What sorts of questions should I ask?

[007alert]

We are interviewing for a housekeeper next week. The person is going to be doing housework/laundry during the day and then picking up dc from school, doing homework with them and cooking supper etc. Basically, we need someone who can do the role that I used to do before I went back to work full time. The person needs to have a fair amount of initiative and the ability to organise their time as things seem to change on a daily basis with the dc - some days all 3 might need collecting at 3.30pm, other times only 1 of them, so other jobs can easily be done on those days. I would like someone who will really engage and be interested in the dc - at the moment our nanny pays scant regard to the older dc as she's only really interested in small children.

We are prepared to take as long as it needs to get the right person, but I'm not sure how we're going to know for sure when the right person does come along.

I've never been through this process so formally before so wondered if anyone had any top tips about really telling questions to ask. (btw, I guess gut reaction will come into play a lot too!)

Maybe the first thing to look at is what the job description is and ask applicants how they feel they will cope with what is being required, how they will juggle their time between house related duties and children related duties.

Whilst your children may have outgrown your current nanny, your children however will still be a big part of the job, the housekeeper will need to collect them on time from school and various activities and be seen by your children as someone who can assist them with their homework, rather than someone who just nags them about doing their homework (though that may be needed on occasion). They may also need to manage arguments/disagreements between siblings, so they need to be seen as an authority figure.

Very hard to know what questions to ask, which is probably why your post has not have any replies yet. Unless someone has done a similar role before, it's going to be hard to ask them about their past experience doing this kind of thing. However your applicants may have experience of doing this sort of thing, so asking them about how they got on with the children, what they found helped motivate children to do homework, what they like to cook and what the children in their care liked to eat, asking about their timekeeping and how they have coped with taking/picking up children from multiple schools/activities in the past. Also ask about themselves generally, what is their history, what jobs have they done over the years, what voluntary work, what they like doing when not at work... general stuff to see if you build a bigger picture about them. As you say, it's probably going to come down to gut reaction.