How to Write a Strong Pet-Sitting Resume
Writing a pet-sitting resume and not sure where to begin? You’re not alone. Resume-writing can feel overwhelming, and it’s hard to know what kind of experience is applicable to a niche industry like pet-sitting.
After viewing hundreds of these resumes (both good and interesting), our experts at G&G Pets are here to show you how to put your best foot forward when introducing yourself to new clients.
How to Write a Strong and Simple Pet Sitter Resume
To start with, let’s go over a few basics. You need to use a legible font and clear, easy-to-read formatting. Some design platforms, like Google Docs or Canva, have prewritten templates to provide you with good examples of resume layouts and helpful advice.
Avoid overly complex layouts that use multiple columns or dense tables. Stick to short 2-3 sentence paragraphs and bullet points. Use bolded headlines to delineate the most important information.
Your resume should be one page, unless you have really extensive experience, and should contain all of the following information:
Full name
Contact information
Relevant work history and skills
Relevant certifications or training
If you have a website or social media page with publicly posted reviews, that’s a great addition too. It can also be a good idea to add a small headshot if you have a professional one.
What are examples of pet-sitting experience?
If you’ve done any pet sitting at all, even for family members or friends, that’s the ideal place to start. However, other aspects of pet care also make impactful resume lines. Paid work and volunteer hours are both applicable, but you’ll want to be specific about the type of work and your responsibilities.
If you don’t have experience in any of these organizations, check to see if those around you are accepting new hires or volunteers:
Dog daycare centers or pet boarders are some of the best experiences to have, as it’s basically just pet sitting on a larger scale. There you’ll gain all the skills you need for working with both pets and their owners.
Pet shelters are always looking for new volunteers and would be happy to work with those with no experience — just a desire to help and learn.
Veterinary offices may also have volunteer opportunities. Working alongside vets can teach you valuable skills for administering pets' medications or first aid. Some offices also offer paid classes and certifications.
Dog groomers and pet salons are another great location to get exposure to many different pets and their owners. Working in pet grooming also teaches you important customer service skills.
Zoos, animal rescues, or trap-and-release programs may not give you exposure to the exact type of animals you’re likely to be pet sitting for, but you’ll still learn how to create routines and feeding schedules for animals, as well as other transferable aspects of care.
What skills are needed to work with animals?
Essentially, what someone is looking for in a pet sitter is an individual whom they feel comfortable leaving their beloved pet with. Someone trustworthy, caring, and who communicates well. You’ll need to show that you both know how to take care of the pets and get along with them.
However, pet-related skills aren’t the only ones that matter when it comes to pet sitting. You’ll need to see to the needs of the pet owners while they’re away. For example, our sitters at G&G Pets are always in touch with the owners during our stay and send them daily picture updates on how their pet is doing.
A good pet sitting resume should display a wide range of skills, like:
Pet physical care: feeding, walking, grooming, etc.
Pet emotional care: calming anxieties, training, quality time, etc.
Pet medical care: first aid, medicine administration, allergen safety, etc.
Pet special needs care: elderly pets, puppies and kittens, anxious pets, etc.
Customer service skills: professional communication, needs anticipation, setting expectations, etc.
Organizational skills: scheduling, confidential information storage, time management, etc.
Transferable Skills
There are many relevant care-related industries where you could have learned these skills that would be worth listing on your pet sitting resume, such as: nursing, daycare, eldercare, retail, lawn care, teaching, housekeeping, secretary, waiter, and any job in which you’re caring for another individual or community.
What certifications should you put on a pet sitting resume?
If you are certified in any aspect of pet care, be sure to list that on your resume and have the documentation ready for when you make it to the interview process. If you don’t currently have any certification to list, get on it!
Many organizations at the local and national levels can certify and deepen your knowledge of pet care, such as:
How to make a living from pet sitting
Once you have your perfect resume built, the next step is getting it out to as many prospective clients as you can. If you’re not sure where to start, check out our article on how to market yourself as a pet sitter.
You’ll also need to look into the licensing for your state and city; in some cases, you may need to acquire the same permitting that small businesses do. And you’ll also need to get insurance to protect both you and your clients.
All of which can be daunting, but the good news is that you don’t have to go it alone. Working with a private pet sitting agency can help take care of the business-related red tape, so you can focus on taking care of your clients and their pets. If you’re in the San Francisco Bay area, send that resume over to us at G&G Pets — we’d love to get to know you.
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