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Babysitter Jobs: How To Become A Babysitter
Any city with parents means one thing: babysitter jobs. Becoming a babysitter generally does not require licensing of any kind, though there are certifications available from the Red Cross to prove the one is qualified to handle child-specific CPR. Since qualifications for acquiring babysitting work are usually less tangible than diplomas and certifications, what follows is a general outline of good advice for finding, getting, and keeping babysitter jobs.
The first step is finding the babysitting jobs to begin with. Good places to look are the newspaper, and possibly even the local church; many churches and other religious organizations have a bulletin board service for both ‘help wanted’ and those seeking part time employment. This would be an excellent place to consider advertising, which will be covered later.
If there are numerous babysitter jobs on the market, then take a look at the going rate versus the services that are expected. Prospective babysitters should draw up a list of services that they can and cannot reasonably do. For example: a teenager going to high school can probably not spend the night on a weeknight, nor take jobs too far from their home without transportation being included in the package. Being completely honest with which tasks one is and is not comfortable with at this point will help them find the ideal babysitter job and thus collect information based on the market rates. If a babysitter can only watch the children in the afternoon while waiting for mom and/or dad to get off work, the hourly wage may be lower than that of a babysitter who is expecting to stay longer and handle tasks such as cooking and the inevitable post-dinner cleaning and/or supervision of homework.
The bottom line is that knowledge is power and not only will it help a potential babysitter determine their salary on the open market, it will also assist them in sifting through available babysitter jobs. Taking a babysitting position that requires too much responsibility is never a good idea.
If there are no babysitter jobs, or not enough babysitter jobs on the market, it may be time to start looking at doing a little low-cost advertising. After all, being active in getting the word out on the street is an important part of marketing any good or service and finding babysitter jobs is no exception.
Start with making a simple flyer which can be printed on a personal computer and/or easily copied. The flyer should include any relevant experience (watching cousins, brothers, etc.), certifications (Red Cross CPR is a great example), the available times, contact information, services available as well as a rate.
Take a look at the flyer from the perspective of a parent looking for a babysitter. Does the background seem relevant? Are the services reasonably priced, and the times available sufficient to fill their needs? What are their needs going to be? Will the parents need someone to keep their children safe after school, or do they want to take a periodic night out on the town? Determining their needs will help one develop flyers that better target parents, and will generally result in more babysitting jobs to choose from.
Make sure that the services match the hours as well. For example: if a babysitter claims that they can work from 3 to 9 p.m. on weeknights, then it would certainly seem reasonable for the parents to expect the babysitter to cook. The cost of ordering food every night is quite high, the selection typically limited and not as healthy as home cooked meals, so it is unlikely that a babysitter will make a large profit or even last very long if the need for a babysitter is caused by the disparity between the work and school schedules of the various family members.
Different cities have different laws and regulations regarding flyers. Be sure to check with the local police department as well as the local homeowner’s association before peppering the neighborhood with flyers. Other places to consider placing flyers would be local businesses, religious organizations, gyms, and even public schools if they permit it. Because one’s contact information is on the flyer, it will be easy to trace back illegally placed flyers and one can find themselves in a lot of trouble instead of securing babysitter jobs as a result of not being diligent.
If all goes well, hopefully an interview will ensue. Remember that children are the single most important thing(s) to parents regardless of whether they’re perfect angels or little hellions. Always keep that in mind, especially during an interview. This does not mean one should consider babysitter jobs where the children are out of control, ill mannered, miscreants, but that the parents are looking for someone who understands the magnitude of trust they are placing in the hands of the babysitter.
To show how much the job opportunity means, consider taking a pad and pen as well as a bag of tricks.
The pad and the pen are to write down important information such as contact numbers, bed times, allergies, forbidden food items, rules, requests, and so on. Always repeat these pieces of critical information back to the parent not only to verify that they are correct, but to show them that the information is taken seriously. Also it give a babysitter the opportunity to ask them parent for clarification if any is needed.
The bag of tricks is not only what gets one a babysitter job, but what helps to get them invited back again and again. Children have short attention spans, and the younger they are the shorter that attention span tends to be. Having a bag full of inexpensive toys, trinkets, and even a few board games for older children is a great way to win the approval of the children. First impressions are very important, so make sure to come off as an easy going, fun to play with person unless otherwise instructed by the parent. Having a full bag, and planned activities can make the babysitting job pass quickly.
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