Nannying is often a very private thing. People can choose who they like
Yes I agree. Though why would parents want to limit who they would consider interviewing?
I am not talking about the final decision stage of the recruitment process but the initial stage when an advert is placed, surely the point of advertising is to see who is interested and then see if they meet criteria.
An agencies job is to sell candidates to employers - the employer pays the agency to find them the best candidate for the job.
Why bother saying man or lady when they will only hire a lady due to religious rules?
That could be mentioned if a man did apply for the specific job. Being a bloke I am used to agencies saying that there is no hope of getting the job. For many jobs though, a good agency can sell me to parents due to my experience, location, flexibility, that sort of thing.
A man would be pointless in this situation as wouldn't be allowed in same room as lady not related alone, and def not half undressed!
This surely applies in very few of the jobs advertised in the UK. It would be more of an issue in maternity nurse positions I feel, not the more general nanny positions, caring for babies/toddlers/school aged children whilst parents are at work.
However I would rather they did specify if that is their criteria. Otherwise I might waste time applying for a job I had no chance of getting.
That is one way of looking at it but there are many factors why parents choose one nanny over another. Would you expect the agency to list all the factors so you did not waste time applying?
Are parents really unwilling to have a nanny who does not have a minimum of 10 years nannying experience? If someone had 9 years of nannying experience, would they really rule them out just because they did not have 10 years?
mum choose the other nanny because she was mature.
How do you know it was not due to another factor? At least you got an interview so they must have had the intention to at least consider you, which is more than you would have got had they put in the ad that they required someone Mature.
Yes it is a waste of time to go for interviews when they have no intention of considering you, I have been for that type of interview before. "Oh lets interview a male nanny so we can boast to our friends that we have met one!" A good agency though will not put you forward though for such positions where they feel there is no hope of you getting the job - waste of time for them, their client and for you.
Parents can choose who they employ but why rule out applicants so early on in the recruiting process?
Sure the parents can ultimately choose who they employ. As you say though, it's the very early stage reducing the candidate pool which seems strange to me.
Somone post on here wanting a Filipino nanny and they get lots of negative feeback.
Yes I have seen that many times over the years of being on here. Rightly so, why want a nanny from a particular country? If they want someone who speaks a certain language there are ways to phrase that in job ads.
For example a very religious family need a nanny who can understand their religion. Or a sporty family will want a fit active nanny!
Yes but you can understand a religion without being in that religion. Fit active nanny - would that rule out someone who is on the plumper side, even if they did frequent workouts at the gym?
Fitting in with the families lifestyle is important but it can be learnt over time for many things in my view. If a family is sporty and you are not very sporty, you can learn to enjoy it if you get health club membership as part of the job. You may not be a Tennis Pro but you may get good enough to at least have a knock about.
Nannying is a very personal job, this person is caring for your child, in your house and often living in your house so yes you have the right to choose exactly who you want doing that job.
Yes but in the UK there is legislation which must be complied with to do with discrimination. Agencies are liable for adverts they place, so good agencies will be careful with how they word things and will sell candidates who meet most of the criteria, as finding someone who fits the entire criteria may be like looking for a needle in a haystack.
Maybe IABU to expect agencies to guide parents as to what is and is not allowed, and how things can be phased such that the job is made attractive to as many candidates as possible.