should I care - shocking spelling, grammar in nanny CVs

[chandellina]

My son is only one so I care much more about a nanny's nature than her grammar, but I am still pretty shocked by some of the CVs I've been getting from otherwise qualified and experienced nannies. Do they not have someone proofread their CVs, or even run a spell check? Am I being snobbish or is this a sign of unprofessionalism?

can you come correct my nannies' CVs please and round them up for a spelling lesson? i like your attention to detail.

YANBU - there's no excuse for poor presentation on a CV: the applicant should make sure it's literate even if she's not.

If you want to ensure that your nanny is literate, could you request a handwritten covering letter?

Ok it may not be relevant to looking after kids, but I do think if you are applying for a job your CV and covering letter should be perfect. They'd have to have pretty amazing experience for me to overlook it.

I think I should have used a semi-colon in my post.

Lol@ Pyro

I am an awful speller so use a spell check(dh) .. Not to do so would be arrogant and sloppy on my part. No excuse to have mistakes in a C.V. IMO..
Mind you, as a Birmingham girl I am much more conscious that I dont sound too Brummy.. horrible accent... I speak like an Enid Blyton mother when they are around!! lol.

they being mindees btw.

There have been mentions of badly laid out CVs. I'm very curious as to how you would expect a CV to be laid out. I've never been told how to lay out a CV and just go by my guess work which I think is rather simple and basic but okay, so I'm curious as to what you all, as employers, think a good CV is

I'm not an employer, but here's a bit of official help.

This is a show stopper for me. And that goes for nannies as well as job applicants at my real job. If you can't be bothered to write a proper CV, I can't be bothered to talk to you.

And grammar is important. A nanny of a 1 year old will have a lot of influence over his/her speech development. And i most certainly about my children learning to speak properly. That is part of the job. And if a nanny can't/won't speak properly how she possibly teach the children and lead by example. She can't, obviously.

Incidentally, my dyslexic brother has managed to put together a presentable CV.

SOLOisMeredithGrey - unfort Mn doesnt have spellcheck

" I know we all make mistakes, but if you are going to post on a thread like this demanding particularly high standards of English from potential nannies, at least try to post using correct puntuation and grammar. "

I believe you have posted a run on sentence.

My spelling and grammer can be really bad (English Lit degree student ).

However, my CV/job apps are always checked, double checked and then checked by someone else.

I would bin any not up to scratch. It's quite normal for most employers I believe.

Thanks for the link, thats the CV help I've read. It's not hugely great but thats where I got my basic format from.

Thing is though, it tells you to write about the positions you've held for the past two years, but because of my voluntary positions, I have 6/7 to write about! It's ridiculous, I had 6 pages when I'd finished and that was bullets! I went through and deleted most of it but when I sent it to an agency they said that they needed the descriptions rolls eyes

Maybe you need to write a bit less about each position. Or play with the format to get it on 1-2 pages. Or maybe describe two position in one and least each job more like you would multiple projects under one position.

6 pages is way too much. Eve a seasoned professional with years and years of experience doesn't need to fill 6 pages.

6pages - thats a lot

my cv is on 2 pages (thats 18years worth)with at bottom of 2nd page

references upon request

under each job, my info is basic

its something like this

feb 2000 - oct 2005

I was in a sole charge position looking after a baby of 5weeks and older brother of 14mths. I left as both children were at full time school and the family didnt need a full time nanny anymore

You're CV should never be more than 2 pages. I've just written mine and I've managed just about to fit it on to 2 pages. I haven't included all of my jobs though because many aren't relevant to the posts I'm applying for. There are also no gaps as I often have 2 or 3 part time jobs at a time.

Your

My CV is 2 pages.

Page 1:
Name/contact details/date of birth

"Competence/skills statement" kind of thing (who I am, what I'm good at, what I want)

Education

Additional training/quals

Page 2:
Employment history since I left school. Each job is just dates/job title/brief description (sole charge, live in position caring for 1 year old twins/volunteer at after-school club)

References on request

PixiNanny - you shouldn't need to write more than a line or two about each job. I just put the basic details, and then go into more detail and highlight any relevant experience in a covering letter.

if you want to write duties, maybe just say you did nursery duties/anything to do with children

'I believe you have posted a run on sentence.'

That should be 'run-on'.

where i come from
That should be 'run-on.'

Where I come from it is "run on". (American English)

i disagree. American English traditionally puts a period within the quotation mark. Because run on is a description of the type of sentence, it is hyphenated.