Summer is officially here and while fall seems like a ways away, it always has a tendency to sneak up on us!
This is a critical time for parents to start thinking about their plans for the back-to-school season. Although the weather doesn’t indicate it, there are only a few short weeks until families’ plans will be made and solidified for the upcoming school year.
Right now is the perfect time for you to start planning what your Fall will look like as well. Here are a few things to consider while planning your upcoming year:
Make Sure Everything is Up-to-Date
There are many moving parts that come with children going back to school. Whatever the schedule change may be, it’s an anxiety-producing time for parents to try and figure it all out.
Parents Need to Know Your Availability Now
Now is the time for you to update your schedule to indicate what your availability will look like in the fall. Having an updated availability calendar is an easy way to let parents know if you could be a potential candidate for their scheduling needs.
Parents Need to Know What You Offer
It’s also a good time to update your profile to indicate any new experience you may have acquired since first writing your bio. Adding information—including experience—to your bio helps parents to get a feel for the type of activities you like, the skills you have, and who you are as a care provider.
Communicate Well & Communicate Often
It can be a lot for a family to manage the children, their home, a job, and then on top of that—finding a new sitter. It takes a lot of courage and trust to put their child in someone else’s hands.
But you can help ease the nerves. Since this is an online meeting platform, the first few messages you exchange with a family can hold a lot of weight. Responding to families within a timely manner can help increase trust between yourself and the family. It also shows you are interested in the position and will be communicative when their children are in your care.
Let Families Know You’re Interested
Don’t just let families come to you. Show your interest by initiating the conversation and sending an application. Did you know: once you send an application to a parent, you cannot send another message to them until that parent replies? So make that application really counts! Proofread to make sure there are no spelling or grammatical errors. Take the time to read the job posting and provide specific examples as to why you would be a good fit.
By reaching out to the family first, you’re already taking some of the mental burdens off of the parent. Parents love to see those messages in their inboxes!
During this back-to-school season, take some of the guesswork out of the parents’ hands and start doing some pre-planning for yourself. Your future self will thank you.
