Hedda started babysitting at 17 - today she’s training to become a teacher

When Hedda was 17, she had never had a paid job.

She had done work experience at a preschool in secondary school, but her CV was still pretty thin. She wanted to earn her own money during upper secondary school, and she also wanted to figure out what she actually wanted to do after graduating.

Today, Hedda has reached Level 10 on Yepstr and completed 325 jobs.

And somewhere between preschool pickups, dinners, bedtimes and hundreds of hours with children, she also found the answer to that second question.

Today, she is studying to become a primary school teacher.

“Working as a babysitter helped me realise what I actually wanted to do with my life.”

Her first family let her start while the mum was still at home

Hedda doesn’t remember exactly what she did on her very first shift.

But she remembers the family.

The children were around five and seven, and before the first shift Hedda had spoken to their mum on the phone.

There was one thing she was especially nervous about.

“I was nervous that the kids and I wouldn’t get along, or ‘click’.”

So the family decided to take the introduction one step at a time.

The first time Hedda came over, the mum just popped out to do some shopping. She was still close by if anything happened, while Hedda and the children got the chance to get to know each other on their own.

The next time, Hedda and the mum met up to pick the children up from preschool and school together. Hedda learned the route and was introduced to the teachers.

After that, she could start doing it on her own.

It gave the family the chance to build trust at their own pace, and it gave Hedda the chance to ease into her very first job without being expected to know everything from day one.

The hardest part was getting anyone to reply

Hedda found creating her profile and applying for jobs easy.

The problem came afterwards.

“The hardest part was actually getting replies from potential employers when you didn’t have any experience that could be verified through the app.”

It’s the classic catch when entering the job market: to get a job, you need experience, but to get experience, someone first has to give you a job.

“Once I’d got a reply and could talk to the parent on the phone, most things went smoothly.”

325 completed jobs later, lack of experience is hardly a problem anymore.

Two and a half years later, they’re part of each other’s lives

Hedda has worked for one family about twice a week for two and a half years.

In that time, she has become very close to the two children and got to know their personalities, routines and needs.

“We have well-established routines and rules that make the job easier, and the three of us have a really fun time together.”

She knows how the children are when they’re tired, what helps when they’re sad and what their everyday routines usually look like.

“I understand the kids better and know how best to comfort and help them.”

The long relationship with the children has also led to a close relationship with the parents. Hedda describes them as flexible and understanding, with a lot of trust in her and the way she looks after the children.

That’s especially noticeable now that Hedda is studying and sometimes needs to fit her shifts around exams and seminars.

“I feel really comfortable working for them and have never had to doubt their trust in me and my ability to look after their children.”

And the relationship has grown far beyond the shifts themselves.

At Christmas, Hedda gives presents to the children and the family gives presents to her. When someone is abroad, they send each other photos, and sometimes a souvenir comes home too.

Hedda thinks she’ll keep working for the family until she finishes university and starts working full-time.

A nap in an IKEA bag

Of course, not all 325 jobs have looked the same.

One of the ones Hedda remembers best started on an extremely hot summer’s day, when she and the children were going swimming at an outdoor pool.

The queue was enormous.

Eventually, the youngest got so tired of waiting that he crawled in among the towels in an IKEA bag and fell asleep.

“He was completely undisturbed by all the noise from children playing in and around the pool.”

When the queue started moving, the next problem appeared: how do you move a sleeping child in an IKEA bag without waking him up?

Other adults in the queue stepped in and helped Hedda carefully shift the bag forward.

They finally made it. The little one woke up, they went swimming and the day ended with ice cream.

Babysitting became the answer to what Hedda wanted to do after school

When Hedda started working, one of her goals was to explore what she was interested in.

It turned out the answer was right in front of her.

“Seeing and helping a child develop was, and is, absolutely amazing.”

Today, she is studying to become a primary school teacher.

During her years as a babysitter, she has practised patience, responsibility and different ways of explaining things and handling situations with children. Now she can also connect her experience from the job with what she’s learning at university.

“What I learn at university I can apply directly with my ‘babysitting kids’ in practice, which deepens my own learning and understanding.”

What started as a part-time job for pocket money also became a way to test a future career, long before she had to choose what to study.

“You can’t just cancel because you can’t be bothered”

325 jobs have also changed how Hedda sees what it means to have a job.

She points to one difference in particular between school and working life.

“As a young person, it’s quite easy to call in sick to school when you’re tired or something, since it usually only affects yourself.”

At work, it’s different.

“When you start working, there are other people relying on you to show up.”

Parents might have planned a dinner, a meeting or their whole working day around the babysitter arriving on time.

“You can’t just cancel at the last minute because you can’t be bothered or don’t feel like it.”

Hedda has also learned the opposite: that being responsible doesn’t mean always saying yes.

She has become better at setting boundaries, for example when a customer wants to extend a shift at short notice, and at discussing her pay as her experience and demand have grown.

Hedda’s advice: your first job doesn’t have to be perfect

For young people trying to get their first job, Hedda’s main advice is to be patient.

“Sometimes you have to contact dozens of potential employers before you find the right one.”

Especially in babysitting, she thinks it’s important not to just take the first job that comes along. The relationship between babysitter, children and parents needs to work.

And your first pay doesn’t have to be the highest you’ll ever earn.

“A lower starting wage at your first job can be worth it for the experience and for getting into the job market. Once you have references and more experience, your pay can go up gradually.”

After all, your first job is just that: your first.

To parents: give a young person a chance, without handing over everything at once

Hedda knows how hard it can be to get anyone to reply when your profile still has no reviews or previous jobs.

That’s why her most important advice to customers is simple:

“Give young people a chance.”

That doesn’t mean a parent has to hand over the keys and disappear the first time they meet.

Instead, do what Hedda’s first family did.

“If you feel unsure about letting a young person into your home, you can make sure you’re at home yourself during the first few shifts and build trust that way.”

Let the babysitter and the children get to know each other while you’re nearby. Show them how pickup works. Explain the routines. Then give more responsibility when it feels right for everyone.

For the family, it can be the start of regular help that makes everyday life much easier.

For the young person, that one first shift can make a huge difference.

In Hedda’s case, that first chance turned into 325 completed jobs, several long-term relationships and the experience that helped her understand what she wanted to do with her life.

Now she’s training to become a primary school teacher.

It all started with a family that needed a little help, and was willing to let a 17-year-old get started.