by Donna Shannon
More than any other industry, private service relies heavily on references. After all, people are entrusting their children to your care, and they want to make sure that you are as wonderful as your resume says. But what is the best way to present your references?
The Reference List
The first step is a solid and concise reference list. This can be the last page of your resume or a separate document. On the list, it is important to capture the following information:
- Name of the reference
- City, State
- Phone number and/or email address
- How they know you (personal, professional, past employer or past co-worker)
- Length of employment or how long they have known you
Notice that it is important to have personal or character references in additional to your professional ones. These help with questions about your demeanor, nature and personality while also showing stability.
In addition to the basic list, you can include a brief quote from the letter of recommendation. For example:
Ms. Amy Smith
Denver, CO
303-555-5555 / asmith@fakeemail.com
“Jody was a wonderful nanny, and the children loved her very much. It seemed like every day she had an exciting, new learning opportunity…”
It is important to list the contact information on your reference list, and make sure that you call your contacts to make sure they are OK with giving out their phone number. Agencies do call your references to verify information, even if they have the complete letter of recommendation. Plus, when you can your past employers, you can also ask if they know of anyone who needs a nanny. This can lead to a new job opportunity!
Letters of Recommendation
Letters can add a lot to your professional portfolio. However, sometimes an employer is not sure what to put on the letter. Here are some guidelines for the letter of recommendation:
- Family name and location
- Dates of employment
- Ages and number of children
- Special projects you did for the family or a special activity with the children
- Reason for leaving
- If they would hire you again
A letter on letterhead – even if it is just the family’s name and address at the top of the page – is always better than a quick paragraph typed onto a plain document. Seeing someone else’s signature on family letterhead gives tons of credibility to your portfolio. The more professional the presentation, the better it reflects on you. And that is the whole purpose of the letter of recommendation.
About the Author
Donna Shannon, a former recruiter and president of Coyote Visions, helps job seekers land their dream jobs with practical advice and guidance. She is one of the few resume writers in the United States that offers comprehensive private service resumes. Her book, “Get a Job Without Going Crazy,” is available on Amazon.com
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I like the idea of putting a quote under each reference! I’m going to start doing that!
A note about keeping references fresh and enthused about recommending us:
People who allow us to use their names as references don’t want to be called 20-50 times during the job-hunt. That wouldn’t respect their kindness in offering to refer us, nor do we want them to heave a frustrated sigh and growl “Yes, she’s GOOD!” when our prospective dream employer finally calls after a string of inappropriate ones.
Agencies give a minimum number of references that need to be contacted before they will work with a nanny, and those need to be contacted right away by the agency. But I specify that that contact information not be given out to general prospective families and that it only be released when a family and I are mutually interested in sealing a working relationship. And I give the contact information for the rest of my references to the agency at the point that that happens, rather than at the beginning, just to make sure there are no mistakes about that.
I have a separate sheet with the contact information for the references, which I reserve until it’s really needed. And individual families don’t get any references until we’ve gone through initial phone screenings and interviews, and have determined that we’re a good match for each other and want to go forward. I send interested families a PDF of my portfolio, and they use that to get an idea of my experience and professionality.
My portfolio contains copies of the letters of recommendation with contact information and addresses whited out, and notations that “Contact information will be provided upon mutual interest” . So both agencies and individual families that I interview with can see how many childcare and personal references I have, what they have to say about me, and their position in the community, but only the ones who need to do so for hiring me actually contact the references.
And regarding letters of reference, I’ve found it a good idea to give a list such as Donna made to the employer to help her include everything that needs to be in the letter. Employers have appreciated having the guide so they don’t have to wrack their brains to think of everything they might need to put in, and the words are still theirs.
Dear Nanny/Aupair.
We are Mr and Mrs Brian Thimmig from United States of America and we are currently living in Dubai, United Arab Emirate and just confirmed your profile at Naukrigulf.com and my family likes it. We are looking for an Au pair as our previous Au pair has left.
We are looking for an Au Pair to look after our child. We have had an au pairs in the past who has recently joined his Husband and that is why we are looking for another aupair to replace her and we look forward to welcoming you into our family and spending some time getting to know you and showing you our way of life.
We are looking forward in seeing you in our home! Cassie is 5 years old and she has just moved to a new school, She likes to play with her lego, building houses at the moment! and she loves to read, which she is very proud to show you upon your arrival! We are looking for someone who can take care of our lovely baby girl after school, helping her with her homework and dinner, and no doubt taking her down the park! putting her to bed on some days as well. A little help with the housework (only as you would do in your own home!) and the school lunches would be useful as well.
We would like you to become part of our family and we would welcome you to join in anything we do.
If your interested kindly reply us with your working experience cv/resume and your detail below:
Your Full Name…………….
Your Address………………
Your Nationality…………..
Your telephone number……….
For my kind confirmation and verifications.
I await for your urgent respond.
Thank you for taking your time to read my mails /offer.
Mr and Mrs Brian Thimmig.
Email:brianthimmig83@gmail.com
TEL: +971528382156.