Is it me,or the competition is really tight for nannies in London?nannies&even parents please help

Avoid like the plague! You deserve a proper contract, proper pay and a declared salary.

When you say 8/hour are you quoting net? If so, start talking gross and employers will be able to work out exactly what it's costing per week. If they ask what you charge say 'x gross which is y net' and if they quitenet at you confirm the gross wage.

there are jobs in highgate and lsington n1 on gumtree saw them earlier today and paying well.

One word: Avoid! They sound exploitative.

Very sorry you are having such a bad experience.

they should pay taxes and if not you should be on at least 8 per hour

Definately put the languages in (and any musical ability) , that was a big selling point to us for our last nanny as she used to play games with the children in French.

Good luck with the interview.

i am a nanny who found it hard but never been out of work and never found work through agency i find better families myself. all you need to do is add yourself to gumtree talking about what your like and experience and what you are looking for and upload your cv i had 60 people apply and 6 jobs to chose from if you need help i will help you just contact me at
[email protected]

my name is claire and have been nannying 12 years now

Go for it. english governess at gmail dot com

I wasn't doubting your exp or motivation, merely saying that it may explain why you're not getting the jobs rather than it being you as you were worried earlier on in the thread that it was something you were doing wrong. All I was trying to point out was it may not be you it may just be you're up against better qualified on paper candidates with the same experience or candidates with more experience. There's not much you can do about the experience short of temping, working in nurseries as cover staff, babysitting and voluntary work but you can actively seek out what qualification you plan to do and tell parents what that is so they can see they'll be getting someone who has a career plan for working with children. You could also put it on your CV that as you've completed the ICP which is unit 1 you're studying for the DHC. Unless of course you plan to do something different.

As you speak French I suggest looking in Ici Londres for work. I have found it very useful in the past and it's a market which will utilise a skill you can offer but many others can't.

Weird predictive text! I aim for presentable but able to sit on the floor!

I see the agency's point about a CRB. Ofsted also takes a while to come through because they do their own CRB and if you've lived outside the Uk it bumps up the waiting time, frustratingly.

I would get someone else to check your CV through for you. Sometimes they will spot things you don't. I find I'm having to put more extra info on my CV such as additional languages, my hobbies and interests, etc. I do ask parents why they picked my CV out of the many and 50% of the time it's down to something I didn't mention a couple of years ago.

The bilingual suggestion is an excellent one. Do you have your nationality and right to work stated on your CV? I found that made getting jobs overseas easier because I was stating that I was EU and automatically had the right to work and they didn't have to worry about visas.

Clotheswise I wear either smart jeans and a shirt or black trousers and a nice top with boots or ballet flats. I aim gir presentable but able to dig on the floor comfortably and run after a toddler.

Being brutally honest you are up against much better qualified nannies, either with full childcare qualifications or with something else on top of the icp. Actively showing parents which diploma you plan to do (assuming you'll complete the dhc) may help.

Good luck and try out for temp jobs as well!

I would agree with K75. We get people saying at the end 'By the way I have booked 3/4/5 weeks' holiday in school term over the next 3/4/5 months so I would need to take them'. We then show them the door. As the job description specifies that no holidays can be taken in school term time, we wonder why they have applied. One week might be acommodated, but being absent 25% of the time we needed them in the first few months ... duh?

I have also had people announce they only want a part-time job and can't I go part time myself to fit in with them; demand 25% more money than we are offering in the advert and then telling us everyone else is getting that (er - they're not, you know) and fail to answer basic questions such as what they might do to entertain a one-year-old.

• Have you checked nannyjob.co.uk?

• I don't know which country you are from and what is your first language but perhaps you could target bi-lingual families with the same background as yours?

It may just be bad luck. My old nanny (who has 14 years experience as a nanny) has been looking now for about 8 months. She was an exellent nanny.

I have heard that it seems that some jobs are going to people with less experience as they are cheaper. There also seems to be a lot of very good nannies chasing fewer jobs at the moment.

The best thing you can do is get your agency to get feedback from the employers. Nothing in your answers strikes any alarm bells.