How Chicago Teachers & Daycare Providers Can Find Work as a Nanny
If you’re a teacher or daycare worker looking for ways to boost your income and help families in Chicago, consider becoming a nanny! You can leverage your valuable skills and work experience as a nanny. Sommet Nannies explains how below.
1) Parents and essential workers need child care
As daycare provider or licensed teacher in Illinois, you may already have much of the licensing and certification that parents are looking for in a nanny:
A completed bachelor’s degree
Completed a state-approved teacher preparation program
Passed the Illinois Licensure Testing System (ILTS) Test of Academic Proficiency
Passed the ILTS Content-Area Test in your desired subject
Been accepted by the school board into the Teacher Quality Pool (TQP)
These requirements, which include a certain number of completed student teaching hours, mean that you have experience working with children, proven knowledge in teaching and caring for children, and a college education. You make a strong candidate for families looking for an experienced nanny with desirable skills.
2) Transfer your experience and skills into nannying
Aside from college education and certification, how do daycare providers and teachers make excellent nannies? Those “soft skills” you possess — good communication, time management, flexibility, conflict resolution, adaptability, and many more — are not necessarily taught in your career. They likely come naturally to you. And they’re just as important for a nanny as they are for teachers and daycare workers.
Good communication is essential when caring for children and forming relationships with their parents. If you’re completely new to child care or children’s education, this skill can be really tough to master.
You have to be well-versed in time management, conflict resolution, flexibility, and adaptability in order to keep your daycare or classroom running smoothly. You need them to meet the educational, emotional, and physical needs of your students. You’re likely well-versed in that, given your past work experience!
While nannying, teaching, and providing daycare are all very different professions, you can see that they all share similar transferable skill sets. Becoming a nanny is a great way to leverage your skills and strengths. But how do you get started?
3) Start your nanny job search
Convinced you’d make a great nanny? Start your job search by reviewing the best practices and requirements for being a nanny on the International Nanny Association’s site.
Then, it’s time to check that your resume and professional references are up to date. If you need newer or more references, ask your teaching colleagues or supervisors at your school. You might also ask other daycare workers or parents at your daycare for references. Don’t forget to include all those valuable skills, licenses, education, and experiences that we previously discussed on your resume.
For Chicago nannies, the average hourly pay varies based on the source, but it ranges from $15 per hour to $18 per hour. However, when you find the right family in Chicago, you might expect to make more… especially if you work with a nanny agency.
4) Sommet Nannies can help
Transitioning into a new career is always tricky, and that’s why we’re even more committed than ever to matching our excellent nannies with the perfect Chicago families.
At Sommet Nannies, we do all the heavy lifting for you, and we ensure you’re paid more than fairly. We want to make sure you’re paid exceptionally for your hard work! In fact, many of our Chicago nannies earn about $45,000 to $60,000 a year, which is higher than the local average.
To learn more about our nanny placement services and how we can help you ease the transition into nannying, head over to the Sommet Nannies site today.
Welcome to Sommet Nannies, a nanny agency with presence in Boston, Chicago, Washington DC, New York and nationwide. We help busy families find dedicated and caring college-educated nannies.
If you enjoyed this article, you might also like ‘What to look for in a nanny position’.
If you’re a family interested in learning more about our nanny services, head over here.
If you’re a nanny looking for a new family to work with, you can apply to become a Sommet Nanny.