What You Need to Succeed

Most of you came for the business facts.  It's not as interesting as stories but it is a must if you are ever entertain the idea of a business in child care fields such as a travel business, temporary nanny field or even as a full time nanny,

How important is an education background:  

I can tell you having a early childhood background from a school like Sullivan College, continued education courses through conferences like INA, will put you above other candidates.  Parents feel that if you have invested in education, you are serious about childcare.  We live in a world where parents are more educated and they expect you to be too.  

Your first job may not be your best job but you have to start somewhere.  The more knowledge you bring into that job will give you a higher rate of success.  Children don't come with instruction manuals but if you have a solid foundation for understanding their needs, you will have the tools to reach them.

Don't let it stop with this degree.  Take advantage of web seminars to increase your skills.  I will leave some handouts with your instructor to some wonderful courses offered online.  Friend me on Facebook to meet other nannies striving every day to meet the challenges of child care.  (FB name:  travelingnanny4you)

Skills:  

• Take your English classes seriously!  In today's world you are often emailing parents and many have turned down a good candidate "because they can't put together a proper sentence and if they can't be bothered to at least spell check, how will they teach my kids?"
• You are young so you all already light years ahead of me in the technical field!  Just remember to research educational tools appropriate for children.  
• Great communication skills where you really listen to the parents' needs, know how to sum up situations quickly and adjust to them.
•  Non judgmental about parents or lifestyles.  This is a hard one.  It's important you choose jobs within your comfort zone.  Otherwise, you will be judging your parents and this will never give you the partnership you need to work with them.
• Child Development skills from experience--not just books.  Some people are just naturals at this.  For example, what I lack in degrees I more than make up for it by experience and a natural instinct in understanding children and bonding with them.  I have helped a few nannies with jobs, older women wanting a new profession and neither with any nanny background skills.  BUT both have natural instincts for working with children and more important in working with parents, even challenging parents.  I have also worked with 20 year olds just starting out and I could tell they were going to be amazing!  They loved what they were doing and they had good instincts about how to read a defiant child as well as sensitive children.  I have also met nannies who didn't have these natural instincts but they worked hard at learning, researching problems, soliciting advice from other nannies and would eventually have the same high ranking skills needed for the profession.  They simply had the passion to learn!

• This is where all your life experience from working with children, internships will pay off big time!