How to Build a Résumé That Gets You Placed

For a household professional, the résumé opens the door. Here is how to make yours work.

For a nanny, household manager, or other private-service professional, the résumé is often the first impression an agency or family forms, and a strong one opens doors that a weak one quietly closes. Building a résumé that gets you placed is not about embellishment, which serious firms will catch in vetting, but about presenting genuine experience clearly, honestly, and compellingly.

Lead with your relevant experience, presented clearly. List your positions with the family or employer (or a discreet description where confidentiality requires), the dates, and crucially, what the role actually involved: the ages and number of children, the responsibilities, the scope, any specialized duties. Specificity is persuasive. "Cared for three children, ages two, five, and eight, managing daily routines, school logistics, and activities, with travel several times a year" tells a family far more than "nanny for a family." Show the substance of what you did.

Highlight longevity and stability. Agencies and families prize professionals who stay, so if you have held roles for years, make that visible, since it predicts the lasting placement they hope for. Where you have shorter roles, be ready to explain them honestly; gaps and brief stints are not disqualifying, but they are better contextualized than left as questions.

Make your qualifications and specialties prominent. Relevant education, CPR and first-aid certification, languages, and any specialized training or expertise, newborn care, multiples, special needs, estate management, should be easy to find, since these are exactly what distinguish a candidate and open higher-level roles. If you have a genuine specialty, foreground it.

Present references well. You need not list private families' contact details on the résumé itself, discretion matters, but indicate that strong references are available, and have them organized and ready: people who know your work, will speak well of it, and can be reached. Because references carry such weight in this field, being able to provide excellent, verifiable ones promptly is part of a strong candidacy.

Keep it honest, clear, and professional. Accuracy is non-negotiable, since reputable agencies verify everything and any misrepresentation is disqualifying and reputation-damaging. Beyond honesty, aim for a clean, well-organized, easy-to-read document, free of errors, that presents you as the careful professional you are. The résumé's form is itself a small demonstration of your professionalism.

And tailor it to the roles you seek. A professional aiming for governess roles should foreground education and languages; one seeking newborn work should foreground that expertise. Present the experience most relevant to where you want to go.

A strong résumé reflects a strong professional honestly presented. We represent professionals whose experience, references, and presentation meet a high standard, and a well-built résumé is the first step toward being placed in the kind of role a serious career deserves. It is the standard that has defined Nannies + more…® for more than twenty-five years.