Would you take a nanny who has...

[oooyummy]

four other jobs on the side ?

Really stressed and I need a nanny by Monday !

I've interviews 3 nanny's but none are suitable. I recently interviewed one other nanny, who is great, but she has 4 other jobs on the side. I have no issues with this as she cannot live on a part time salary and good on her for earning money. But I'm worried about her flexibility, last minute cancellations and if she would be able to commit long term. If I take her on. I will be her 5th employment.

What should I do ?

So.... what should I do itwillbe ? Not hire a nanny ? Every families needs are different. Don't judge me for that.

oooyummy you can hire whoever you want. You might be more likely to find a retired lady to work as a mother's help or a student to work as a babysitter. It's not a job many experienced nannies would consider, and it's pretty misleading calling an after school babysitter/ taxi driver with almost no actual childcare to do a nanny, but obviously you can hire anyone you want, if they apply!

OP, is that all you need and do you need it every day? Nannies are highly qualified and charge accordingly. You might be better looking on local Facebook groups to widen your pool of potential as you don't necessarily need a nanny, just someone safe and reliable.

Thanks. I only need them for a certain amount of days per week. They may require to drop him off home and cook the odd dinner. But that will be rare.

I don't understand why the multiple jobs are a problem. The key issue is can she commit to the hours you need. If you want someone who is also available additional hours, but you aren't willing to pay to lock those hours in, then you MIGHT find someone, but really, you can't expect it.

The key issue is can she commit to the hours you need.

That's where the multiple jobs can be a problem. If her multiple jobs are not on the same days OP needs her, then that shouldn't be a problem but if they are, things can get a bit tricky with timing, commuting, etc.

But someone really organised, who doesn't take everything she can get with poor time management skills, can still pull it off.

The question is would you want to always have that "Can she or can't she?" feeling, each day she's booked. It does seem OP doesn't require much, so may not be a problem after all.

Hello everyone,

I've interviewed the other nanny who had very little experience. She was Amazing ! I spent two hours with her. She was a teacher for 10 years in her country but has been in the UK for a while. She has no childcare experience here in the UK. She has great flexibility as she only works on the weekends. I had this "gut" feeling about her as stupid as it sounds. I didn't have this feeling for the rest.

I don't know what to do. For the lady I just met today, I said I will need her references and a recent DBS- she has one but that was two years ago, am I responsible for buying the DBS ?

Should I offer them both a trial but don't really want to waste anyone's time.

Nothing she said she can commit but there will be some days she cannot do- but she will try to let me know in advance- she will not be available for the ext half term
Holiday coming up, so I will need to find care then.

The other one without experience and free enough time to commit sounds better imo, if all else checks out though. I know I couldn't stand uncertainty ("I'll try to make it or give you advance notice"). But it truly is all up to you what you prefer.

I did mention earlier about getting a "sense" of the person without experience, which adds to if I would go with them or not. So seems you had that gut feeling then.

Which one sounds much better all round to you, with everything taken into account?

@oooyummy

Thanks Nothingtodooo I do not want to get my hopes up. I just had this gut feeling about her, she seemed like she cared. Whereas the other two I interviewed, who had a lot more experience, were more concerned about the money or their hearts wasn't into it.

I dealt with a nanny who always had something coming up and it was a struggle to find someone to care for my DS.... especially since I have no family help.

I prefer the sound of the former teacher - trust your gut.

@oooyummy There you go then. Hope it all works out. You're welcome as well

The only problem is that the former teacher smokes......... but I'm not sure if this is a deal breaker for me.

That would be left to you if you mind or not. Some people wouldn't or may ask they don't smoke around the child. For some, it would be a deal breaker.

The thing is with what you need, there doesn't seem to be a whole lot for her to do and not much space inbetween for a smoke. Unless she can't go 5 mins without one, she should be able to not do so during that time.

If it doesn't bother you, then that's fine as well.

As long as they don’t smoke in front of the child it’s fine.

Some of this school stuff probably smoke!

Staff

My sons teacher smokes and she's great !

The only thing I'm worried about is that when she takes my son to his after school activities, and that lasts for an hour, she may use that time to smoke.

I'll see. Should I mention now that I don't want her smoking during her working hours In the trial, I'm going to be with her for the first week and then let her go on her own- that's if I have the references and DBS by then. I'm also going to trial the other lady for a couple of days too and make up my mind.

You dont need a nanny you need a mothers help

Of course mention it if that's what you prefer. This is the time to set every record straight so you both know what you're signing up for. Everything obvious should be ironed out now. If it's suitable, then you're both sorted. If not, you move on.

If you only need someone for a very short time each day then of course they are going to have other jobs? They'll need to earn money somehow after all. If you need flexibility, then you need to pay for more hours to begin with rather than expect they're free just in case you need them.

Do you have a list if permitted activities she’s allowed to do while waiting for DS to finish his activity so she can bring him to you?!

You want your cake & to eat it too. You want to lay someone for a handful of hours, but be ‘flexible’ to have him longer when it suits you & the days/time’s it suits you in the holidays and not to have any other jobs.

People can’t live like that.

Oh & as for them being ‘more interested in the money’. No one does an after school childcare job because yes what they’ve always wanted to do. It’s a bum wrap, they do it because they need the money & they need other jobs to pay their bills.

This bloody phone is on its last warning!! I hope you can still make sense of the post

AmelieTaylor

you seem angry. A nanny who has one or two jobs on the side. Not a problem. 6 other jobs on the side ?!! Also, she many not always be available on the set days I want.

I have always paid my nannies extra if I run over time and tell them this in advance too.

Yes, I want someone to care about the work they do. Trust me, you can see the difference between someone just wanting money and someone doing a job because they care.