Do you have people that have agreed to be a reference for you? Having references from previous clients really helps!

Do your cpr/first aid for sure. References will come, maybe you’ll start with friends children first.

i think one thing to decide, are you the nanny who goes to someones house every day, cooks and cleans and see the kids off to school and home from school;
Or will you see several children at your house, and see them off to school and pick them up-so that you could have several paying clients at once?

Good suggestions! References are important. I also think it would be great if you had the references written down and in a binder so you could show a new family right there. It’s one thing to provide phone numbers, but people are often nervous about calling strangers to ask for the reference. If you have something they can read right that moment (or you can provide copies of) they’ll appreciate it. It will also make you look really professional and organized.

Lie K&K said, make sure you’re prepared with what exactly you want to do so that you and the family have the same expectations.

Care.com is a great place to start, you can advertise yourself or look for a family that is asking for the type of thing you are looking to get into.

Misspinup I think with you just having your CPR certification is a BIG plus!! As a mommy to a 3 yr old soon to be 4 I know that was one of the first things I looked for. Also I asked for a resume with letters of recommendation attached. Experience is a BIG plus too. I also looked for someone who could cook and do small basic cleaning like be able to pick up after my three year old, do her bed, dust her bedroom, pass vaccum, just small things like that but just HER bedroom though. Also I looked for someone who had the patience to be able to do at least one hour of teaching such as colors, numbers and alphabet. I would buy the workbooks and check to make sure my daughter had done an hour of leraning with the babysitter. My current babysitter has been working with me since my daughter was born, but now that I am pregnant there will be two kids to take care of. My current babysitter is 60 years old and even though she is AWESOME i know she wont be able to handle a 4yr old and newborn.
So now im looking for someone who can take care of two. A very, very, very good babysitter gets paid really well. I pay my babysitter 17/hr cuz that is actually the range of what a babysitters gets paid here who is very capable, responsible, patient and most of all caring. I actually got a potential babysitter referred to me about 3 days ago, so I will be interviewing her next week, I know i will be looking for a very well written and informative resume WITH numbers of previous employers AND letters of recomendations. I will also be asking for my babysitter to have her fingerprints run to make sure im not letting some dangerous person come in to my home and interact with my kids. I will be asking for her to have had experince with newborns and be able to drop off my 4 yr old at school. Make sure you list all of your qaulifications everything from knowing how to cook to having a high school diploma or some type of higher education. Good luck!!!