Adding Babysitting Experience to a Professional Resume

As you craft an interview-winning resume, one significant consideration is the type of experience you’ll include. Some shy away from including babysitting experience on their resume. However, in many instances, babysitting experience can add value. 

In this post, we cover:

• How babysitting adds value to a resume

• When to include babysitting experience on your resume

• When not to include babysitting experience on a resume

• Steps to include babysitting experience on your resume

• Where to include babysitting experience on a resume with examples

How does babysitting experience on a resume add value?

Start by thinking about valuable soft skills. 

If you fall under the category of individuals who are hesitant to include babysitting experience on your resume, consider this: When a parent entrusts you to take care of their children, it speaks volumes about the level of faith they have in you and trustworthiness is a highly sought-after soft skill by employers. 

Additional soft skills that babysitting experience can help to highlight on your resume include 

Certain babysitting jobs also require transferrable hard skills. For example, if you were responsible for scheduling childcare activities and duties, that skill would transfer to administrative assistant and office management jobs. Or, if you were responsible for healthy meal planning, that’s a transferable skill to positions like home healthcare worker and dietician. And suppose you hold certifications in first aid or CPR. Those are also transferable hard skills to other positions, including teaching, nursing, and other healthcare jobs. 

Babysitting can also add value to your resume by filling in any employment gaps you might have due to taking a break from full-time employment to be a full-time parent, going back to school, or due to other personal reasons. 

When to include babysitting experience on a resume

You now know the value babysitting experience can add to your resume, so under what circumstances might you choose to include it? 

First, it’s worth noting that this post focuses on adding babysitting experience to your resume with the assumption that you’re not applying for a babysitting position. That said, it goes without saying that if you’re applying for a babysitting job or are looking to work with a babysitting agency, you’ll want to design your resume with babysitting experience as the focus. If this defines you, use the tips in this article while also referring to the following to design a babysitting resume to land interviews: “US Resume Format: How to Write and Best Practice Examples.”

Now that we have that out of the way, adding babysitting experience to your resume could be beneficial if you’re:

When not to include babysitting experience on a resume

Though there are plenty of reasons babysitting experience on a resume can add value to your job search, there are also reasons not to include it. Avoid adding babysitting experience to your resume if you fall under any of the following categories:

Steps to include babysitting experience on a resume

As you warm up to the idea of including babysitting experience on your resume, it’s natural to wonder what specific experience to include and how to best include it. Here, we take a look at the steps to help you with both. 

1. List out all of your babysitting jobs

First, make a list of all of your babysitting jobs. 

• Who did you work for? 

• What was the duration of each job? 

• What additional duties were you responsible for beyond watching children? 

• Was there anything significant or unique about each job? 

2. Identify the required skills for babysitting

Next, make a list of all the hard and soft skills you used to support your babysitting jobs. Some common skills used while babysitting include:

• Problem-solving

• Creativity

• Time management

• Homework support

• First aid

• CPR

• Meal planning and preparation

• Conflict resolution

• Prioritizing 

• Positive discipline

• Communication

• Child development

• Scheduling

• Organization

• Tutoring

• Bilingual abilities 

• Water safety

3. Decide which babysitting jobs, skills, and accomplishments to include

Refer to the job description and highlight the required skills and experience. Compare the highlights from the job description to your babysitting experience and skills lists. From there, note your transferable skills and knowledge that align with the job description and determine which skills and expertise will add the most value to your resume. 

4. Determine what title you’ll use

Instead of including each babysitting job as a standalone position in your Work Experience section, it's best to combine all of your experience under a single heading or position. As such, you’ll need to decide what title to use for your combined experience. 

Some options that might sound more professional than “Babysitter” include:

• Child Care Professional

• Nanny

• Child Care Provider

5. Use power verbs for each bullet point

As you create your bulleted list of achievements as a babysitter, select powerful action verbs to kick off each bullet point. Action verbs add a dash of confidence to your resume and make it a more interesting read for employers. 

Some power verbs you might use to describe babysitting duties and achievements include:

• Cared

• Oversaw

• Managed

• Tutored

• Created

• Monitored

• Applied 

• Prepared

Where to include babysitting experience on a resume

The most obvious place to include babysitting experience on a resume is the Work Experience section. Additional sections where you can incorporate your babysitting abilities include the Skills, Core Competencies, and Certifications sections. 

Work Experience section

When incorporating babysitting in the Work Experience section,  include the job title you decide to use, dates of employment, and key responsibilities and achievements. You can also choose to include the names of the families you worked for if it’s a short list, or you can choose to forgo including an employer’s name altogether. If you’re employed by a babysitting or nanny agency that refers you out for jobs, you’ll note them as your employer. 

Below are two babysitting experience examples you might find in the Work Experience section of a resume. 

Skills or Core Competencies section

As mentioned previously, babysitters possess numerous hard and soft skills that are transferable to other roles. Depending on how you choose to format your resume, you can include those that are relevant in your Core Competencies section, which falls just below your Resume Summary section, or in a standalone Skills list near the end of your resume. 

Certifications section

If you hold certifications as a babysitter that are relevant to the jobs you’re applying to, include those in the Certifications section of your resume. Some examples of certifications you might have as a babysitter that are also relevant for many jobs in the healthcare, teaching, and daycare fields include:

• Babysitting and Advanced Child Care Certification (American Red Cross)

• CPR Certification

• Kids Nutrition Specialist Certification (American Fitness Professionals & Associates)

• Aquatics & Water Safety Certification (YMCA)

Babysitting experience on a resume adds value

When given thoughtful consideration, adding babysitting experience on a resume can add value and help you stand out to hiring teams. Whether you’re looking to include transferable and relevant skills, fill in employment gaps, or generally add value to your resume, the above guidance can help you achieve these goals. 

Should you include babysitting experience on your resume? Or, if it’s already included, are you confident that it adds value and represents you in the best light possible? Why not submit it for a free resume review to find out?

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• How to Add LinkedIn to Your Resume (+ Key Examples)