Nanny job description for a resume

The short answer

A nanny writing a resume should describe what they actually did — work like observe and monitor children's play activities — rather than copying a generic bullet list. The U.S. Department of Labor classifies the role as Childcare Workers (SOC 39-9011.00). Its 19 published duties are the place to start, and the 14 most relevant are listed below. Monitoring is the capability O*NET rates highest for the work.

What follows is the published duty list, not a set of bullets to copy. The difference matters: a line describing work you did not do is one interview question away from falling apart.

What a nanny does

Attend to children at schools, businesses, private households, and childcare institutions. Perform a variety of tasks, such as dressing, feeding, bathing, and overseeing play.

O*NET occupation: Childcare Workers (SOC 39-9011.00).

Nanny duties you can put on a resume

O*NET publishes 19 core duties for this occupation. These are the 14 its incumbents most often report performing, ranked by O*NET's published relevance rating — not a complete list of the job. Which ranking is a fact from the source; which of them you personally did is not something any dataset knows. Use the list as a memory aid, never as a list to paste.

1. Observe and monitor children's play activities.
2. Maintain a safe play environment.
3. Organize and store toys and materials to ensure order in activity areas.
4. Sanitize toys and play equipment.
5. Discipline children and recommend or initiate other measures to control behavior, such as caring for own clothing and picking up toys and books.
6. Read to children and teach them simple painting, drawing, handicrafts, and songs.
7. Support children's emotional and social development, encouraging understanding of others and positive self-concepts.
8. Communicate with children's parents or guardians about daily activities, behaviors, and related issues.
9. Identify signs of emotional or developmental problems in children and bring them to parents' or guardians' attention.
10. Instruct children in health and personal habits, such as eating, resting, and toilet habits.
11. Assist in preparing food and serving meals and refreshments to children.
12. Perform general administrative tasks, such as taking attendance, editing internal paperwork, and making phone calls.
13. Create developmentally appropriate lesson plans.
14. Keep records on individual children, including daily observations and information about activities, meals served, and medications administered.

Skills a nanny can list

O*NET rates these at importance 3.0 or above for this occupation.

Monitoring

importance 3.50

Service Orientation

importance 3.38

Social Perceptiveness

importance 3.25

Active Listening

importance 3.12

Speaking

importance 3.12

Critical Thinking

importance 3.12

Coordination

importance 3.12

Reading Comprehension

importance 3.00

What not to claim

• A duty from the list above that you did not personally perform. It describes Childcare Workers as an occupation, not your particular job — and interviewers for nanny roles ask about the specifics.
• Duties from the 5 published items not shown here, unless you genuinely did them. A longer list is not a better one.
• A percentage, a headcount or a volume you did not measure. "Improved satisfaction by 35%" is the single most copied line on resume-example sites, and almost nobody who pastes it can source it.
• Monitoring at a level you have not worked at. O*NET rates it highest for this occupation, which makes it the most likely thing to be probed.
• A tool, system or certification you have not used or hold. This is the fastest claim to disprove.

Source and method

O*NET data are provided by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration, used under the CC BY 4.0 licence.The duties and skills above are reproduced as published. The resume guidance, the prompts and any generated lines are RoleSprint's, and O*NET did not write them.