so far, my experience babysitting through this site has been very positive. Here, I share the pros and cons.
care.com: best job search experience I’ve ever had
Overall, my experience with care.com has been very positive. In high school, my friends and I had to fill out dozens and dozens (no exaggeration) of job applications before getting an interview. With care.com, it was a relief to have such an incredibly simple application method. write a simple email to the parents and look at their profile for the rest of their information and credentials. I had much more success finding a job at care.com than applying for boring cashier positions.
Reading: How long for care.com reviews to show up
my conclusion: give it a try. It will probably work, but if it doesn’t, you won’t lose money (unless you choose to). I received my first job offer just two days after joining. I can’t guarantee they’ll all be equally successful, but the odds look pretty good from here.
note: although my experience has been positive, many people have had much worse luck than me and even call it a “scam”; Please read the comments below and search online for people’s one-star review stories and other experiences.
child care at care.com
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For starters, I’m writing this review from the nanny’s perspective; however, parents will find it useful as well, as I have interacted with many parents through care.com and am happy to share a bit of their experience as well.
no membership fees for applicants
As a poor college student, I chose care.com because it didn’t force me to pay for membership (unless I opted to upgrade to a premium membership to become a “featured member”, which I definitely didn’t). at first, i was very excited. as soon as I put together my profile, I started emailing parents and hoping they would be as excited about me as I was about them.
connecting with parents
however, none of the parents I emailed responded to me. It was a bit daunting, but things changed very quickly. I received an email from a woman that I had never actually emailed. she said she was looking for someone to care for her eight week old baby three days a week and we agreed to meet the following week for an interview. the work was excellent and I’m still there after seven months.
A few weeks later, I received an email from a mother who wanted me to tutor her two children after school, and a few weeks later, I received an email from a woman (again, one whom I she had never requested ) that she made me babysit her one-year-old son on weekends.
in fact, my schedule was so full that I ended up quitting one of the jobs so I could continue taking classes at the community college.
apply for childcare jobs at care.com
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This all brings me to a key point: if you choose to use care.com, then be aggressive about applying to as many jobs as possible, but don’t expect a response. the right family will eventually find you.
The first family that contacted me explained it this way: “When we posted the job, we received at least eight offers from potential babysitters, but none were what we were looking for. When a parent advertises for a babysitter, they already have their own babysitter in mind.” idea of the ideal nanny for your family.”
what parents are looking for
I began to see the truth of this as I worked for more families; Parents are looking for a nanny who can be an extension of their own parenting style, and it is very important for them to find someone who will fit seamlessly into their family system.
how does care.com work?
membership dues?
care.com allows you, the job seeker, to use a free account or pay for a featured account. I suggest you try the free version before paying, but if you’re curious, here are the numbers: $39 for one month, $78 for three months, and $156 for six months.
background checks?
All applicants have the option to pay for a background check as part of their profile. I was a bit hesitant to take advantage of this feature because my previous retail job had taken me about five weeks to finish my background check, but it took about thirty seconds for care.com to confirm that I had no criminal record. I recommend that you get your background check as soon as possible, because families expect you to have this and you are unlikely to be hired if you don’t.
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