Care.com Senior Care: How to Get Jobs, Get Paid, and More

Care.com is an online marketplace that individuals and families can use to find childcare, senior care, special needs care, housekeeping services, tutoring, and pet care by connecting them with potential caregivers. 

To get started as a caregiver at Care.com, you need to sign up for an account, consent to a background check, and create a profile. The signup process is straightforward, and it often takes just a few days to get approved by the Care.com team. 

Once you create a profile, you will be able to see available jobs and contact job posters, and those looking to hire caregivers will be able to see your profile and reach out to you directly to hire you. 

Want to get started as a senior caregiver on Care.com? Apply now to a position near you.

There are four different senior care jobs you can do on Care.com

Families often require different kinds of care when it comes to taking care of their elderly loved ones, so roles vary based on the needs of the family and the senior citizen. Care.com helps connect caregivers and care seekers for the following needs: 

• In-home Senior Care: For those who can provide companionship for seniors living at home. This type of role will include assisting seniors with their daily activities, which include getting around the house, meal preparation, light housekeeping, and medication reminders. 
• Nursing Assistants: For those who can provide at-home medical assistance for seniors.
• Dementia Care: For those who are equipped to assist elders with specialized needs, such as Alzheimer’s or dementia. 
• Senior Transportation: For those who can drive seniors to and from stores, doctor's appointments, etc. 

If you own a business that can provide additional care, you can apply for your business to be listed under Care.com’s available assisted living facilities and nursing homes.

You’ll have to meet the Care.com requirements 

To use Care.com as a caregiver, you must be:

• At least 18 years old
• Legally authorized to work in the United States 
• Be willing to undergo a background check

You will also need to create a profile before you can start applying for specific jobs on the Care.com platform. 

How to start working as a senior caregiver on Care.com

Here’s everything you need to get started with Care.com. 

Step 1: Create a Care.com account 

When you begin your Care.com application, you’ll need to provide your zip code and how far you are willing to travel for jobs (the minimum option is 5 miles). 

Next, you’ll need to provide your: 

• First and last name (families only see your first name and the first initial from your last name, such as John D.) 
• Email address
• Gender 

After that, you’ll need to specify what kind of care you’re interested in providing. You have to choose from the following options, and you can pick as many as you’d like: 

• Household tasks
• Personal Care
• Companionship
• Transportation
• Specialized Care
• Mobility Assitance 

If you offer additional services, such as pet sitting, housekeeping, or babysitting, you can select those as well. 

Next, you’ll need to indicate how many years of senior caregiving experience you have. If this is your first senior care job, don’t worry — there’s an option for that. 

After that, you’ll be asked about any additional experience you might have, such as any specific health situations you might have expertise in (i.e., dementia, hospice care), any relevant certifications and training you might have, as well as additional personal information (do you have a car, are you comfortable with pets, etc.). You are required to indicate whether you are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, and you’ll be asked what languages you speak. 

You can then set your pay rates as a range, which will appear on your profile. The lower end of your pay range can’t be below your state’s minimum wage.

Senior care roles on Care.com are incredibly flexible, with options to support whatever kind of schedule you may have. You’ll be able to choose whether you want one-time jobs, recurring jobs, or even live-in jobs. 

The initial application will also ask about your availability: how many hours per week or hours per job you can work, estimated start and end dates, and what specific days and times (i.e., morning, overnights, evenings) you’re available for senior care. If any of this changes after you apply, you can always adjust it later. 

Step 2: Make a profile 

Setting up a strong profile is key to booking jobs on Care.com, as it’s the first thing that people will see when you apply for a role, and it’s how you’ll show up in searches. 

To fill out your profile, you’ll need to upload a photo, write an optional headline, write a bio, and note any additional skills you might have. This is where you can showcase your personality and write a short but personalized bio about what you can provide in a senior care role.

Once you fill out your initial profile, you will be able to see the types, locations, and pay ranges of roles that are available in your area.

Care.com manually reviews and approves every profile, so it can take a few days before yours goes live. No one can see your profile until it’s approved by Care.com, and any messages or applications you send won’t be delivered until then.

Step 3: Choose between Basic and Premium membership 

The final step in the sign-up process is choosing between Care.com’s two membership options: Basic and Premium. 

The Care.com Basic Membership plan lets you:

• Offer services in multiple areas (senior care, babysitting, pet sitting, housekeeping, and tutoring)
• Create a custom profile to help you find jobs
• Search for jobs
• Apply to jobs
• Field booking requests
• Answer messages from premium members 
• Use all Care.com resources and tools, like hiring guides and rate calculators 
• Get your annual CareCheck screening (Care.com’s background check)

There are no membership fees for the Basic plan, but you’ll have to pay for the background check, so it’s not completely free. 

Your other option is to pay for the Care.com Premium Membership, which will provide everything included in the basic plan as well as the following additional perks: 

• Get ranked higher in search results
• Your profile will display a premium badge when it appears in a search
• Receive priority job alerts
• Send and receive messages with other families
• Annual screening fee is waived
• Entry into the LifeMart Discount Program
• CareCheck included free of charge 

Premium membership is $8.99/month. If you choose to start with the basic membership, you can upgrade to Premium through the Care.com app or website at any time. 

You can read more about how the plans compare in our full post on the topic. 

Both plans require a basic background check

With both the basic and premium membership, you will have to undergo a background check. 

Basic members have to pay the fee for the basic background check, but that fee is waived for premium members.

To start the background check, you’ll have to provide your legal name, address, and your social security number. This basic background check is required for all Care.com caregivers, but families may ask for additional background checks before hiring you — these may include more comprehensive criminal record checks and motor vehicle record checks.

Step 4: Booking your first job 

Even before your profile is approved, you can start searching for and applying to jobs — your applications will just be in holding and won’t be sent out until you’re approved.

Once your basic background check and profile are approved, your profile will be published, and you’ll be ready to book your first job. You can find work on Care.com in one of two ways:

1. Actively apply to job postings from care seekers
2. Wait for care seekers to contact you after you appear in their searches

You’ll likely have the most success by combining both of these strategies. 

Some care seekers may require extra background checks — the care seekers will pay for those, not you. You have to approve any additional background check requests, so you’ll never be caught off guard and find out that a background check was run without you knowing. 

While there is no formal interview for Care.com itself, the care seeker may want to ask you some questions about yourself and your experiences. This can occur either through the Care.com messaging system or outside of it (like a phone call or email). Note that nobody receives any of your personal contact details (other than your first name and last initial) until you share this information yourself. 

Once you complete the job, you will be able to fill out a Care Summary, in which you’ll provide a quick and personalized overview of how the job went. This is an excellent way to get more reviews from those who hire you, which increases the likelihood of getting rebooked for the same job. 

Pay and benefits 

At this point, you know how to sign up, set up a profile, and find jobs on Care.com. But how does pay work? Here’s what you need to know. 

Care.com senior care rates

As a caregiver on Care.com, you can set your rates however you like (as long as they're above the minimum wage in your state). Care seekers will be able to see this range on your profile, and it will play a role in whether they decide to hire you, so make sure you set competitive, reasonable rates (Care.com has resources that can help you with pricing your services). 

Job postings from care seekers also include the range of pay they are offering, so you can choose which jobs you apply for based on the offered pay. While a Basic or Premium membership is paid for on a monthly or yearly basis depending on membership type, 

Care.com does not receive a cut of your pay — the only money that Care.com will receive is from membership fees (if you or the care seeker opt for a premium plan) and background checks. 

How Care.com pays

If you get a job as a senior caregiver through Care.com, you will be employed by the family or individual who hires you, and all payments will be arranged directly with them. Care.com does not handle these payments. 

Employment classification, benefits, and taxes

When you’re hired for a job on Care.com, you’re typically considered an employee of the care seeker who hired you. You are never considered a Care.com employee — Care.com just serves as a way to connect you with employers, just like a traditional job board. 

Senior care roles that you find on Care.com typically do not provide health insurance or other benefits as they are usually part-time jobs. However, care seekers can choose to give you health insurance if they hire you for a full-time role, such as a full-time live-in caregiver, but these roles are not particularly common.

While you won’t receive tax documents from Care.com, you may receive a 1099-K from Stripe, the payment processing platform, depending on the amount of pay you receive or the number of transactions completed via Stripe. 

Rose Peterson, who has been using Care.com to find caregiving jobs for over three years, shares, "In my experience, a lot of people looking for senior care on Care.com actually have a company they hire through. Allied Healthcare is one, specifically, that comes to mind. Occasionally when hired for these roles you can get extra hours working with other seniors and possibly be considered a full-time employee."

Taxes are a complex subject, so it may be a good idea to consult a tax professional to understand how taxes work with Care.com.

Get started

Can you see yourself as a senior caregiver on Care.com? Apply now to a position near you.