So, you would like to become a nanny?

Being a nanny can be a very fulfilling job and indeed a vocation. A nanny is an extremely important and influential part of a family’s life and is trusted by the parents with the most precious things they have – their children.

Qualifications and Training

• There are no legal qualifications required to become a nanny.  However, parents will want to be as sure as possible that you can cope with the job, they will be looking for qualifications and experience.
• There are courses such as CACHE or NVQ but although they are very useful, they often concentrate on childcare within a nursery, pre-school or educational setting rather than a private household.
• Nanny colleges (Chiltern and Norland) are fantastic, but can be very expensive and last for up to 3 years, so you must be prepared for the cost of fees, uniforms, books and the loss of earnings whilst you are studying. The London School of Childcare Studies (formerly HATAcademy) offers the following practical and great value courses:
  • CACHE Level 3 Diploma for the Early Years Workforce
  • OCN Level 3 Early Years Practitioner Diploma – NEW Coming out November 2017
• One way you can show you are serious about being a nanny is to join the voluntary section of the OFSTED Childcare Register.
• Additional courses or workshop attended will also help to show your capability and willing to a new employer and excel your CV ahead of others.
• And many more on our website childcarestudies.co.uk

What kind of personality do you need to become a Nanny?

There are certain traits that are expected from a nanny, outside of experience and skills.

If you are thinking about becoming a nanny, ask yourself following questions and take time to contemplate how you would address them:

• Am I responsible?
• Am I trustworthy?
• Am I a good communicator?
• Am I fit and healthy?
• Am I good listener and do I get on with people well?
• Do I have a sense of humour?
• Am I interested in what is happening around me, do I enjoy learning?
• Am I safety conscious?
• Am I empathetic and caring?
• Am I confident?

Parents will seek many attributes when employing a nanny next to excellent references and experience. If your answers to the questions above will help you in your career – talk about yourself in your CV.

What next?

There are three things parents who are in search of a suitable Nanny will expect:

1. Your CV
2. References
3. A good Interview

 Your CV

Your CV is your first chance to present yourself and parents will be asking themselves questions like:

• What is your experience so far?
• Have you looked after the children the same age as theirs?
• How far did your responsibility extend?
• How long did you stay in the job?
• Why you have left?
• Have you worked in their area?

To improve your CV and experience if you have none:

Contact babysitting agencies, put an ads in local newspapers or newsagents,  post an advert in a local school, ask a neighbour, visit the local playgroup, or after school club and offer to help –  do it for free or for very little money – your objective is to get experience and references

Salary: None or very little

Aim: Gain references and experience

If you have some references and experience or experience with your own family or volunteering as above:

Okay so you enjoy working with children and you are getting a good response from them and those you have worked for. You are confident that you would like to be a Nanny or Childminder.

At this stage considering you may have some references – keep getting babysitting jobs, voluntary work and enrol yourself on our course, or another suitable course.

If you are able going abroad as an Au Pair is a great opportunity to test your ability to work closely with children or a family and gain and good reference.

Salary: Minimum wage £7.50 net for live out if you are over 25. If you are 21 to 24  is £6.95 and 5.55 if you are 18 to 20. Those figure are from April 2017 till March 2018.

 For live in: £120 – £200net ( 25 -35 hours per week)

Aim: Gain references and experience

If you have over 200 hours of experience with good references:

You now understand what working with children involves and can demonstrate this confidently to a future employer both in your CV and in person.

At this point you can really start looking for something more permanent and progress your career. There is always huge demand for live in help, and if you have no commitments I would strongly recommend you go and live with family. You can have an arrangement where you are working and living there and on the weekends you go home.

The type of the position you should be looking for is called Parents Help and is where you are either working alongside the parents or with older children.

If this is not an option, and you only are looking for live out position, it might be slightly harder to find, but it is not impossible. There is a huge demand for after school nannies, where you drop children to school and pick them up after. You do homework with them and prepare their dinner, babysit and so on.

Salary: Junior Parents help – Live out: £7.50 – £8.50, Live in: £ 200 -300 (45- 55hours + babysitting)

Aim: Gain references and experience

After working as a parents help for at least 1 year ( sometimes even 2 years), and having excellent references you will be ready to go out and start to look for a job as a Nanny.

LITTLE TIP: Please note that any ‘good’ Nanny vacancy advertised will receive over 200 replies. So it is extremely crucial that you give yourself the very best start possible!