Even though babysitting is a less traditional job, the skills required can translate to other positions you may be seeking, whether inside or outside of child care. Including babysitting on your resume shows a sense of responsibility and scheduling as well as creativity and flexibility. Parents of children you babysit can be your first and best business references.
List Your Experience
Create an "Experience" heading on your resume, which usually follows the section on your education. List your title —Babysitter — under this heading as well as the city and state where you babysit and the dates of your employment. Since babysitting is typically a part-time job, list the months or years in which you babysat, even if you only did it sporadically. For example, the first line of your babysitting experience can read: "Babysitter, Knoxville, Tennessee, (start year) to present."
Include Your Duties
Describe the tasks you performed as a babysitter. While this might seem obvious, you can provide specifics about the children you babysat and activities you planned. Use action verb phrases in a bulleted list format to engage the reader. Talk about the ages of the children you babysat, any special needs they had and how long you babysat them, whether it was after school every day or overnight. Mention activities you planned, like arts and crafts, or any academic assistance you provided, like help with their homework. Discuss ways you promoted good behavior or maximized the safety of the children while under your care.
Add Skills and Certifications
List any babysitting-specific skills you have under a "Skills" section. For example, if you earned CPR certification or took a babysitting class, include that information, along with the dates, here. If you have worked with autistic children or provided subject-specific homework help, you can list that proficiency in this section as well. A few additional skill sets that are worth including in this section are experienced cook, detail-oriented housekeeper, water safety course and a driver's license.
Provide References
Include references from past babysitting clients. If you are seeking a child care or education position, your future employer will likely want to hear from parents who have employed you. However, parents will also attest to your responsible behavior and dependability — characteristics important to any job. Under the "References" section, list the individuals' names as well as your relationship to them. Then, provide contact information like a phone number or email address. For example, one of the references may read, "Jane Doe, Employing Parent, (555) 555-5555, [email protected]."