Interviewing for new nanny this weekend - any tips?

[TwelveLeggedWalk]

We're interviewing/meeting a potential new nanny this weekend. OUr last one sort of found us, so we've never really had to recruit before - any tips?

Me, DH and the DTs will all be here, so she can meet them but I can talk to her alone if I need to.

A few more candidates have left messages on my phone, so I might need to meet them too.

What are the good/key questions to ask?

Describe a few scenarios and ask her what she'd do. Ask her to tell you about what she's done in past positions. What she feels her strengths and weaknesses are.

I'd also give her a concise overview of your family and the position. It's good to have some things confirmed.

Let her answer your questions, and ask her own. I don't know why, but I've been to interviews where the parents seem to talk endlessly, repeat themselves over and over, and interrupt. Try and avoid these things!

Hope you find a good nanny :)

Ask about any emergencies she or he has dealt with as nanny and what they did / how they reacted - ask detailed questions and why they did certain things - very revealing

Ask what they've hated about previous jobs

Ask what a family could do to upset then

Ask what a child could do that they would find difficult

Oh god, I'll be worried she'd describe my Ds with that last one!

This is helpful though. The 'what happens if X' question is actually why I am not confident about MIL looking after them, so that's a really good idea.

Keep 'em coming!

U have to get a feel for the nanny but the nanny has to get a feel for you and your family too

Sometimes it's best to meet the nanny on your own first and get a feel for them. Then have another meeting where the children are there and see how she responds to them, and them her.

Be honest about behaviour issues with your little ones and anything else.

Ask her about herself, previous jobs, her likes and dislikes, what she likes to do.around the house and doesn't like to do.

Keep it about your family and her..

Keep the routine and ins and outs for the 2nd interview.

I have to say, if you have a child you believe to be difficult, challenging, or potentially might cause issues with the nanny: please please discuss this at the initial interview….

I took my first live-in nanny job with a family who's children seemed angelic, after a month with them the girl turned nasty, but it turned out that they had sough professional advice, and she was beyond challenging and I wasn't experienced enough, it almost ended my career as a nanny and I was miserable the whole time.

What I mean is be honest and open about your lifestyle and children now, so she is fully aware and if and when she accepts the job she knows what is going on.

I didn't and wish the parents had told me because I would have walked away and said I didn't have the maturity and knowledge to handle it.

Im sure your child is fine but just wanted to mention xx

BumpBirthBaby, the exact same thing happened to me when I was 21. I only stayed six months, and it put me off nannying for a long time!

OP, this is excellent advice. I'm sure your kids are great, but if there are any issues, be up front :)

Make sure you have already discussed money. Did you advertise with the salary specified? Confirm at interview that the candidate understands the salary... that it's gross (or are you doing net?) and will be paid monthly at the end of each month (I would avoid weekly pay as it will probably cost you more in payroll admin).

Confirm they meet your person specification - that they have the required qualifications, experience, that sort of thing.

Ask them how long the journey to you took (if they are live-out), ask them how they think that may differ when doing the job - less/more traffic at the time you need them to arrive?

Interview time is a great time to check ID documents. If you need guidance on immigration rules, then see UKBA: Employers Summary Guidance.

Me, DH and the DTs will all be here, so she can meet them but I can talk to her alone if I need to.

Sit down, relax and observe. See how they interact with your DTs. Some of my best interviews have been done sitting on the carpet with children around me! Don't make it too formal, DTs are present so use them to test things out. Your DTs need to like nanny.

Nanny is not just there to look after your children but also your home. Consider what might happen during any day - what if the sewer blocks and starts spilling into the garden, what if rain starts coming through a window. Ask them a 'what if' question to do with the home... do you really want to be bothered at work or do you want nanny to take initiative (and inform you of what they have done to resolve the issue or help prevent further damage)?

How old are your DTs and is the job live-in or live-out? Knowing that may help with coming up with questions to ask, things to think about.

Talk about food - what the nanny likes to cook, what they would cook for your DTs, what they would do if one of your children wanted x but the other wanted y. See if they ask you about how you would want that managed - as what nanny may do themselves may not be the style that you want done.

What activities would they do outside of the home? This can bring up things like travelling to museums, swimming pool/leisure centre, toddler groups, softplay, walks in the woods, going with the flow (ask the child where they want to go and if reasonable go and do it - eg. visit a castle).

This is all interesting.

DTs are two, position is part-time, live out. I mostly work from home but home office is away from playroom/kitchen etc, and am sometimes away for whole days.

They are basically lovely kids, but not easy children - nothing beyond what you might expect for two 2yos: tantrums, food fussiness, some biting. Potty training looming on the horizon soon.

Contract etc to be discussed at a second interview presumably?

What do you mean by discussing contract at second interview, what would you discuss?

A lot of things I expect are already established, not changeable, so talk about those things at the first interview. If you are flexible in some of the working hours, then you can say which hours are fixed and which are flexible and see what flexibility the applicant has - would it suit them and you.

Holiday entitlement you probably already know, unless you are offering different options for how many working hours per week but even then you can say for each option what the holiday would be.

As it is part time you may want to know what they do the rest of the time. They may not tell you, or they might. Can be handy to know if other things they do are flexible or ridged thus would prevent nanny doing overtime. Whilst it may not make a difference to your decision whom to recruit, it will make a difference to how you would approach overtime if it ever occurred.

How did it go?

It was interesting. We've actually had a lot more people respond since, so I think the process is going to drag on a bit. I suspect I was that dreadful parent who waffles on and repeats themselves though, it's a very odd thing, recruiting someone for your child to bond with! Will hopefully get a bit more to the point as I do this more and more!

So, good things - there are quite a few good nannies in my area who are interested in the hours we are offering. And they may come with other skills that will make them an asset to our family.

Bad things - not sure if we can afford the better candidates, not sure I'm personally going to get on with any of them so well as our current nanny, and it's hard to imagine the DTs are going to adore them as much as our current nanny (although they may well do, fickle things!!). Finding it all quite emotionally draining TBH.

But we're going to try and be really straight with people and respond to every applicant properly even the ones who sent a nonsensical text message as job application

Great that you are getting a lot of applicants, though that may make short listing those you actually want to meet tricky.

not sure if we can afford the better candidates - does that mean you did not give a salary indication, or that you gave a salary range, or are people applying and then saying they want more money than you are offering? If you can't afford what a nanny wants to be paid, is it worth the bother in interviewing them?

Great that you will get back to everyone applying, hope you don't find you get thousands applying.

No, we didn't specify rate. We had an idea of a small range in our heads, but wanted to see if we were being realistic, as we knew it was unlikely we'd get someone as good value for money as our current nanny again. Just one of the 27,000 reasons why replacing her will be so hard.

Chatting on the phone I've asked candidates if they have a rate in mind they usually work for, and it's actually been very interesting the variety of responses. We're not interviewing anyone we don't think would genuinely want to work for us - I don't want to waste my time on that, let alone anyone else's!

In my experience I have learnt it's better to forgo something and pay the extra to get that special person - and then when we have someone and it works out we go out of our way to make them feel loved and wanted - extra amounts in pay packet, bonus paid days off, going home early, birthday presents, etc

As an experienced nanny myself I have to tell you of the importance of being laid back, chatty and making the nanny feel at ease. You want to know what they're truly like right? SO make them feel at ease and they will be open and you will find you'll get a much better interview out of them. Also an important factor I always recognise if your children are present at the interview, does the nanny come in and get down to their level to say hello/introduce herself? When reading through their CV Most important things are CRB, FIRST AID and a Childcare qualification ie BTEC Level 3 etc. Don't employ someone who is very cheap and subsequently lacking in experience and qualifications. In my experience Ofsted registered is not always important, good references from many families are much more relevant. Good Luck!