The average nanny job description follows a recognizable template. Warm, loving family seeking experienced nanny for two children, ages two and five. CPR certified, reliable, non-smoker. Must be comfortable with pets. Light housekeeping. Competitive salary. If this describes most of the postings you’ve seen, it’s because most families are writing from the same general idea of what a nanny job posting should look like rather than thinking carefully about what a good job description for their specific household actually requires.
The result is a document that doesn’t tell a qualified candidate much about whether the position is right for her and doesn’t tell the family much about whether the candidate is right for the position. Both parties are operating on assumptions that get tested after the hire rather than before it, and the gaps between those assumptions are where placements break down.
The Scope Problem
The most common and most consequential thing missing from nanny job descriptions is a clear, specific account of what the job actually involves. “Light housekeeping” means something different to every family that writes it. To some families it means tidying the play area at the end of the day. To others it means managing the children’s laundry, unloading the dishwasher, wiping down the kitchen after meals, and keeping the common areas presentable. Both families write “light housekeeping” in the job description and both are confused when the nanny they hire has a different understanding of what they meant.
The same problem appears across almost every aspect of the position. “Flexible schedule” can mean the family’s needs vary week to week and the nanny’s hours adjust accordingly, or it can mean the family expects the nanny to be available on demand and didn’t want to say so directly. “Active, engaging childcare” can mean the family wants enrichment activities and outdoor time, or it can mean they want structured educational programming. None of these things are the same job.
A job description that works is one that’s specific enough that a candidate who reads it can picture what a typical day actually looks like and make an honest assessment of whether it’s a position she wants to apply for. That level of specificity requires the family to think clearly about what they actually need before they write the description, which is the useful exercise the description process is supposed to force.
What’s Missing About the Children
Job descriptions describe the number and ages of children, and almost nothing else about them. The information a professional nanny actually needs to assess whether she’s suited for a position includes things families routinely omit: whether any child has developmental differences, behavioral challenges, medical needs, or particular temperamental qualities that would significantly affect what the job is like. The two-year-old who is described in the job posting as “energetic” and turns out to have significant separation anxiety or a sleep disorder that the nanny will be managing daily is a different job than the posting described.
Families are sometimes hesitant to include this information because they worry it will deter applicants. The reality is that it filters out applicants who aren’t suited for the specific needs while attracting candidates who are. A nanny with specific experience managing the particular challenges a child has is a much better match than a nanny who finds out about them after she’s started. The disclosure that feels like a liability is actually a matching tool.
What’s Missing About the Household
Every household has a character, and that character matters for fit in ways that go beyond the formal job requirements. A household with two parents who both work demanding jobs and who need a nanny who can operate entirely independently is a different environment from a household where one parent works from home and is present and engaged throughout the day. A family that travels frequently and expects the nanny to travel with them is a different position from a family whose life is entirely local. A household with strong and specific opinions about child-rearing is a different working environment from one where the nanny’s professional judgment is given genuine latitude.
These things don’t appear in most job descriptions because families assume they’ll be covered in an interview, and sometimes they are. But a job description that gives a candidate enough honest information to self-select out before either party has invested in the interview process is more efficient for everyone and produces better matches than one that defers everything to the conversation.
At Seaside Nannies, we work with families on the job description before the search begins because what the description says determines who applies, and who applies determines the quality of the candidate pool. A specific, honest description doesn’t narrow the pool in ways that hurt the search. It narrows it in exactly the ways that help.
