How to Write a Nanny Job Description

Writing a nanny job description requires a bit of a balancing act. On the one hand, you don’t want to be so vague that you receive 100 applicants to sort through. And on the other hand, you don’t want to be so specific that you scare people away.

As two families looking for one nanny, you will want to join forces to write one job description.

Here are some tips to make your job description as detailed, yet concise as possible, so you only get applicants who are perfect for your job. Check out our Sample Nanny Job Post for more tips and inspiration!

Break the job description into 5 categories

This will help you outline exactly what you need and what you want in a nanny. Plus, it will help your candidates scan your job post to see if they meet your standards.

Here are the categories we recommend:

1. Job Title
2. About Us (tell them a bit about you, your location, pay rate, any benefits, etc.)
3. Hours (Days of the week, hours required, live-in or live-out).
4. Nanny Qualities and Skills Required (include years of experience, certifications, education, etc.)
5. Responsibilities (housekeeping, meal prep, childcare, etc.)

Prep in advance

Fill out these categories separately as one family to figure out what is important to you and your partner. Create a list of “necessary items” and “nice-to-haves.”

This way you have a solid foundation before you meet with the your family-share and create one post together (potentially with some compromises).

Write it in person

Try meeting in person, without the distraction of your kids to discuss your must-haves. Topics like hours and pay might be easy to determine, but you’ll want to brainstorm the necessary skills and responsibilities you’d expect your nanny to possess.

Create an engaging job title

Think of your title as the job post’s headline, and your first chance at grabbing a nanny’s attention. If a nanny sees 20 job titles, how can yours stand out?

Include crucial details like your location and number of hours, along with a personality trait of your ideal nanny.

Watch and learn

If you’re not getting the type of responses you want, edit your job post and re-post it. The benefits of this are that you will go back to the top of the job post feed and you can decide if you need to make the post more specific or less stringent.

Bonus tip: including a picture with your job post will make your listing even more enticing!