Is this an ok nanny advert?

[Lolly57]

Hi everyone,

We're starting our search for a nanny and I'm working on our ad!

I'd really appreciate any nannies (or employers of nannies) taking a quick look at what I've written and letting me have any feedback! Is there anything I should have mentioned that I've forgotten? If you're a nanny - would you apply for this job? Do we sound like people you'd like to work for? It's really important to me to find the right person, but also for us to be good employers.

Thanks so much!

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We are a friendly, down to earth family living near Dartford. We have two daughters aged 6 years and 8 months and are beginning to think about childcare for when mum goes back to work at some point in the next few months - the start date is flexible and entirely dependent on finding the right childcare!

The role is Full-Time, live out, with proposed working hours 8am-6pm

It will involve morning routine, taking our oldest daughter to school for 8:30 (5-10 min walk) and picking her up at 2:50. The rest of the day you will be in sole charge of our 8 month old. During the school holidays, both girls with be in your care.

We're looking for someone who genuinely loves children of all ages and can engage with both our 6 year old, and the baby. It would be wonderful to find someone who can think of fun things to do with them - whether that's outings, crafts or baking.

If you enjoy cooking, this would be a huge bonus, as it's important to us that the girls eat a varied and interesting diet. We'd really like you to take responsibility for planning meals that both girls can enjoy - any leftovers will be gladly eaten by mum and dad!

We have a cleaner once a week and so we don't expect you to do heavy housework! However, light tidying (e.g. childrens toys and bedrooms) would be hugely appreciated along with keeping the living area and kitchen clean. The odd load of children's laundry or putting their clothes away would be a massive help, but we know all too well how difficult it is to get these things done with the girls around!

This is our first time hiring a nanny and so we would really like a professional with prior experience, who has great ideas about how the nanny-family relationship can be managed to keep everyone happy! We'd like to be led by you, as a professional, as this is so new to us. We're not micro-managers and we have immense respect for anyone who is a nanny - so we would really like to find someone who is confident, takes initiative and can take the lead in our children's day to day care.

We anticipate the successful nanny will have at least some sole charge nannying experience. Qualifications are a plus, as is OFSTED registration as we are entitled to childcare vouchers at work. Male nannies very welcome to apply, of course, as are nannies who might want to bring their own children.

Salary is negotiable and dependent on experience, but we expect to pay in the region of £9-£13 NET per hour. Exact terms of contract can be discussed at interview and we hope we can have an open discussion with our nanny to find terms that keep us all happy.

If you think this role might suit you, please send us an email! When applying it would be great if you could include

• Previous childcare experience - your responsibilities, daily routine
• A bit about your personality, interests and childcare style (are you strict? fun? laid back? outdoorsy? creative?)
• Salary expectations
• Activities you like to do with children
• The sorts of meals you'd make for the girls
• Any questions about us or the job!
• Your availability

I would include a gross salary, then have the net equivalent based on typical tax code. Do not agree to a specific net wage as tax changes, whilst not such a problem for a full time job there are things, like student loans, which get deducted at source which with a net salary you could end up paying.

Is 8am a realistic start time? School starts 8:30 and is a 10 min walk away, so nanny would arrive and immediately have to get children out the door on the school run. That means you have to have the children ready to go. If nanny started at 7:30 then nanny would get children ready to go, leaving you more time to get yourself ready. It also means there is a bit longer buffer should there be traffic issues getting to you.

Thanks so much Cindy, those are really good points!

Is salary seems rather a big range. Would you not consider having a specific salary (or a smaller range) with a view to reviewing salary after probation?

With a big range I would wonder if you had calculated how much having a nanny would cost you. Would not want to take the job at the high end of the range to find that you then could not afford to pay it.

I think your advert is perfect and you sound like lovely people. I would be applying for this position straight away if I was in your area!

Salary range is far too wide imo and has a huge range of cost for you. Have you worked out what you can comfortably afford? Try to consider what you would pay someone with 2 yrs experience versus 10 yrs and consider what are you offering to a NWOC?

To me your middle paragraphs are too wishy washy and accommodating. You are employing someone, not advertising for a new friend. You are proposing to come up with circa 30-40k pa out of your taxed income to pay for your nanny. A professional nanny will have the odd bad day but it is part of their normal working day to cook nutritious food, do ALL the kids laundry, clean up after the kids and sweep the kitchen floor so you don't walk into a bomb site at 6pm every day.

This is our first time hiring a nanny and so we would really like a professional with prior experience, who has great ideas about how the nanny-family relationship can be managed to keep everyone happy! We'd like to be led by you, as a professional, as this is so new to us. We're not micro-managers and we have immense respect for anyone who is a nanny - so we would really like to find someone who is confident, takes initiative and can take the lead in our children's day to day care.

I'm not sure I would advertise this fact. It will be obvious to an experienced nanny and could form some useful questions in an interview about communications between parents and nanny; but I think you could attract the wrong sort of candidate by effectively advertising your naivety.

Sorry if this sounds harsh. Have been there as a first time nanny employer and have learned quite a few lessons. It is far better to ensure on day one what your expectations are as miscommunication can cause massive resentment. You will be a FT working Mum and Dad of two children with a massive childcare bill. Trust me when I tell you that you don't want to be spending your weekends sorting through childrens clothes trying to figure out what doesn't fit any more when you haven't dressed them since the previous weekend! It is very difficult to sit someone down and tell them that they are not meeting your expectations when those expectations were not documented in the first place. They look after your children so you WILL be loathe to upset them.

Things to consider -
Homework - your DD is 6, she presumably gets reading and phonics work and it will become trickier over time? It would be useful if your nanny runs through it with her in the afternoons after school so that homework isn't a battleground with a tired child at 6.30 every day.
Birthday parties - lots of these after school. Do you want her to shop for presents and cards and wrap stuff.
8-6 is quite tight if you are not working locally? The Dartford to London trains are frequently late/canx etc. Take a look at timetables if this is a factor. Even an extra 15 mins at the start or end of day could make a big difference to your working day.
Do you want any babysitting as standard? Eg one/two night per month Mon-Thurs free of charge so you can work late/get a haircut/have early dinner with DH after work?
Do you want the children bathed before you come home? This is a lifesaver in my experience as you can have a nice hour with them before storytime and bed and not run around like a grumpy headless chicken, not eating yourself until 9pm.

I very much agree with treadsoftly. You are the employer and you set the terms. As a professional nanny I would be happy to guide a family, in fact am doing so in my current job, but it is important that parents have high expectations and know what usual nanny duties are?
Regarding pay, it is very important you are sure about this. Offering £10 net per hour for 60 hours a week could lead you to paying a total cost in excess of £46,000. Regarding pay, it is really important to do it through the books, if you get caught doing cash, YOU pay, not the nanny. Also keep petty cash/kitty record
£10 net in my opinion is very top range and highly experienced nanny, for your location maybe even too much. NWOC about 25% less.
A good nursery candidate, first time nanny would expect £8.50 gross. Try advertising in gross. Nannies can use mr anchovy.com to work out take home pay.
Oh and have more specific start date, at least the month.
I hope you have great success. All the best.

From a nanny point of view.

• This is a very long advert, with a lot of "maybe if you could" "If you feel like" "that 'd be great if eventually". If I were you, I would make the ad shorter and list what you expect

-cooking healthy meals suitable for both children

-engage with both children in age related activities

• tidy up

• I would get rid of the part were you basically say you have no idea what you're doing and you expect the nanny to lead the relation between them and you.

• IMO paying £13 net per hour for a sole care nanny is insane. The going rate is between £8 and £10 net (12 for a nanny share)

Now this is my opinion, nit the truth. But when I read the ad, I feel like you are going to end up with someone who think she can do whatever she want and make you pay a lot by blowing your mind with their experience ;)

(I mean I would love to be paid £13 net per hour to be free to cook if I feel like or tidy up if i have time ;) )

It sounds like you are trying really hard to show how nice you will be. But you will be in an employer/employee relation and you better get used to be the one in charge now, or you might regret it.

Hello. I love your advert and think you have done a great job. I would love to chat more to you about your position. I have been a nanny for 22 years. I have a daughter who is 16 months old. I live in Gravesend. Please dont hesitate to email me at : alisonprice74@ gmail.com
I am currently working as a night nanny with very little people. Many thanks. Alison Spencer

Thank you all SO much!!

I'm a bit embarrassed - I'm sure I seem totally clueless and wishy washy but I was so worried about seeming like a dragon that I might have gone too far the other way!

remove (some of) the exclamation marks?

perhaps remove some of the tentative nature of what you would like done?

You have nothing to be embarassed of. It is hard to be an employer for the first time, you are just trying to make things the right way

I am sure you will be a great employer to work for ;) . Just don't make it too obvious in the advert

Kind of the point of MN though - we've all been there and bought the t-shirt. Really there is no reason to be embarrassed.

Location, hours of work, ages and gender of children, their interests and activities, any special needs/requirements, any restrictions on holiday [as to when they can take it], salary and benefits if any [pension/access to a car], would be the main focus for an advert and for a potential nanny to decide if they are interested in applying.

Ofsted will often restrict you to very experienced and more expensive nannies so you might want to consider offering to sponsor registration if the nanny has already started the process. [takes ages] In my experience, the vouchers save you so little that we shelved the requirement.

If you have a preference for a "type" eg: sporty/artistic/organic earth mother type [though not sure how you'd describe that ] then that's useful. As is activities - if you take your children swimming and want it continued - not everyone likes swimming and a NWOC might not be able to do it if both children are U1.

The rest you can outline in a job description for them to take away at interview. "usual nanny duties and light housekeeping in relation to the children" will suffice for the rest.

Gosh you sound lovely people but agree with other posters that you might attract the wrong type of person.
Pay must be gross.
If you want an Ofsted nanny to use thr vouchers then ask for that, or say you are happy to help a candidate apply for registration. If they are not Ofsted registered I would insist on a nanny having paediatric first aid and DBS check.
A full time nanny should; tidy up after herself, do all children's laundry, tidy clean children's bedrooms, change bed linen as you require eg weekly, every 2 weeks, keep children's toys tidy/clean, polish their shoes, take them to clubs, activities, buy birthday presents, keep a daily diary to communicate what the children do, maybe send you photos etc.
They should also prepare children's food. Cooking for the children from scratch is normal.

You are offering a top salary and as a nanny I would expect to do all of the above.
Nanny bringing her own child would attract a slightly lower salary. Look at threads on here re that subject.
When interviewing I would advice not having the children about to start with so you can concentrate on interview.
Check the candidate ID ie passport, driving lisence, check they are allowed to work in the country (not sure how but remember a previous employer mentioning this ).
Check certificates.
Hope you find someone lovely.

I agree. You need to be a bit firmer about what you expect. Salary, narrow down what you would pay. Can easily raise it later. Much harder to lower it. Always agree gross wage.

Adding time will increase cost but I agree that having someone start a bit earlier would make your life easier. A nanny is there to make it easier for you so you want them to get children ready in morning not be rushing around yourself.

as others have said state gross, £13 nett is a high salary, more like £13 gross, do you know the diff between gross and nett (not meaning that horribly)

you are offering to pay up to £46K plus empoyers ni of £5k so total bill to you would be £51k if £13 nett, did you mean this?

you are near sevenoaks (blondesland) and sure you will get lots of interest, but again salary is quite vast, maybe put top end of range due to quals and exp etc

agree 8-6 may be a rush and can you def be home for 6

do you offer a car?

limit duties to cooking, nursery duties and general day to day care of children and activities to suit their ages

take out, you dont know what you are doing, as otherwise a nanny may mug you off and you sound nice

If you can afford to spend that on a nanny then I'd guess that you are professionals or in senior positions. Have either of you had any experience of hiring someone at work? Or even think about experiences being recruited. This isn't really any different. You need a firm job spec, benchmarked salary and be professional in your approach.

I would edit it to this:

^We are a friendly, down to earth family living near Dartford. We have two daughters aged 6 years and 8 months and are looking for a nanny to start in the next few months - exact date flexible.

The role is Full-Time, live out, with proposed working hours 8am-6pm

It will involve morning routine, taking our oldest daughter to school for 8:30 (5-10 min walk) and picking her up at 2:50. The rest of the day you will be in sole charge of our 8 month old. During the school holidays, both girls with be in your care.

Duties:

• entertaining children e.g. games, crafts, outdoor play, baking - we would like someone who will take the initiative to organise a fun day for the two of them in the school holidays
• cooking for children
• keeping children's rooms clean and tidy, doing and putting away their laundry as needed

Essential criteria:

• sole charge nannying experience
• OFSTED registered or willing to apply

Salary: £xx per hour gross^

All the rest you can ask about at interview. Going rate in N London is £10 per hour net for someone with experience so I doubt you'd have to pay more than that. always agree a gross salary or you could end up paying off their old HMRC arrears/student loan for them.

I know where you're coming from - that middle class guilt that you are employing someone to look after your children! you need to develop a firm but fair attitude or you will get walked over.

I think 8am is a reasonable start, as long as you have your older daughter completely ready for school when the nanny arrives, as they'll have to get a handover for you and be out the door, presumbly with both kids, within 20 minutes.