what questions for a mothers help / nanny?

[smilesandsun]

Hi,

Having never had any from of 'help' before I thought I'd ask what are the most important questions to ask in the interview stage.

thx

They're both completely different things, so I'd firstly decide which you were employing then go from there.

well I'm employing someone to help with the children and light household duties (child related) but they will not be unsupervised so not a true nanny as such.

Then you want a mothers help? As a 'supervised' nanny I find your description a bit dodgy and would be offended if I could be bothered to be!

What help are you actually looking for and how much are you willing to pay?

I started looking for some help this week. I want good childcare, but also some help with housework/ironing, while my son is at nursery. I have found childcare.co.uk useful. I have spoken to a few nannies and several seem to be quite flexible and open to doing additional housework etc.

I am interviewing a few and will be concentrating on

• experience / references / reliability
• average time with past families (don't want them to vanish in six weeks)
• future plans and ambitions (are they in this for the long haul)
• how they might spend the day /activities they enjoy
• will obviously be clear about household duties involved

To be honest, as my child is nearly 3, I am not so concerned about qualifications, but more about experience, references and finding a really kind, gentle and caring person. I will definately don't want a nanny with attitude issues!

Sounds good. Good luck. I wld also check that they are a confident driver, and that they understand your domestic requirements fully.. As you are looking for at least partial help, i would outline that those duties are a key part of the role.

Are you looking for Ofsted registered? Will you be away for more weeks of the year than you are giving holiday entitlement for? Will nanny be given extra hols, or do you wanr them to work? If so, you could ask interviewee what tasks they would do while you were away, or how they would fill time if DC were at playgroup?

If that was a jibe I'll ignore it happily as I've had a great day with my little one!

Make it clear that it's shared care if you'll be around, not all nannies are happy with that. Being honest, I think maybe a younger nanny or newly qualified would suit if your child is three and it's shared care. That and the housework would make good experience for a new nanny. Being kind and gentle would be expected of a nanny anyway surely?

I would not go for this you might get an aupair. It's a mothers help job not a nanny job. Do you really have to be kind and gentle to be a nanny.?(wink)

Think of a situation and ask what they would do / how they'd resolve it e.g. DC1 is pulling DC2's highchair over, baby is screaming and dinner is burning. WWYD? And see if you like their response.

It (almost) doesn't matter what you ask them IME, you'll be able to tell from a general chat if you get on with them and like their general approach. With shared care it is important you like having them around as much as your children do. Then the other really important bit of course is references - get a few and ask them in advance to make time for a proper chat about their experiences with the nanny.

I've had a mothers help/nanny. She didn't have any small baby experience so initially I didn't leave her alone with the baby, but she could look after the older two as she grew in confidence she became a nanny as she was doing mainly sole care.
As well as the questions above, its really important that you get on with her (since you're going to be togther quite a lot) and that her background and values are similar to yours. If someone is going to have sole care then its not as important that you get on with her.

redglow shh, parent's aren't supposed to know that all nannies are evil

The job would suit nannies, but I think it would suit people trying to get into home based childcare more than it would somebody experienced. I actually went for one of my jobs because it was shared care of an under two and I wanted experience with under two's sole charge and was uncertain as to how I'd cope as I'm used to older children. It has worked out really well for me and the Mum as we were both new at the practical side of things with under twos and my charge is lovely practice!

*suit some nannies

I was meant to say!

I would agree that shared care doesn't suit everyone.. you may find someone younger / less experienced is better at the shared childcare aspects, as an experienced nanny would probably prefer a bit more autonomy.

Are you going to be working from home, or not working but be at home? I guess I would adapt the questions around this..

I've just employed a mother's help. When I interviewed it depended on the candidate eg there were some younger 'trainee' nannies, but some more mature women with school age children of their own. I focused on discussing past experience, why they wanted this job, asking about future ambitions, clarifying duities (I wanted to be clear that the role included cooking, laundry etc not just childcare, and that they were comfortable with shared care) and making sure I got a few references that I could speak to. I didn't think quals/CRB were that important as will be shared care.

Childcare.co.uk, gumtree and netmums were good sources of candidates.