When to discuss salary

[Noodlemuncha]

Hello

I'm looking for a nanny (first time) and have had quite a few positive sounding responses to my ad. I just wanted to ask when would be appropriate to discuss salary expectations? In my experience, in the normal world, normally you wouldn't talk salary until a job offer has been made.

We can offer a decent salary but it would be at the lower end of what I understand is an acceptable going rate for London - so I don't want to waste both our time in interviews if we can't afford the nanny in question. Would it be acceptable to ask for their salary expectation before we meet in case we are not on the same wavelength? Or is that a bit rude?

Thanks for any advice!

Many agency ads for nannies state the salary, it's standard in the profession. But it MUST be discussed at the interview. As a nanny, I lost my fee in my ads when I'm looking, definitely agree with you about time wasting!

How low is 'low'? Average going rate where I am in London is £11net (about £14gross).

Thanks for the helpful response - we can only offer £12 to £13ph gross (it is 55 hours per week and 1 child) so I do realise we will probably be looking at a relatively junior nanny.

I'm going to say this upfront when I offer an interview so no time is wasted on either side - we are not in a financial position to stretch the budget for the perfect nanny unfortunately!

When I responded to a parents profile on childcarecouk they responded with more details about the role including the salary on offer.

Ideally I like to see salary in the advert but certainly in the first bit of communication as it stops time wasters. You don't want someone who wants a lot more money than you can afford to pay. A nanny does not want to apply for a job to later on find that it does not pay enough.

So the sooner money is mentioned the better.

In my experience, in the normal world, normally you wouldn't talk salary until a job offer has been made.

In what line of work does that happen? If you apply for a job at a supermarket, the pay is in the advert. If you apply for a job at the council, or a school, or Government the pay is in the advert and there may be well know pay scales.

Some sectors may well not disclose salary till later but applicants surely know what sort of salary would be likely paid. Am I really out of touch and people do apply for jobs where they have no clue as to what is being paid?

Thank you

What I meant was that you would usually know rough salary on offer (from what I've seen most of the time it is an advertised range) but not the actual salary until you've been interviewed. In my line of work (finance) you have no idea until job offer (the party line is always that it's "competitive")...

Anyway, thank you again for the response, very helpful, and I will ensure I am very clear about what I can afford as early in as possible

Where are you? I know many Nannies on £13 gross

And I discuss before Interview - if the family can’t or don’t want to pay my salary then no point in me going and wasting both our times

I am a nanny employer and would say definitely give rate before interview. Also if nanny is via childcare.co.uk or similar get nanny to confirm if they want to bring own child / if they want role to fit in a share / if they have restrictions on hours (due to travel etc). Just to try and save time / falling in love with a nanny you cant afford.

Agree that you should share a more precise salary range before interview. It saves everyone time and energy in case there is a mismatch of expectations. Also useful to share holiday expectations, overtime etc