textbooks, or anything else you find yourself needing or wanting as a college student.

If retail or food service isn’t what you have in mind, babysitting is a job many students go for as it is mostly local and provides steady hours (and a steady paycheck).

Now that summer vacation is coming, you might find yourself with more free time and not enough money to do all the summer traveling you want to do. Instead of wasting your summer away, try applying for local babysitting jobs as they pop up as kids are also on summer vacation with working parents. Just like any other job you would apply for, be prepared to sell your babysitting skills to every client to make you stand out among other babysitters your age.

Figure out what skills you want to sell 

When applying for a babysitting job, or any job position, you’ll want to sell yourself and talk yourself up to potential employers. However, don’t ambush your potential employer with a long list of skills you have … and that almost every other applicant may have. Rather than saying something general like being hardworking or creative, give an example that relays that skill or narrows down the skill as much as possible to help suit the position you are applying for.

Instead of simply saying that you are creative, say that you are good and/or experienced at setting up activities for kids. Be prepared to give examples of the creativity you’re talking about by describing the activities you would typically do with the kids you are babysitting.

Try talking up the skills that wouldn’t typically go on a resume for a part-time job. Are you experienced with preparing meals? Are you certified when it comes to first aid and CPR? Even if this is your first time going for a babysitting job, think of the skills you already have under your belt that would help you succeed as a babysitter.

Be as specific as possible when it comes to backing up your skills 

Be ready to answer scenario questions that your employer can ask to test your babysitting skills. If you say you’re patient with kids, they may give you a scenario of their child misbehaving and expect you to answer on how you would deal with the situation on the spot. If possible, relate it to any past experiences you may have had. Bring up a situation where you had to deal with a misbehaving child while babysitting and discuss how you solved the problem.

If you don’t have any babysitting experience, try to bring up any other life experiences that would help you as a babysitter. Talk about any younger siblings, cousins, or nephews that you have experience dealing with — whether it is simply playing with them or changing their diaper.

Provide your potential employer with references 

The chances of you getting hired will be higher if you have experience being a babysitter. Being able to provide other families you have babysat for when applying for another job is invaluable — you become more trustworthy in the eyes of future employers as your past employers have also trusted you with their children.

Provide your past clients’ contact information (let them know you are doing so) so that your potential employers can verify the skills you are advertising and make sure that you are the right babysitter to hire.

Even if you don’t have babysitting experiences, still provide valid references that can vouch for you, your experience, and your character. If you’ve gotten close to a manager at a part-time job, you can still include them as a reference as they can say how hard working you are or how you were valuable as an employee.

If you’ve worked with any type of mentorship program — either as a mentor or mentee — use any organizer or mentor as a reference as they will know you on a more personal level.

Image via pexels.com

Don’t be afraid to be personal 

Unlike other part-time jobs, babysitting is a job where personality is just as important as being professional, if not more for some families. If hired as a babysitter, you are going to be spending extended amounts of time with the children you are babysitting. Parents will not want to hire someone that comes off as boring or rude. When interviewing you, they’ll want to hire someone they would want to have their kids spend time with.

If you come off as friendly and outgoing, your energy can put you at the top of the list of applicants, regardless of the experience you have, because at the end of the day, parents are looking for someone both their kids and themselves would be comfortable with.

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