Hiring a Nanny to Take Care of Your Kids

Finding and Interviewing A Child Caregiver

You've decided to hire a nanny. Where do you begin and how do you proceed with the hiring process?

As soon as you've decided to hire a nanny, let everyone know. Tell co-workers, friends, teammates, people you work out with. A nanny with a reference from someone you know creates peace of mind about the person you potentially hire.

Nanny Agencies

Is there a nanny agency in your city? Agencies will have already screened nanny candidates, and allow you to conduct your own interview. The agency charges a fee, but again, there is some peace of mind with a pre-screen. You could end up with a nanny who has been working with the agency for some time and comes highly recommended.

Don't Rush the Hiring Process

Allow yourself plenty of time to hire a nanny. Rushing towards a decision because of work obligations will only push you to hire someone you are not entirely comfortable with. If you are in a dire situation where your current child care has abruptly ended and you are forced to quickly re-hire, ask for help from friends and family or use some holiday time to get you through the period of not having child care.

Interviewing a Nanny

Be prepared for your interview with nanny candidates. Have a list of questions ready, including potential scenarios involving your child and the nanny and how this nanny would handle the situation. Be prepared to discuss salary and benefits, including holiday time and raises. Here are some interview question ideas:

• How will you entertain my child?
• What are your views on discipline?
• What would a typical day be for you and my child?
• How do you feel about household tasks such as laundry or vacuuming?
• Do you have any fear of animals? (This is important if you have pets, but also because you want your child to have a healthy attitude toward animals)
• What have you enjoyed or disliked about past positions you have had as a nanny?
• Why did you leave your last position?
• Share a happy memory from your own childhood. Do you remember a time when you were misunderstood as a child?
• What do you find most frustrating about child care?
• How will you communicate on the job frustrations with us?

Trust Your Instincts

Be relaxed and open during the interview process, allowing you to be receptive to the person you are interviewing. Trust your instincts. If you do not get a good feel from a person, don't hire her, despite what others have told you. Someone who was a great fit for one family may not fit in with yours and that is okay.

More Than One Good Nanny Candidate

Hopefully you will have a few fabulous choices to choose from, but this makes the final decision more difficult. Consider commuting times of candidates and the potential to be late if there are congested bridges to cross or connecting buses to take. Think about who may be more apt to be long term - someone who is newly married may be considering a family of her own soon.

Of course, don't let possible "negatives" like those suggested above dissuade you from hiring the perfect nanny (18 months of great child care is worth it!). Use this advice only if you are having to make a choice between 2 or 3 candidates. And again, trust your instincts! You were given "gut feelings" for exactly these kinds of scenarios. Hire the nanny you feel most confident about and don't be afraid to check on her a lot that first week back to work!