Top notch tips on how to craft a compelling homesitter resume
Imagine yourself sitting in a wooden recliner on the porch of a cozy house, looking at a lovely, bottomless lake. Traveling the world, taking care of homes and pets while their owners are away, and naturally not paying for accommodation or utilities, sounds just like a dream.
Homesitting can be indeed a great opportunity to look after a comfortable home while exploring places as a local.
The job, however, brings a lot of responsibilities with it, and you should get ready that there are a lot of applicants prepared to pull out their awesome resumes and reference letters.
That’s why it is essential that your homesitter CV stands out a mile.
How to make it happen? Keep on reading, and learn the best way to tailor your resume sections to the home-sitting job of your dreams.
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1. Format your homesitter resume like a professional
As a homesitter, you will certainly be asked to maintain homes in top-notch conditions to enhance their look. And what other competence would you need for that if not an outstanding organizational skill?
One of the ways to prove how systematic and orderly you are is to structure your own resume in an impeccable way.
Give your CV a neat and clear format so that it’s easy to read and easy to skim:
- Set 0.5-1 inch margins on all sides.
- Use ideally a two-column layout, and distribute fairly individual resume sections:
- Contact Details
- Professional Summary
- Work Experience
- Education
- Soft and Hard Skills
- Additional sections (Certifications, Projects, Courses, Language Skills, Interests, etc.)
- Avoid using a stylish typeface, and stick to resume-friendly fonts such as Cambria, Garamond or Calibri.
- If you want to get more creative, remember not to overdo it. Use subtle color and effective graphic elements serving as focal points for your prospective employer.
- Remember to leave enough white space between individual sections in order to give your CV breathing room.
- Make your headings bigger.
Choose your preferred template and make your resume shine.
2. Craft an impressive professional summary for your homesitter CV
A professional summary is what should encompass your exceptional home-sitting skills, the most relevant experience, and it could certainly demonstrate that you’ve got a lot of pizzazz.
If squeezing all these into 3-5 lines looks like an impossible task, stick to the following rules, and you’ll be able to write an appealing professional profile before you say “pet”:
- Present yourself with a powerful attribute, such as dependable, enthusiastic or professional.
- If you are a seasoned homesitter, state how many years of relevant experience you’ve had. On the other hand, if you are new to home sitting, focus on your drive and objectives.
- Emphasize your biggest achievements, and link them with keywords from the job posting in question.
- Mention your exceptional skills needed for home sitting.
Underperforming homesitter professional summary example
Homesitter with experience in taking care of homes. Certified dog trainer and lessor. Maintained all areas in good conditions. Able to provide references upon request.
Corrected homesitter professional summary example
Enthusiastic and dependable Homesitter and seasoned lessor with 4+ years of experience in taking care of homes. Maintained 12 properties in impeccable conditions. Effective communicator and outstanding organizer. Certified dog trainer with a passion for animal care. Gained a high level of trust from numerous home owners who vouch for my professional approach and reliability.
3. The best home-sitting skills to put on your resume
You may be asked to perform house cleaning, water plants, collect homeowners’ mail and care for their pets, but it certainly doesn’t end there.
A good homesitter will definitely need outstanding communication and organizational skills. You will also need to equip yourself with agility and act quickly in the event of a crisis.
Always refer back to the job posting in order to compile your skill-set. Compare your home-sitting competencies with the ones required in a specific job ad, and mention the matching ones first.
Keep on reading to get inspired by the best home-sitting skills.
Effective skills to put on your homesitter CV
- Effective communication (verbal and written)
- Outstanding organizational skills
- Problem solving
- Time management
- Exceptional customer service
- Honesty
- Reliability
- Implementation
- Flexibility
- Agility
The best home-sitting hard skills for your resume
- Inventory replenishment
- Preventive maintenance
- Scheduling
- Animal care
4. Skilfully tailor your home-sitting work experience section
You happened to have gotten to windward of the situation — you know exactly what is expected from you, and you want to show that you can exceed those expectations like no one. Your work history is a perfect place to prove it.
In order to effectively tailor your work experience section to the job ad you’re interested in, follow these handy tips:
- Start with your most recent position stating the company name, location, your job title and dates.
- Use bullet points to list your biggest achievements in your role.
- It’s good practice to keep the number of bullets below 7, providing only the most relevant information.
- Use strong verbs, such as monitored, provided, handled, etc.
- Use keywords from the job posting, and link them with your accomplishments.
- Quantify your achievements making them more perceptible.
Homesitter work experience section example
Buena Vista, Pedasi, Panama
Homesitter, Landscaper
2017 – 2021
- Provided home maintenance and pet care for 5 customers in the community.
- Skillfully prepared work activity and personnel reports.
- Made a weekly inventory of supplies, equipment and materials to ensure all items were available and in impeccable conditions.
- Followed all instructions to provide exceptional care for 12 dogs.
- Improved lawn and grounds conservation.
- Handled a monthly budget responsibly, reducing house maintenance expenses by 10%.
5. Make your homesitter resume education section count
Homesitting is surely all about your passion and experience. Does it, however, mean that you should disregard your education section? Not at all.
State your highest education level, and add any academic accomplishments that speak loudly about your outstanding communication, organizational and reliability skills.
If you possess any related professional certifications, mention them in a separate section.
Listing education in your homesitter resume
Villa High School, Frankfurt, Germany
2013-2017
- Volunteering activities: Paws Pet Shelter, Sports (Youth groups)
- The 2014 Academic Excellence Award winner
- Organizer of Villa Business Fair
6. Select the most impactful extra sections for your homesitter resume
Training, courses, certifications, interests, volunteering activities and many more. All these can increase your chances like a charm.
What's the right doorway? Opt for the sections that most relate to the job ad you are replying to.
Get inspired by the following additional sections to put on your CV:
- Certifications
- Awards
- Projects
- Qualifications
- Extracurricular Activities
- Languages
- Training Courses
- Volunteering Activities
- Interests
- Accomplishments
How to list extra sections?
Certifications
- Certified Professional Dog Trainer (CCPDT), May 2020
Volunteering Activities
- Home Builders, Volunteer, April 2019 - January 2020
- Building shelters for the homeless
- Building shelters for the homeless
- Good Kitchen, Volunteer, December 2018
- Delivering meals to people in need
7. Attach home-sitting reviews and reference letters
Reference is everything!
If you have any flattering reviews or reference letters from your previous clients, make sure that you attach them.
Are you just starting out? The good news is that it’s no mission impossible. You can still provide recommendation letters from your family members, friends or community leaders vouching for your competence and interpersonal skills.
Now you’ve got all you need to succeed in landing a homesitter job of your choice!