Lucky Escape - checking a nannies past jobs

[GoldysMum]

I really feel like I've had a lucky escape. I interviewed a potential nanny who applied to my job ad and was quite charmed by her. On paper she sounded amazing and had a number of glowing written references in her file. However I spotted a few inconsistencies with dates and families she mentioned at interview and what was actually written in her CV. Also the style/tone and even dry humour in all the written refs seemed quite similar. I asked to speak to her latest references but she gave me some names that didn't quite match those on her cv. I then did a bit of googling and found that one referee was an old friend of hers. I managed to trace a nursery where she had only given part of the name and I contacted them to find out how long she had actually worked there. The manager emailed me to say that she rarely turned up for work and wouldn't bother phoning in or answering the phone. She would then just wonder in a week or so later as if nothing was wrong. When she did turn up she was usually more than an hour late. When her contract was terminated she became abusive and they had to call the police and she continued to threaten them with calls and emails until the police were involved again! I am quite shocked and also worried that this nanny definitely lied to me, could be unstable and might end up as a sole charge nanny to someone's child. Should I put out a warning somehow or just hope that all parents are going to check out nanny CVs in as much detail as I have?

You can't put out a warning to anywhere - nannies are not regulated in the UK, neither are nanny agencies, so there is no overall organisation that would keep any kind of list.

Was there anything else you spotted on the CV which caused you to question if it was giving a true picture of this persons past? You have mentioned dates didn't match with what they said at interview, was the difference a few days or are we talking many months/years? Any tips you can give parents for what to look for, what to ask at interview to help confirm such details, would probably be useful.

Although they looked ok on paper, something at interview made you supicious. Can you think back to the interview - other than date mismatch, what else may have caused you to doubt that they were telling you the truth/whole story? Did your gut instinct pick up on something at a subconcious level perhaps?

Could you say what part of the country you are in and then give her first name.? That might at least alert other mums to be extra vigilant.

Well done u for being so thorough

I posted about a similar situation maybe 6 months back. The only solution is to be very vigilant

It 's London but don't want to say anything to identify them as actually feel a bit scared after hearing from the nursery that she might start threatening me!

I think she just seemed a bit too good to be true nannynick. The dates weren't far out, just a few months, but googling her did bring up some bizarre info about her past and the revelation that one of her referees was an old friend with kids whose ages didn't match the written reference! Also a cv she'd posted online had some odd differences to the one who'd sent me - but something must have made me suspicious or I never would have researched it as much as I did. Gut instinct I think. I guess that's it Fraktious, just be vigilant. Now I still need to find a nanny as the nice one with amazing references has turned the job down! arrgh!