HOw do you write a resume for a job you have not done?

While you have never been a professional housekeeper, you have kept your own house. You can put in your other work experience to indicate that you've worked in other peoples' homes, but the actual cleaning is just something like

Experience vacuuming, dusting, mopping, washing windows and floors, cleaning kitchen and bathrooms, laundry including stain removal, sanitizing home medical equipment and organizing living spaces in my own home. I have prepared numerous tasty and healthy meals for my family, including a finicky two-year-old. Light experience with housework assistance as one of the tasks of being a home health care nurse. I will work hard and treat your home as if it were my own.

wow....
your good. ;-)


do you think it would help to list the companies I have worked for as a hhcn? I dont think I can use them for referrances because the position wasnt ABOUT house cleaning..
but, do you think that would help?

Meticulous and energetic housekeeper with xx years of experience (insert jes's list) seeking part time evening/weekend position cleaning homes or offices. (optional) I have my own supplies and cleaning methods but willing to adapt to those of the homeowner/office manager. I can also prepare tasty home-cooked meals if requested.

Oh yeah, and mention that you have references. I'll write you a glowing one.

Hmm, dunno, would listing the places where you worked as a hhcn be a help or a hindrance? You can possibly mix and match and just mention some of them. You can also go with something generic like,

Eight years experience as a home health care nurse.

It kinda depends on how long ago it all was, too. One thing I've learned is that anything more than about 15 years old can just be listed generically unless it was really hoo-ha wonderful, e. g. "personal assistant to the Queen o' England" or something like that. :wink: I've been out in the world o' work since '86 and stopped practicing law 15 years ago, so that experience for me just goes under "Practiced personal injury defense law in New York." If anyone wants details, they just ask in the interview. I'm in IT but people are inevitably curious about it, so being less than fully open about it has actually sparked some conversations. In my current job, I had to really showcase that I know legal terms, so I was more obvious about it. Can't recall if I listed my actual places of employment, I think it was more like "Practiced personal injury defense law in New York. Trials, depositions, motions, court appearances. Wrote motions and legal briefs, performed legal research. Trained users on mainframe computerized billing system. (since I'm in IT, that was a good thing for me to mention, that even before I was in IT, I was headed in that direction)."

Oh, and thanks -- I was thinking about the kind of thing I would say if it were my resume, plus the things you talked about (couldn't recall how old Bean is, but I think mentioning pleasing a finicky child with a meal speaks volumes to a lot of people). And, ach, I have way more experience with unemployment, resumes and lookin' for work than I wish I had. I've been around this block a few times.

ok , so i stole some of your words exactly as they were.. hehe
but what about posting this =



Meticulous and energetic housekeeper
with 9 years of experience in the nursing field.
I was a home health care worker and I am seeking part time evening/weekend position cleaning homes or offices.
With my experience in home health care,I was also required
to do basic house cleaning. I have experience vacuuming, dusting, mopping, washing windows
and floors,cleaning kitchen and bathrooms, laundry including stain removal,
sanitizing home medical equipment and organizing living spaces in my own home.
I have my own supplies and cleaning methods but willing to adapt
to those of the homeowner/office manager.
I can also prepare tasty home-cooked meals if requested. I have a 2 year old child, so creative cooking comes second nature to me.
I mainly do vegan / vegetarian meals, but have experience in all types of dishes.

I will work hard to treat your home as if it were my own.

Referrances on request.

Your hired - please come clean my home and make dinner for us all.

It sounds great to me.

Sounds pretty good to me, shewolf. Give it a go.

See... and you didn't have to lie!

http://austin.craigslist.org/res/98764901.html


here it is...

Well written and looks good!

Good job, shewolf! Good luck with that!

You can also place an ad in the local paper under the classified "situations wanted". Many older people may want your services, but would not think to find someone via computer.

I have an apartment in desperate need of a thorough cleaning. I'll pay extra if you do windows.

Seriously, sounds good, Shewolf.

Excellent!

I have posted my ad in a few places and have gotten a couple of responces.
The first thing I asked them was for a description of exactly what they expect and what they want done.
So.. now.. what should I charge?
I read through a few other ' personal ads' and looked at their prices.. Some people with out the backing of a company name, are chagring in the ball park of 15 dollars an hour.
Professional companies are charging per job.. about 50 dollars.
To me, these are amazing prices that .. I am not sure I agree with.
I can see.. about.. 10 an hour?
My thoughts of rates are-
A minimum of 2 hourcharge no matter how much work. At 10 an hour that will be a minimum of 20 dollars to start. After that, I am thinking of pricing myself at 9 an hour.
Am I selling myself short?
I have my own cleaning products. All are Seventh generation products. Basically.. not " chemicals" like bleach, or other harsh things. They are safe on all surfaces including cloth, carpet, wood, ceramic..etc.
I want to be competitive, but not selling myself short.
Any suggestions?

This is a good way to make some extra money, but it is hard work. If you are using your own supplies... $15 seems reasonable to me, but you could offer a senior citizen special for $12. Tell them you are fast and like to only work in two hour segments but that is also your minimum.

You might want to ask for car expenses if it is more than a fifteen-minute drive to make sure your profits don't get eaten up in fuel. That should be based on actual costs.

$15 is standard for a single cleaner around here and that's using the supplies from the home. The $50 charges usually include two or three or more workers.

Some professional cleaners have a check-off list of stuff to be done and the client chooses from that.

Another cool selling point -- tell your prospective client of some things you do that really makes things sparkle, like polishing the light bulbs and light fixtures, or using lemon oil for the furniture because it smells good...

So, do you think it may be beneficial to just create a 'service charge ' list?
example -

dishes - 7.00
carpet cleaning 20.00
hardwood floors 20.00
etc..

and by-pass an hourly rate?

Shewolf--

If $15/hour is the going rate, ask $15/hour.

The chain cleaning services charge more (although they use multiple cleaners) but they do only surface cleaning, not deep cleaning.

You're hoping to get regular customers, correct?