Hired or Fired? Nanny candidates...

Keep looking

I know this is a zombie thread but I came across it while looking for the cheese sauce in the microwave recipe and are intrigued as to what you did in the end, WhatTheWhat?

I was once at an interview - definitely didn't want it - and saw the mum gesture to her temp nanny to wind things up. She then showed me round and kept me there for 45 minutes longer. Why, God knows.

An hour for the first interview and then longer for the 2nd interview

Several nannies I knew went for a job and they all stayed over 2hrs but all wanted to escape leave after a few mins as knew Job wasn't for them but didn't know how to leave politely

Obv harder if nanny has a long way to travel

So what are you going to do op?

I think interview length can vary depending on the time of day. I've certainly had an interview in the past during the day, where by I ended up staying 3 maybe 4 hours. It wasn't all interview, it turned into playing with the children, then joining the family for a light lunch, sort of just gelling with the family. Needless to say I got the job

Part of the process is getting to know each other, so the more time that can be allocated to that by all parties involved the better. However time is precious, so it depends on what the people involved have planned for their day.

WhatTheWhat do you need someone with prior nannying experience? You may find someone with nursery experience would accept a lower starting salary with a view to it increasing once they have showed they have staying power and can adapt to the job. Someone who has worked in a nursery baby room may well be experienced in dealing with several babies/toddlers at the same time.

Whatthewhat - from a nanny's perspective I would expect the initial interview to be only about an hour long and would keep my schedule clear for a 2 hour time block in case it over ran. Very often the children are not introduced at this stage. If the interview had gone well I would then be expect to be invited back for the morning/afternoon to meet the children and would obviously allow a much longer time slot for this.

What you can always offer a trial day instead of expecting a nanny to stay for a long time at initial interview. I agree with others initial interview is usually an hour-ish, and most nannies line up several over a couple of days especially if they need to travel so I don't think that was unreasonable of her at all.

A trial day / morning / afternoon is good also as you can ensure s/he really wants the job, will show up punctually for a second time, etc.

where have you advertised & what is your approx location?

I know lots of nannies looking for work @ the mo

Only stayed for 2hrs?????

How long did you want or expect her to stay?

Tbh most interviews are an hour or so

To be honest two hours is a long interview It is the nannies time after all.

Hope you get sorted.

How did it go... please don't say they failed to turn up for interview.

redglow is right a good nanny should have no trouble coping.

I don't see what the problem is with the mature nanny? She obviously want's the job so would probably be reliable

the 1st candidate sounds a nightmare why should you change your criteria to suit her? she knew what the job entailed when she applied for it.

I think if you could not cope with this you should not be a nanny. I expect you're good at your job and hopefully we are good at ours.

Oh and I second the other comments... Don't worry about an experienced capable nanny having 3 under 3. My nanny had 3 under 4, works 60 hours live out, and clearly loves the children but is firm with them which she has to given my boys are extremely active. A good nanny can easily cope with logistics, and also make friends with other nannies and set up playdates.

Definitely don't go with number 1.....she doesn't want to do your job description now so it would never work.

Number 2 it sounds like you have a reservation over the cooking, but from experience I think a more mature nanny is fantastic and she clearly wants the job.

I have always had a possible employee do a (paid) half day shared care to see how the kids take to the nanny, what her style is, how I would get on with her.... All very important elements.

op - you may baulk at the thought of looking after 3 under 3 but dont forget that for us nannies, this is our job :) and any nanny worth their salt can look after all 3, so you dont need to ferry one out

and yes again a nanny should easily be able to take all 3 out and drop off eldest at nursery

as i said before, if for 2 days the job is shared care then why not shorten the hours, 60hr week is very long and this may be why some nannies are put off,the long hours and also shared care

if you want an experienced nanny (essential to look after 3 under 3) then they are likely to not want shared care iyswim

This thread is great, The Apprentice meets Masterchef. I made a terrible, lumpy cheese sauce for lasagne yesterday, but had been on the wine ( jubilee party) so blame that, and it tasted OK.

Good luck with finding a nanny OP. On your comments about work, remember, it is short-term financial pain for long-term gain! Sounds like you've worked hard to get to our current position.

Nursery run should be fine with twins along for the ride! My CM does a school run in morning, preschool pick-up and school run again with 4 children, manages fine.

Surely the nanny could do the nursery run, presuming that the timings fit and that there is suitable transport. I nanny for 3 children and do school and nursery run. Yes, maybe you are being too soft

With a nanny, do you still need to use the nursery? Is there perhaps somewhere closer, like a community pre-school, where funded sessions can be done? What about school - if you have a child in nursery now, they will start school in the next year or so I expect. So would moving to a nursery near their probably new school be suitable for the last year of pre-school?