The Child Care Profession
Babysitting/nannying can be an isolating job. And in a world where we’re connecting more and more through the internet, it’s important to find ways to connect with others in a meaningful way.
Childcare has so many unknowns: How much should I charge? How do I approach asking for time off? What do I do if a child is misbehaving? When I would come across these questions as a nanny I often felt stuck. There is no HR team to ask, and there aren’t other colleagues working alongside you to turn to for the inside scoop of the status-quo.
On a day to day basis, babysitting will come with many unknowns—you’re spending the day with kids after all. I felt prepared to handle whatever the child could throw at me, but issues surrounding “the job” were completely different. The essential “how-tos” of the job exist in a very grey area. There’s no set way of doing things, there’s no handbook, and there’s barely an “industry standard.” It’s mostly a collection of ‘what I did with my last family’ and ‘our last nanny charged this amount.’
Understanding where you, as a sitter, have a voice in the different aspects of your role is important to know. It’s a skill to master over time, and it’s not always easy. Being a sitter can be complicated. I was lucky enough to nanny for a family that offered some of these typical job benefits to me without my even having to ask: yearly raises, paid time off. However, I know this isn’t always the case and I’m not sure what I would’ve done if it wasn’t offered to me.
Connect With Other Care Providers
That’s why the Sittercity team and I created our Community page on Facebook. This group is a space where nannies and sitters can connect with other care providers who use Sittercity. It’s a place where you can share stories, ask questions, and seek recommendations on all of those ‘HR’ related topics.
The best information comes directly from those who are currently in it all. Learning from the experience of others is the most effective way to build the professionalism of the industry.
Even more importantly, this group is a place where you can connect with other care providers who understand exactly what you’re going through. It’s a place where you can build a network of colleagues who can relate to the challenges and the joys of being a care provider.
The Community group is also a way for our team at Sittercity to connect with you—our sitter community. Announcements of product changes, blog posts, surveys. Sittercity wouldn’t exist without our community of sitters, and the Community group is a place where we lean on you to help guide us on what’s important to our caregivers.
The group has both new and veteran members and is open to care providers only. It’s a place where we want you can feel comfortable asking those uncomfortable questions. We hope that it becomes a space you can lean on for support.
So what are you waiting for? Get connected with your professional peers here.
Not a sitter on Sittercity yet? We would love to have you. Sign up and create your profile here.
As a previous sitter and nanny on Sittercity, Nicole understands both the challenges and rewards that come with the babysitting landscape. As a Community Advocate, Nicole is working to develop effective communication between sitters and families so that everyone is finding the connection they need.
