Babysitter Job Description Template

Babysitter Job Description

Intro Paragraph: Begin your job description with the parameters of the position and a brief description of your ideal candidate. This might take the form of a concise paragraph or a list of bulleted items designed to introduce your family and your children to perspective caregivers. Specify how many children the babysitter will be caring for and their ages—taking care of a newborn is nothing like shuttling a teenager to and from school.

Describe your children’s interests and needs. Be honest about special needs, health concerns, and behavioral issues. Describe your family’s lifestyle and values. Are you a fun, low-key family, or are you highly structured and intricately scheduled?

You might phrase this section of your babysitter job description as follows: “We are looking for an experienced, nurturing babysitter with a sense of fun and love of children to care for our three high-energy daughters, ages 11, 6, and 3. You’ll need to be prepared to provide after-school care and homework help for the older two girls and light meal prep and hands-on care for the 3-year-old. If you are a non-smoker and have a clean driving record, this might be the caregiver position you’ve been looking for.”

About Our Family: Use this section of your babysitter job description to highlight what makes your family special. Are you adventurous and athletic? Do you value creativity and have a basement full of craft supplies? If you can describe what makes your family tick, you’ll be much more likely to attract applicants who can keep your kids healthy, happy, and entertained in your absence.

Babysitter Job Responsibilities: The following list of day-to-day job responsibilities may differ significantly depending on the age of your children. However, here are some common responsibilities you might include:

• Provides care to children inside and outside the home.
• Ensures a healthy and safe environment for children when parents are away.
• Prepares healthy snacks and meals.
• Maintains daily feeding and care routines.
• Performs light housework, including laundry.
• Leads children in fun activities, such as playground visits and arts and crafts projects.
• Keeps children’s living and play areas tidy.
• Encourages older children to complete chores.
• Helps with homework and tutoring as needed.
• Cares for infants, including feeding, diapering, and dressing.
• Meets the physical, social, and emotional needs of children in their care.
• Provides structure and communicates consistent behavioral expectations.
• Encourages healthy habits and hygiene, and helps with toilet training.
• Transports children, including school pickup and drop-off, play dates, and activities.
• Follows parents’ instructions and keeps track of children’s school and after-school schedules.
• Helps children develop coping skills and good manners.
• Keeps in contact with parents, alerting them of symptoms of illness, as well as everyday accidents and challenges.
• Communicates information from teachers, instructors, and coaches to parents as needed.

Work Hours and Benefits: Next, you’ll want to include the hours required and the salary range and benefits that come with this position. To determine a fair offer for your city or town, you can use a salary tool like Monster’s, which allows you to input job titles and locations to calculate estimates for low, median, and high salaries. You can also use this section of your babysitter job description to list benefits and perks, such as a flexible schedule, paid holidays, or the possibility of payment for days scheduled when they are not needed due to shifts in the family schedule. If you are looking for a babysitter who can accompany you on vacations or work occasional weekend or evening shifts, you should include that here.

Babysitter Qualifications and Skills: Be aware that some candidates are less likely to apply for positions if they don’t think they have every listed qualification. For this reason, you may want to limit the number of required skills you include or divide your requirements between “required” and “preferred” qualifications.

• Caregiving
• Reliability
• Responsibility
• Excellent listener
• Fun and engaging
• Caring, compassionate, and patient
• Skilled at developing and leading children in fun learning activities
• Ability to help with homework
• Creativity
• Energy and stamina
• Excellent interpersonal and problem-solving skills
• Safety focus

Education, Experience, and Licensing Requirements:

• Experience as a babysitter, nanny, teacher, daycare workers, or camp counselor
• Driver’s license and clean driving record
• Certification in first aid and child and infant CPR
• Experience with special needs children
• High school diploma or GED, associate’s degree in child development a plus
• State certification in early childhood education a plus

Call to Action: End your babysitter job description with a “call to action” that encourages qualified applicants to “apply now” by submitting a resume and let them know that references with contact information will be required.