Nanny agencies- are they worth the £3k+ 'finder's fee'

[CarpeBibendum]

So I am new to this as returning to work after having PFB a year ago and want a nanny to cover 3 days a week in south east London.

I have posted a job on nannyjob and childcare yesterday but have this morning chatted to a couple of agencies. Whilst I am happy to pay a competitive rate for a nanny, £3k plus to an agency seems extortionate to me.

But are they worth it? How likely am I to get a good, experienced nanny without using an agency?

Most nannies I know look in their own as well as through agencies. Agencies save time initially but you need to do a lot of legwork and checking yourself so £3k, no.

I look everywhere when I'm looking. i got my last job through The lady

I look everywhere when I'm looking and have got my five previous jobs from
*an agency
*nappy valley net

• nanny job
• findababysitter.com
• gumtree

so, next time i'm looking, i'll continue to use all those : )

Didn't think of advertising with The Lady!
We've used every possible channel (except an ad in The Lady) and it's 50-50. Sometimes you'll drop lucky via Gumtree etc, sometimes you only get people with very weird CVs.
It's worth doing a careful ad if you're going to do it yourself. I would copy the type of info that the agencies put out and be really specific about who should apply. Put in a specific salary. If you use a 'band' of salaries, everyone will want the higher one.
Also, put an 'end date' on the advert as they stay live for ages unless you actually cancel them yourself. And use a hotmail email that you set up specifically for this purpose as your normal email will get swamped.
Just one thing - don't do both at the same time (or be very careful about it) as you might end up being asked to pay an agency if they send you a CV and the candidate also applies direct. It's unlikely, but possible.