Care.com question

[Anonymous]

I found my wonderful full-time nanny job through care.com as well as several part-time, one-time, and weekends jobs over the last two years. I have never once had an interview with prospective employers where I was not offered the job. So my interviewing skills are good. I have never not gotten the in person interview after the initial telephone interview either. However, I am answering, on average, one job posting a day and they go off into the ether and I never hear from the employers. So from my response (or perhaps profile) I am not getting the results I want.

What am I doing wrong? How do I make my profile or email response to an ad more appealing?

TIA

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I found my wonderful full-time nanny job through care.com as well as several part-time, one-time, and weekends jobs over the last two years. I have never once had an interview with prospective employers where I was not offered the job. So my interviewing skills are good. I have never not gotten the in person interview after the initial telephone interview either. However, I am answering, on average, one job posting a day and they go off into the ether and I never hear from the employers. So from my response (or perhaps profile) I am not getting the results I want.

What am I doing wrong? How do I make my profile or email response to an ad more appealing?

TIA

Your profile needs to clearly state your expectations (on the books, guaranteed hours, don't list perks), your experience (nothing detailed, just 10 years experience: 3 live-in positions, 2 live-out positions and occasional babysitting with 8 families, no need to list part-time vs. full-time at that point) and your certifications/abilities (list each one: sewing, CPR/First Aid/AED, CNA, etc). Apply for each position with the expectation that the family won't check your profile, but if they do, nbd. Tailor your contact to what they are seeking (infant and kindergartener in ad, you respond that you have worked with both ages, ask reasonable questions like what activities the kindergartener has after school and whether they would prefer the infant stay home except for pick up/drop off), and provide the relevant specifics that you generalized in the profile, but make sure they're relevant (don't provide information about making baby food from scratch if the youngest is 2). When they know you read the ad, they are more likely to respond, even with a "no thanks, we're not interested." I know it's frustrating, I get responses less than 30% of the time, but these are what I've found gets more responses.

[nannydebsays]

From what I hear, most parents are flooded with responses, and they just give up after getting 300 messages about their job posting.

So using the points above to stand out may help, and applying ASAP may also give you an edge.

[Anonymous]

Good advice above. I used care.com recently and it's true - you get slammed w/ tons of applicants, most of whom send very generic emails.

So try (if you're not already) to personalize your note to them. Reference something specific in your experience that's directly relevant to what they're seeking. Respond to their specifics and you will stand out more than if you just send a more form letter type of email.

[Anonymous]

Great points above. Also, if you haven't already, post a good picture. A picture in a profile goes a long way in personalizing it and fighting the generic feel so many profiles have.

[Anonymous]

I posted a job listing and yes, I did literally get a response every hour or so, and in about a week, I had a 100 responses... after 2 weeks, 200 responses.

Most of the people wrote "Is the job available? Can you call me?" or "I'm available. Let me know if you are interested." Just cutting and pasting a generic resume for a customer service job (!!). You figure out how to make yourself stand out in a few sentences. I did open up all 400-500 responses and glimpse at them.

[Anonymous]

You may not be doing anything wrong.

It's just that the parents are inundated w/a ton of responses so it is likely that they have more than enough on their plates.

That being said, I would say a good profile would include a personal pic. Nothing professionally done, something casual + natural. If possible, pose w/a young child or a family pet. Make sure the pic is recent and that your whole presence looks "girl next door." Down to earth. No cleavage.

Good luck. I hope you find something soon!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You may not be doing anything wrong.

It's just that the parents are inundated w/a ton of responses so it is likely that they have more than enough on their plates.

That being said, I would say a good profile would include a personal pic. Nothing professionally done, something casual + natural. If possible, pose w/a young child or a family pet. Make sure the pic is recent and that your whole presence looks "girl next door." Down to earth. No cleavage.

Good luck. I hope you find something soon!

Pets are good, but no kids! I got permission from a former DB to use a pic with his daughter, you can't see 75% of her face, so we thought it would be fine. Bad idea! Most parents respond with accusations and I had a few report me to care before I switched the picture. Since then, I've had a headshot up, no problems.