Interviewing a nanny

[Rumdoodler1]

We are interviewing for a nanny to cover the holiday period when my dd's pre - school is closed. We are using an agency and all the candidates they have given us sound good and have good references.
We have never employed a nanny before and I have no idea what sort of questions we should be asking or what we should be looking for.
The first interview will start at 6.30 so dd will still be up and about. Would it be weird to let the interviewer meet her to see how they get on?
Any tips please ? I feel a bit clueless !

Yes, let them meet if possible! I've chosen families where I've had the chance to see the children and feel we click. By the end of the interview for my current job, the kids were pulling outside to show me the swingset :-) And of course it works both ways. You just 'know'.

Found this list of nanny interview questions which may be useful: www.nannypaye.co.uk/blog?title=Popular%20Nanny%20Interview%20Questions

You need to establish their experience, what they would be planning to do during their working day. Why they want the job... do they realise that it is for a fixed length of time (or are you intending it to be more than just the holiday period?)... does that mean they may be available again for the next holiday period? Where they live, how would they get to you... they need to be realistic in how far they can travel to be at your home on time.

Discus salary, ideally before seeing them as no point interviewing someone who wants a lot more money than you are offering. Make sure you discuss salary as gross pay, so your costs are fixed.

That's very helpful thanks

From a nanny's point of view my worse interview was a mum who had about 4pages of questions. She went through every single question barely looking up at me. It was such an uncomfortable interview. Learnt nothing about the family. She learnt all the formalities about me, but not about me as a person (if that makes sense). Considering I'll be in her home 10+hrs a day. just remember we are interviewing you just as much as you
You need to be very clear with what you want from the nanny so cooking housework activities etc so it's all very clear and everyone is prepared. And make sure as above it's agreed in gross the salary. So many nannies have lost their jobs when parents realise the full cost of employing a nanny.

As a nanny I find I like interviews where the parents start with a list of maybe 5 or 6 key questions and then it becomes more of a general chat. You need to get that balance right between it being too formal and too relaxed. You need to be able to compare candidates (if interviewing several people who on paper all seem the same) so you need to get to know them, get to know what sort of character they are, if you just get that 'feeling' that you will get along well.

So interview lists are useful to give you some ideas for what to talk about but don't make a huge list - you will cover a lot in general chat - focus on the key things that are important to you.