I’m broke, and have been having difficulty finding a job. I’m considering starting babysitting.
I’m 17, female, and currently in college: I don’t have much of a life so I’d be available most weekends and “party holidays” (i.e. New Years.) I also have my own transportation (my own car.) However, I don’t have much experience, other than taking care of my sister, who is 3 years younger than me, and my mothers friends children, who are 3 & 6 years younger than me. However, it wasn’t on a steady basis or anything. I haven’t taken any CPR or “Safe sitter” classes. Unless the time in Girl Scouts where we learned about CPR counts.
I live in a fairly rural area - about 10 miles from the nearest big town and 5 from a much smaller one. There are farms near me, but also a fairly large population. There are no families with children on my street or within walking distance (it’s like the Florida of the neighborhood - every other family except one is composed of retired people.) This is why I never babysat when I was younger. Now that I have my own transportation, it may be different.
One of my primary problems would be finding people to hire me. Some sites I’ve visited suggest not to advertise in supermarkets/etc because you know, SEX MANIACS could read your ad! Is this typical paranoia or really a stupid thing to do? My parents can probably spread the word with people they work with, but many of them don’t live within a sensible driving distance of my house.
Any suggestions or advice for me? From either parents hiring or babysitters working…
Try calling some of the elementary schools in the area and leaving your name and number with them. A lot of parents I know have tried asking at the school for sitters and have been successful. Once you start for one or two, if you are good and reliable, parents will pass your name on or keep you busy themselves.
You’re in college? Try passing out a flyer to all the profs. You’d be surprised at how many jobs you get.
Also, don’t worry about not having taken a class. None of the parents I ever sat for bothered to ask me if I’d taken one. If you’ve got a good head on your shoulders and you know how to dial 911, you’re better than the vast majority of the sitters out there.
Some helpful advice: set your price up front. Leaving it up to the parents almost always means you’ll get short-changed.
Try posting an ad on a bulletin board in your college. Lots of students have kids and would love to have a mature babysitter. Experience or not, lots of parents I know would prefer to leave their kids with someone your age or older, as opposed to a 14 year old.
I would suggest you take a CPR class though. It’s pretty valuable and the parents would feel even better about leaving their kids with you. But, obviously, it’s not really necessary.
I put an ad in our local free paper. I got lots of calls, and the ad was cheap. Look in the paper and mimic the format of the other ads. Make sure you mention that you have your own car. That’s a big selling point.
If there is a community bulletin you can usually advertise there for next to nothing or free. I would also suggest taking some kind of first aid course as well, they are usually cheap and go with someone like St John’s Ambulance or Red Cross. There might be a community class or something offered as well. Parents may not ask but it will help you keep your head for things that aren’t worth calling 911 for.
Good luck with it, I’ve babysat for a number of years but not in the last couple. As was said before set the price, try and keep it reasonable. I think the most I ever babysat for was about 5 bucks an hour. Also make sure first if you are allowed to raid cupboards or not (some I babysat for left me pizza money others I could only drink tea it varies for who you work for.) And make sure of any special instructions for the kids too…
Bah I’m sure you know this sort of thing already as a responsible young woman, but just reinforcing as I have done this a fair bit.
Five dollars an hour seems awfully low. Do you really want to work for less than minimum wage? My friends who babysit charge between 8 and 10 bucks an hour. However, they’re both in their 20s, with lots of experience and references, so that may give them an edge.
I agree with others who suggested posting flyers on campus. If your college has a daycare center on site, I’d also suggest checking in with them, so they can let parents know you’re available. If you or your relatives belong to a church or synagogue, that might be another good place to post flyers. I got lots of babysitting jobs through my dad’s church.
If those don’t pan out, you could make money by being a “designated driver” for people who are going to holiday parties. My girlfriend does this and it’s very lucrative!
I second the idea of letting your professors know. I did some babysitting for faculty in college. I also did housecleaning and helped out with parties (serving food and cleaning up after). Eventually I didn’t even have to advertise–people just passed my name around to their friends and neighbors.
That was the last time I babysat and as a note it was infrequently AND I had a part-time job already so it was just more pocket change. These were also the people who gave me free run of the house after their daughter was asleep (under 2 years of age), either fed me or left pizza money and let me use the internet there.
It is a good idea to set the price though as I can recall one time before I learned to do this getting 7 dollars for an evenings work… about 3-4 hours… fuuuuuuun
From experience, I’d say that a basic first aid class is more important than CPR (of course, if you can find a class incorporating both, that’s great). I babysat a lot in high school and never once had to use CPR, but first aid definitely came into play.
A tip: try to score a job with a “mover & shaker” in the school’s PTA. After I babysat for our elementary school’s PTA president, she wound up recommending me to nearly every new family coming into the school.
Are you kidding me? Please, hang on a moment, let me catch my breath from laughing before I answer you.
If you lived anywhere near me I’d have tackled you to the ground and beat your phone number out of you within minutes of reading the OP. A reliable babysitter in college with many available hours and her own car? You’re gold.
I have one babysitter and I have to line her up weeks in advance. I would do anything to have another to call.
Colleges around here maintain a “babysitting list” that area parents can request. You might see if you can get on that. If you do get a client that you like, tell them that you’re interested in more hours so you’re requesting that they pass your name and number on to other parents.
I don’t think the CPR is a deal breaker (I’ve never asked that of my sitters) and the fact that only your mom’s friend can vouche for you isn’t a problem. Some experience is better than none, and I am sure some parents would be willing to give you a chance based on what you’ve got to offer.