Success with Care.com?

[Michelle]

The trick is to not register as a Licensed daycare business.
Just say you are a "babysitter" ugh .. hate that name
or nanny and then slip your license number and info in with the description.
I have been on care.com for quite a while and have had a lot of success.
Don't forget that you can apply for jobs in your area.
You can say anything you want to the parents ,as they are private messages so you can emphasize that you are licensed and your background check for your license is a lot more extensive than the one that care.com does.

Don't forget sittercity.com too

[Crazy8]

I had gotten a few inquiries when I paid for my membership - like $30 or something but none of them even made it to the interview stage. I had to check off that I was a babysitter who would drive 5 miles in order to get it approved and now I can't change my description at all because any time I do it gets denied (but all I'm adding is something like the school district I provide care for or something silly - nothing pertinent).

Was not worth the money I paid. Oh, and I asked my parents if they could put reviews on there for me - turned out they couldn't if they didn't pay. Forget that! I was embarrassed I asked them!

[Crazy8]

oh, and I love when I see the same profile under babysitter, cleaning person, and pet sitting services.

[Michelle]

oh, and I love when I see the same profile under babysitter, cleaning person, and pet sitting services.

Kinda like Raising Hope!
::::

[spud912]

I've had my ad posted on care.com for 4 years now. From that, I got 1 full time child who stayed until school started, so 2 1/2 years (who is now a drop-in); one drop-in, for 3 1/2 years now (who I still watch very occasionally); and one full time, who I still watch 3 1/2 years later. 2/3 of my other enrolled children were from Craigslist and the other 1/3 was from yp.com or yelp. I've had several inquiries from Facebook and Sittercity but nobody who actually enrolled. I've had quite a bit more inquiries from care.com but they didn't pan out for one reason or another.

I found the people on care.com who are looking for full-time care tend to be more legitimate people than those who inquire from Craigslist. From Craigslist, I tend to get more people who flake out, some really crazy people and providers posing as interested families.

Now whether or not I would recommend care.com? They have removed portions of my ad, they made my ad "ghosted" even when I was paying, they accidentally charged me one time, and they have erroneously stated I don't respond to inquiries. Their customer service is horrible! I've tried contacting them several times and they don't even have the common courtesy to respond. I say post an ad at your own risk and don't pay for the "featured" ad.

[LaLa1923]

I've had my ad posted on care.com for 4 years now. From that, I got 1 full time child who stayed until school started, so 2 1/2 years (who is now a drop-in); one drop-in, for 3 1/2 years now (who I still watch very occasionally); and one full time, who I still watch 3 1/2 years later. 2/3 of my other enrolled children were from Craigslist and the other 1/3 was from yp.com or yelp. I've had several inquiries from Facebook and Sittercity but nobody who actually enrolled. I've had quite a bit more inquiries from care.com but they didn't pan out for one reason or another.

I found the people on care.com who are looking for full-time care tend to be more legitimate people than those who inquire from Craigslist. From Craigslist, I tend to get more people who flake out, some really crazy people and providers posing as interested families.

Now whether or not I would recommend care.com? They have removed portions of my ad, they made my ad "ghosted" even when I was paying, they accidentally charged me one time, and they have erroneously stated I don't respond to inquiries. Their customer service is horrible! I've tried contacting them several times and they don't even have the common courtesy to respond. I say post an ad at your own risk and don't pay for the "featured" ad.

What is ghosted?

[SunnyDay]

I made a free ad there last year and did have one family who found us there and enrolled. I agree that the site is confusing to use, though. I wouldn't pay to use it.

[spud912]

What is ghosted?

My ad magically disappeared. I paid for the "featured" ad which should put it somewhere up top, or so that is what they claim. After looking through about 5 pages of featured ads and 15 pages of un-featured ads, it still was nowhere to be found. I sent them multiple messages that they were acting fraudulently by accepting my payment with the caveat my ad would be more prominent and they never responded. Eventually it re-appeared at around page 10 buried in a bunch of un-featured free ads. Obviously I cancelled the premium immediately because I was paying for nothing.

[mom2many]

I don't pay and only had 1 full timer come from this site. I am consistently full and usually rely on referrals from current and past clients, so fortunately I haven't needed to really use them. The one family I got was awesome though so I'm glad I connected with this site!

[momofboys]

I didn't pay for anything but supposedly have a listing there somewhere. They sent me stuff every once in awhile and one that said if I didn't add a pic and update they would delete so I did those things. Never had a call!

I think the best way to get jobs through them is if you RESPOND/apply to parent's ads. It is how it works best from my experience. I enrolled 3 families this way & it was always because I responded to their ad. I never had a parent cold contact me either but I had enrolled families. I also got two nanny jobs in the past through Care.

[momofboys]

On another note I don't have ads on either site as I am not providing care in my home currently; however, I used to have one on Sittercity & their moderators removed my ad because I had communication with a care-seeker & I nicely suggested the price she wanted to pay was very low (she wanted to pay $2-3/day for transportation for her chold to school ). Sittercity removed my ad:confused: Some of these sites definitely cater to the careseekers/parents despite the fact that the caregivers sometimes also pay to be a member.

[Crazy8]

bumping this to see if more people weigh in on the poll or post their experience.

I didn't have success last time but I know they have a "family child care" option now. Maybe its improved???