help all you nanny employers and/or nannies

[woodstock3]

have just started interviewing nannies for ds and painfully aware that i dont know what to ask beyond obvious questions that get equally obvious, learned-by-rote replies. what should i be asking that's actually revealing about the kind of person the nanny is?
and nannies, what have you learned at interview that puts you off/attracts you to a job or family?

Ask them to describe a typical day. Ask them what food they enjoy cooking (from scratch). Have you looked after free-range chicken before? (seriously, had this question asked for my current job!)

See how DS interacts with the nanny... watch to see if nanny gets down to child's level, how much interaction there is.

How old is your DS? Please describe your home... country setting, inner city?

I like families who are down to earth, who don't have spotless homes, who want their children to enjoy being children, not taught to write their name by the age of 2.

I've been interviewing potential nannies all day!
Someone on previous thread used " Do you sing?" as a discriminator of those with a genuine interest in children,
I've also asked " Do you like baking?" as variation of above. DDs would bake all day if given the choice; it's amazing how many people look blank when asked this.
" What would you do on a really wet miserable day?". " What activities do you like to do with children?" ; I like nannies who say things like "outdoor play, leaf kicking, puddle splodging, library, shopping" or at least something which reveals that they've actually spent time looking after children rather than constant baby singing/yoga/mandarin/tumble tots.
"Have you ever had to deal with an emergency at work?" " How would you deal with a temperature/choking/convulsion?"
It's really tricky - it's often not a question of "good" or "bad" nannies but rather those who you think you could work with and would fit in to your family. Good Luck!

Agree with nn on " what do you like to cook from scratch?". Often very revealing!

I remember asking one Canadian girl what food she liked to cook for her charges.....she scratched her head for a while and then offered up "popcorn?"

My favourite questions include some that have already been mentioned and also....

What bits of the job do you absolutely love/hate?

What do you think is your worst habit?

What would you do with a child throwing a tantrum in the checkout at Tesco's?

Or you could try the trick question: If it's raining and there are lots of puddles, how do you stop the kids jumping in them all and getting wet (the answer being that you don't stop them, you join in)?

you could ask what would they do if your dc had an accident,in the home or playground.

These are great questions. I think the ONLY acceptable answer to "what is the worst part of the job" is "leaving the children when the job ends".

It seems obvious but check that the answers are age-appropriate for your DS. Our first nanny thought she wanted baby experience, but we all subsequently discovered that actually babies bored her. Can't jump in puddles with someone who is only 6 months old!

fridays child.... Would have agreed with you until today...

when at 6pm i had this conversation with my boss

"the WORST part of my job is......" the answer was changing the nappy of a child (ie my 2 year old charge) who was suffereing from extreamly bad nappy rash, obviosuly in pain, but having to continue wiping and putting cream on etc even though it obviosuly hurts.

I HATE doing it, i feel really cruel 'huting' him (even though i KNOW its for the best) but its definitely the worst element of my job

I also ask if they have any 'rules' or behaviour they are particular about (largely because we're not the sort of family that has lots of rules but we do have a few we try to stick to but also, I think it gives an insight into the sort of person they are).

My children are older though and at the age where you'd hope they would try to behave well at least some of the time .

thanks those are all much better than the questions i've been asking. slightly depressed by interviewing women who claim to lurve working with children and proceed to completely ignore DS while he is lying there in front of them .
nannynick, ds is six months old (will be 8mo when i go back to work) and we live in sarf london. we sure as hell dont have a spotless home, so at least we score there...no chickens tho

What their favourite age of child to look after is.
Age appropriate meals.
views on discipline
typical week
what to do when it rains
sorry my mind has gone blank too!

gut instinct and seeing them with your children for part of the interview i found the best guide.
good luck - i found the gut instinct did kick in when i interviewed our nanny.

Ooooh - just found this crib sheet i found on line way back - very dry but gives a basic interview structure...

What are their experiences? Ask about the children and families they have worked with before and ask them to tell you about good and bad situations she has experienced.

Is there a boy/girlfriend/partner?

What are their hobbies and what do they do on their spare time?

Ask her exactly how they see the job. Ask how important independence is to the carer.

Ask about their education and what it involved and how they enjoyed it?

Ask for their full name , their childcare approval number and the Criminal Records Bureau Disclosure (CRBD) number. Your childcarer will have all of this information if they have been approved under the scheme.

What are their future plans?
It is important that you and the carer have discussed your detailed requirements.

What exactly will their duties be?

Will there be any housework involved?

What are the hours of work?

Make sure you discuss pay.

Will the carer be driving the family car?

If so who will be insuring and paying for it?

Will she/he want to have friends visiting?

How would the carer react if your child were injured?

The parent needs to be comfortable that the carer really is capable of handling every situation.

It is clearly important that your children meet your prospective nanny and you have an opportunity to see her interacting with them. However try to arrange for them only to be there for part of the interview so as not to distract you.

Tell your prospective employee exactly what your children's routine is and explain the way you like things structured

Talk to her/him about discipline, do you mind if she/he shouts at the children? Make sure her views coincide with yours.

Let her/him know how much TV you allow your offspring to watch. Find out what activities she/he enjoys doing - does it coincide with your children's activities?

How would she/he entertain your children in the third consecutive wet week of the summer holidays?

A baby - oh, refuse anyone who does not pick up your son. Any childcarer who is worth their weight in gold, will quickly start to interact with a baby (unless the child is asleep).

I met a 6 week old baby girl at the weekend. She had just woken from her morning nap, so not in the best of moods. Yet once dad had settled her on her playrug, within a few minutes I had persuaded her to permit me to hold her in my arms.

Babies grow up quick, so you need to think about what your child may be like as a toddler. Will the nanny be able to entertain a toddler... will they take your DS swimming, on walks (and I mean walk, not just a buggy push, toddlers need to experience walking on different surfaces), on the swings at the local park, trips on the train/bus/boat.

Someone earlier mentioned music - it's a great question to ask. I was asked at my last job interview what instruments I play (cello to grade 3 standard, violin, recorder, right hand on piano - not so good with left hand), plus if I could sing (yes I can do that, even sung at the Royal Albert Hall and on BBC Radio in the past as a child).

As children learn Computing / Information Technology very early these days, you may also want to ask about someones competence with computers/technology. When your son is 2 years old, you don't want him to teach the nanny how to use the DVD player!

"do you sing??!!" I do sing with the children but would refuse point blank to sing infront of parents, I have a voice like "a load of cats in a cement mixer" (discribed this way by my second employer, have had 9 employers in total, been a nanny for 21 years and some nannyshare positions) so have never sung with parents anywhere near the house since! I would be mortified if I was asked this at an interview!! What if they asked me to prove it!!! Thankfully have never been asked.

No,no,no I don't actually require the nanny to audition ! What I meant was that I think people with a natural affinity for children tend to like singing nursery rhymes and stuff with them ( just my opinion). The question was more about whether they liked music and singing than whether they were any good or not.