How to Become a Caregiver on Care.com

Sign up on the Care caregiver account registration page.

Pass a Care CareCheck background check.

Create a service profile for the category of care you wish to advertise yourself as offering.

Repeat step 3 for each other care category for which you wish to advertise yourself for jobs.

Search for and apply to jobs in your chosen care category.

Receive and reply to direct booking requests from careseekers with premium memberships.

If a careseeker is interested in hiring you, communicate with them to work out the details of your employment.

Go to www.care.com and click Find a Job.

Choose whether you are signing up as an individual or as a business. For this example, we’ll choose I’m an Individual.

Click Find a Job to tell Care you want to register as a caregiver.

Select the main category of care you want to apply to jobs for. In this example, we’ll pick Tutoring.

You will have to enter your postal code so Care can match you to jobs from nearby careseekers. Click in the box that says “Enter Postal Code”, type in your postal code, and then click Next.

Next, you’ll have to set the email address and password for your account. Click in the respective boxes and type in the information (making sure, for the password, to follow the displayed guidelines). Then click Next.

Now you’ll have to provide your name. Click in the respective boxes and type in your first and last names.

Optionally, you can also select an option under “How Did You Hear About Us?” to tell Care what directed you to their service.

When you’re done, click Join Now.

You will now be walked through the process of creating a service profile for the primary type of care you chose in step 4. This will include things like answering questions, uploading documents, and writing a short biography. The aim is for you to demonstrate your experience and qualifications for jobs in that category of care.

You will also have to provide credit card information somewhere during this step because Care.com charges an annual fee for their CareCheck background checks. Additionally, you may need to provide other information or upload other documents for the background check itself.

Go to www.care.com and log into your caregiver account.

Open the main menu by clicking the three bars in the top-right corner, then tap (My) Profiles.

Click Create Your Profile.

Select the category of care for which you wish to advertise yourself for jobs, then click Save.

Follow the prompts to input your relevant information for applying to jobs in that category.

Repeat steps 1 through 5 for any other categories of care for which you want to apply to jobs.

Go to www.care.com and log into your caregiver account.

Open the main menu by clicking the three bars in the top-right corner, then tap (My) Profiles.

Click on the profile corresponding to the service you want to change your bio for.

Click Edit to the right of the profile.

Make the desired changes to your information, then tap Save.

Go to www.care.com and log into your caregiver account.

Click Search.

You will see jobs from your currently-selected care category, and within the location parameters you have set. You can click Filter to open a menu where you can change the care category you’re seeing jobs for, change the location you’re searching for jobs in, and modify how far outside your catchment area you’re willing to look (i.e. travel) for a job.

When you find a job you’re interested in, click on its title.

You’ll now see a page where you can read more details about the job. If you feel like you’re a good fit for the job, click Apply. This will notify the careseeker who posted the job that you’re interested in their job, and will send your profile information to them so they can contact you and decide whether they want to hire you.

If a careseeker is interested in hiring you, they will contact you through Care’s internal messaging system (if you both have premium memberships) or through another contact method you’ve provided (if not).

From here, it’s up to you and the careseeker to work through the rest of the hiring process together. That includes conducting interviews and drawing up the terms of your employment in a contract.

Go to www.care.com and log into your caregiver account.

Open the main menu at the top of the screen by clicking the three lines, and then click Bookings.

Scroll to the “New Booking Requests” section, find a booking with the status “New Request”, and click Respond Now beside it to view more information.

After reading the details of the booking, if you’d like to indicate that you’d be available to take this job, click Accept. If not, click Decline.

If you accept a pet care job AND were one of the caregivers originally requested for the job, the job status will automatically change to “Confirmed”. Otherwise, accepting a job booking will change its status to “Applied” or “Family Needs to Confirm”. You will then need to wait for the careseeker who sent the request to confirm that you’re the one they want for the job.

Either way, in the meantime, you can communicate with the careseeker to discuss the job’s particulars and demonstrate that you’re the best fit for their needs. You can do this through Care’s internal messaging system (if you have a premium caregiver membership) or through mobile text messages (if both you and the careseeker opt into this option). If using mobile text messages, Care will keep both your and the careseeker’s phone number hidden out of privacy concerns.

Take a profile photo that makes you look friendly and professional. Wear clothing appropriate for the kind of job you’re applying for, and that doesn’t distract from your face. Make sure your entire head is visible, and that you’re the only adult in the photo (so it’s obvious you’re the caregiver). Ideally, get a friend or family member to take the photo; this helps to ensure the photo is clear and in focus.

Format the biography on a profile as a series of short paragraphs, or a short list of bullet points. This makes it easier for careseekers to read without feeling overwhelmed by too much information.

In your profile for each category of care, include all services offered, certifications, licensing (including insurance), skills relevant to jobs in that care category. Provide specific anecdotes and examples from past jobs or experiences to illustrate your qualifications. Be honest about what you are (and aren’t) comfortable doing.

Feel free to list other hobbies, skills, training, or experience in a profile that careseekers may find interesting. This helps you stand out, and may just spark connections with particular careseekers that get you jobs where you otherwise wouldn’t. At the same time, keep things professional and don’t reveal too much too soon.

When listing previous job experiences on a profile, be sure to include the company or family name, the amount of time you were employed, your job title, and specific tasks you performed.

When listing your references on your service profiles, notify them ahead of time that they may be contacted by careseekers to ask about your suitability for other jobs. This lets them prepare to give a better review of your services.

Consider ordering an extended background check on yourself, and then sharing access to the results with careseekers. This shows upfront that you have a clean record, and saves careseekers from requesting this information at their own expense. This, in turn, might make careseekers prioritize you when they’re searching for job candidates.

Keep your availability and contact information on a profile up-to-date. This will help careseekers (and you!) avoid scheduling conflicts and difficulties with keeping in touch.

Make sure to proofread your profile(s) for proper spelling and grammar. Lazy writing can overshadow the good qualities you’re trying to emphasize about yourself in your profile(s).

Check your messages often for booking requests or responses to job applications, and apply to as many as you think you can handle. Be ready to respond promptly when they come in – have standard messages ready for letting prospective careseekers know that you’re available for a job and interested in it, as well as for when you aren’t interested in a job and would like to politely decline it.

Arrive a bit early to an in-person interview or to a job session, and don’t appear as if you’re rushed. This demonstrates that you’re reliable and that you respect a careseeker’s time.

Come prepared for an interview or job session. For an interview, bring physical copies of any qualifications documents the careseeker asks for. Also, be ready to answer standard questions, which might mean learning skills that are commonly asked about (such as first aid or CPR).

Make safety a priority while you work, especially if the job involves dealing with pets or other people. This includes abstaining from habits and other activities that could be hazardous to your work environment or those in it (like smoking, for example). You should also review our guide to staying safe while using Care.com to help you follow general safety guidelines as a caregiver.

If a job involves caring for other people, make a genuine effort to get to know them. Ask them questions about themselves, and really listen to their responses. Building a rapport with those you’re caring for is a good way to get their families to rehire you.

After you finish a job on Care, ask the careseeker who hired you to write a review for your profile. Reviews are a great upfront way to show off the overall quality of your services, as well as what makes you stand out as a caregiver.

Go to www.care.com and log into your account.

Click the main menu (the three bars) in the top-left corner of your dashboard. Then click Account Settings. (You may be asked to log in again; if so, do so.)

Find the section labeled “Settings and Privacy” and click Edit within it.

Click the box containing your postal code or city, and replace the current postal code or city with the updated one. Do the same for the other box if necessary. When finished, click Save.

Go to www.care.com and log into your account.

Open the main menu by clicking the three bars in the top-right corner, then tap (My) Profiles.

Click on the profile corresponding to the service you want to change your rate(s) for.

Click Edit to the right of the profile.

Make the desired changes to your rate(s), then tap Save.