How to interpret nanny CVs and profiles

Hiring a nanny is more like looking for a life partner than a corporate employee. Our founder, Zarja will be the first to tell you that she got it wrong the first time around. She started off rejecting nannies who had typos in their CV. It was only after having interviewed a number of nannies that she realised the nannies with the perfect CVs weren’t the type of nanny she was looking for – they weren’t going to be comfortable getting onto the floor and playing with her children, or dealing with them when they were sick.

These 6 tips will save you hours of wasted time and give you the inside knowledge on how to be most effective when screening nannies.

1. Photos should not be a number one consideration

We all know that photos have a huge impact on first impressions, but they shouldn’t be the main consideration when selecting or rejecting a nanny. Like all of us, some nannies are camera shy and may not come across well in their photos. Remember, there’s a person(ality) behind the photo, so please don’t let a bad photo alone put you off. At myTamarin, we started shading the photos on profiles and we saw that it opened up the pool options for parents quite significantly. Whereas before they may have immediately rejected a nanny based on her photo, they actually took the time to read their nanny profile and realise they might be the right candidate.

2. Formal education isn’t the most important consideration

Nannies do one of the most important jobs – we trust them as parents to look after our most precious gift, but even the best nannies don’t always have any formal training on how to do the job. Education and certifications can help with screening but only to a certain extent.

For us, finding someone with the right attitude is key when screening nanny CVs because skills can be learnt but attitude can’t. Along the same lines, we believe intrinsic talent and a genuine passion for childcare are more important than formal education and overtime practical experience of childcare outweighs the theory. That said, here are some of the abbreviations you might see on a nanny’s CV:

NVQ and (National Vocational Training) and CACHE (Council for Awards in Health, Care and Education) fall into the broad category of formal education and courses typically last longer than just a few days.
OCN and MNT training address topics like sleep for newborn babies, healthcare for newborns including allergies, colic and reflux, caring for premature babies, breastfeeding and caring for postnatal mums. These courses typically last a couple of days, for each level.
Maternity nurse training includes certificates for breastfeeding, sleep training and weaning babies. These tend to go more in depth than general maternity courses and typically last a few hours to a day.

3. Length of placement isn’t always an indication of how good a nanny is

For permanent nanny roles, although length of previous employment should always be a consideration, particularly when a nanny has had a series of shorter-term placements, it’s worth remembering that relationships don’t always work out for a number of different reasons on both sides. Parents go on maternity/paternity break and don’t need a nanny anymore, grandparents come to visit for an extended period of time, parents move out of the area, etc.

When it comes to maternity nurses and night nannies, the ability to hold down a job for a longer period isn’t relevant because they are inherently temporary jobs and parents normally decide on the duration of the engagement way before they meet their nurse.

4. Career breaks are quite common when it comes to childcare

It’s quite normal for maternity nurses and nannies to take career breaks. Some put their career on hold to have and raise their own children, or to look after other family members so don’t hold this against them.

For maternity nurses and night nannies in particular, it’s also quite common to only work a certain amount of weeks a year. It’s wrong to assume this means that they couldn’t get a job – it's more likely that they don’t have to work a full year. Short breaks between jobs are very common and normal and given the job dynamic it’s important for them to recover between jobs.

5. Recommended checks: ID/right to work + DBS + First Aid

Childcare isn’t a highly regulated industry, but it’s become standard to check for three things in addition to checking references that we always screen for:

ID/right to work: First and foremost you need to check that the nanny has a right to work in the UK (or other country)
Paediatric first aid: Make sure they have successfully completed a paediatric first aid training course. Certificates are generally valid for three years.
DBS: The DBS (or criminal history) check means the individual has no known criminal history at the time it was issued. We require our nannies to have at least a basic check. You can find out more about DBS checks here.

6. Watch out for written references

Looking for more tips on hiring a nanny? Have a look at the other "How to" guides in our series:

How to interview a nanny

How to trial a nanny

How to reference check a nanny

How to onboard a nanny

Tamarins are monkeys who parent in family groups – like a village – helping each other while children are small.

Are you ready to join our village?

Parents sign up here to begin your nanny search.

Nannies sign up here to find your next family. Alternatively, you can send your CV to hello@mytamarin.com and we will be in touch!

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