Someone who can tell me what neigbhrohoods she has worked in. I have found that makes a huge difference. A nanny who really knows your area and how to get around will really get the kids out more.
I also want a reference from someone local.

Oh, and here are some turn-offs:
A really, really brief profile that just says "I'm very responsible and love kids." I need more information, like whether you have nanny experience.

Poor spelling and grammar. It may be an ESL thing, but it comes across as being rushed and not paying attention to detail. That's not what I'm looking for.

A long post about your goals and aspirations, with very little detail about what you would do as a nanny. While I am glad you have future plans, I am mostly interested in hiring someone who wants this job now.

Now that I've done this a few times, I realize what it is I'm looking for:

1) Some indication that you chose this profession because you like being with kids
2) Some indication that you know it's a hard job and what it entails (I look for some kind of list of things you do with the kids or have done in prior jobs)
3) Some idea of what you're looking for, or what kind of families you've worked for before (full vs. part time, one baby vs. multiples, or multiple ages, etc.)
4) A generally sunny, positive attitude. I tend to dismiss the "purely professional" profile.
5) a picture or two that shows you looking happy, preferably with kids in it
6) we have cats, so anyone who says they love cats/pets in general goes to the top of the list. I do not expect the nanny to care for our cats at all, but they will want to sit with her sometimes, and the baby might get in the cat food, or sometime in the years (I hope) she's with us, she might stumble on some cat vomit or poop, and I would rather have someone around who will just take that in stride.

Another MB here. I look for a simple story of why you want to be a nanny: did you decide this is your profession? Just need a job through college? SAHM whose children are in high school and looking to start working again? Only job you think you can get? I like a simple story that I can understand. I also like seeing clean work history from graduation to today so that there are no gaps (if you are 45, and have been nannying for 2 years, what did you do between ages 20 to 43?).

Grammar, spelling, relevant photo is a must (I want to see that you want the job and put time into your profile). Also experience that correlates with age (a 19 year old with 10 years of paid child care experience? Really?). I assume that the hours that you are available are correct, so if you don't check Monday, I'm not going to contact you for M-F job.

Telling what things you enjoy doing with the kids, what are the ages of kids you cared for, how many kids at the same time, did you drive them places, etc. will stand you out.

To me saying "I love kids and therefore I'm a nanny" is too cliche -- I ignore those statements.

If you respond to my ad, please give some specifics beyond your profile of why based only ad you are a good candidate (eg, you have experience with the kids of ages I specified, you are OK with the duties, that you actually read the ad and thought about it). If you did not add anything besides what's in your profile, you are probably going to be lost in the other applications I get. And if you are under 21, please please convince me that you are mature enough to care for my kids, and not just sit on the couch. Realize the age of my kids in your response (if I said my youngest is 3 and my kids are of different ages, do you think I care about all your infant multiple experience? ).

Anonymous wrote:I look for English as a first language though fluent in a second. Proper spelling and grammar. Someone who has a picture that's appropriate (happy expression, no cleavage, no Solo-type cups, etc). I look for someone who mentions liking dogs since we have one and I want to think my nanny is sitting on the couch petting the dog during nap time rather than pushing the dog into a room behind a closed door the second I leave. I also look for someone who seems professional, but has very little experience. Some people want tons of experience, but I don't have time to deal with arguing with a nanny who says "I always ...." when I just want to be able to say "Please do this" and count on that being done. I look for someone punctual who has held long-term positions and hasn't had big gaps of not working.

I won't contact people who say they're cat people.

Most of my nanny positions have been long term. I've had 2 that lasted 4 years and 1 that lasted 6 years. In between each job I typically take 3-6 months off to travel, re fuel and find a new job. Thankfully none of the families I've talked to have ever cared that I take a few months off between jobs. Working 60-80 hour weeks for years on end can be exhausting.

Anonymous wrote:You want a person who doesn't have much experience
but yet has held longterm positions. You make no sense.

They don't need to have long term jobs in the childcare industry.

Anonymous wrote:I look for English as a first language though fluent in a second. Proper spelling and grammar. Someone who has a picture that's appropriate (happy expression, no cleavage, no Solo-type cups, etc). I look for someone who mentions liking dogs since we have one and I want to think my nanny is sitting on the couch petting the dog during nap time rather than pushing the dog into a room behind a closed door the second I leave. I also look for someone who seems professional, but has very little experience. Some people want tons of experience, but I don't have time to deal with arguing with a nanny who says "I always ...." when I just want to be able to say "Please do this" and count on that being done. I look for someone punctual who has held long-term positions and hasn't had big gaps of not working.

I won't contact people who say they're cat people.

I am a cat person so I was just wondering why you stated this. Lol.

And how can someone have held long-term positions, but not a lot of experience...??! This makes absolutely no sense.

You want a person who doesn't have much experience
but yet has held longterm positions. You make no sense.

I look for English as a first language though fluent in a second. Proper spelling and grammar. Someone who has a picture that's appropriate (happy expression, no cleavage, no Solo-type cups, etc). I look for someone who mentions liking dogs since we have one and I want to think my nanny is sitting on the couch petting the dog during nap time rather than pushing the dog into a room behind a closed door the second I leave. I also look for someone who seems professional, but has very little experience. Some people want tons of experience, but I don't have time to deal with arguing with a nanny who says "I always ...." when I just want to be able to say "Please do this" and count on that being done. I look for someone punctual who has held long-term positions and hasn't had big gaps of not working.

I won't contact people who say they're cat people.

If you don't explicitly stare that you love children then I will assume you hate them.

I will be looking for a new job starting the in January, and I want to update my job profile.

What are things you like to see in a candidate's profile?

Please feel free to include things that annoy in a profile as well.

Thanks.