Nanny candidates - Bringing some thoughts to the group and two specific questions...

[HarrietTheSpy]

It's coming down to the wire - we've got a week until DKiwiN goes .

We've got four potentials coming back for round two this weekend.

Two I'm just not sure of the personality fit yet - will depend on what DD thinks. Both qualified with checkable UK references. One got a bit paranoid with me: "So if you're Kiwi nanny comes back are you just going to SACK me?" "Um...no we don't operate like that." I promise I wasn't oozing over her either, the comment came out of nowhere and was...well I would say verging on the aggressive. Strange, because she otherwise seems really sweet. Maybe just lack of confidence?! This nanny also asked about bringing DD into town on the tube to meet with nanny friends...also not sure about that...

Third is an Iberian girl who is a trained teacher but no checkable UK references. Asked for them (I've got a friend who could easily do the checks for me in the relevant language), in my view got twitchy,DH thinks something got lost in translation. I don't agree - great personality but a real wild card. Think we'd struggle to proceed really...

Local girl - seems to have solid experience, a police check,good attitude, excellent sense of humor, looks like...well,a jolly old elf. She seems fab. Frontrunner. However - my concern: Her hourly rate is ridiculous for London(under £7 per hour, live out). What do you reckon is going on with that?! Please help. I don't actually feel blessed, I actually wonder what is up with her. I was expecting her to say much more, if she really does have the experience she has, and my instinct is that she isn't lying. Saw certificates and she produced a passport too. Will obviously check references. Thoughts?

Another Antipodean. Expensive - a bit like getting Skadden Arps to do the conveyancing for your house...but got great references (UK), is very bright and well trained, well organised etc. Bad thing is she doesn't come back for anotehr week...and also has to study which would create some inconvenience for us. Anyone had a nanny on a course before? How inconvenient was it?

Maybe the local girl just isn't quite "savvy"?
She may not use Nannyjob or have been to agencies who inflate rates deliberately-maybe she is pricing herself to get a lovely job where she is happy.
I know this sounds fairytale-esque but there are some lovely nannies out there who would do just that.
Think I would swing towards local girl after VERY thorough checking of references.

Not sure about the going on the tube bit - your profile says you live in London, so using public transport I expect will be a common occurrence. Was it more the meeting nanny friends, rather than the mode of transport that is the issue with that candidate?

Local girl seems best, may have had low paid jobs in the past thus why salary expectations are lower. Personally, my current job is lower paid than other jobs I could get - but it's local - a big advantage as low travel to/from work cost. What does the CV look like - does she tend to stay in jobs for a while, rather than change every year?

Have you talked about Tax paperwork with any of the candidates - do they seem to know what a P45 is. Someone who is between jobs should have a P45 from their last job... someone in work will be able to provide a P45 at some point after leaving (can sometimes be a few weeks after leaving, due to when last payroll run is done). Talking about Tax/NI may reveal some info about candidates prior jobs - and may account for lower wage expectations if they are expecting cash.

4th candidate - why do they have to study? It could be inconvenience for you, especially if their college hours ever change.

Local girl if refs check out. Is she young/not got a lot of nannying experience? I only got around £6 live out my first nanny job in London. Maybe she still lives at home so has no rent etc?

No to the Iberian trained teacher if she got twitchy about references (but check them in case it was a misunderstanding), and no to personality misfits. Could make things uncomfortable in the long run.

Speaking as a nanny on a course - depends how full-on the course is. What is she doing? Is it uni or college level? How many hours of classes/lectures will there be and when are they?

The other thing I would be wary of about foreign nannies who study is the visa issue. If she's here to study, ie on a student visa, then she can't work more than about 20 hours a week term-time.

I would check refs with local girl, but you instinct to be concerned is the correct one. If she doesn't know what the going rate for the job is, then she isn't that good. Or she would have been poached! (at least in this neck of the woods)

RE the P45 - will ask. Have only said she's on the books with us, haven't actually gone down the road of aksing directly about P45/P46 SPECIFICALLY. Iberian no employment record here. One is ex-nursery so I asusme would have P45.

LadyMuck I see what you're saying...and as I have said I agree it seems weird...but where we are you'd be surprised some people have been "into town" twice in their lives!!! Tehre aren't that many nanny jobs going around here either. Hence it is conceivable as Woosh says that she's just not savvy. SHe's not that young actually - mid 20s.

The course is one day a week and means a potentially frantic return home at an inconvenient time. But for what she's charging do I want any inconvenience? Maybe no.

Have any of the candidates met your DD yet?
You DD's reaction to the candidates, and the candidates reaction to your DD can be a useful indicator - go on gut feel. Which candidates interact with your DD best? Which get on their hands and knees, which stay ridged in a chair.
My last interview was conducted with the parents sitting on the sofa, and me and the children (at that time 3 of them) on the floor, playing with an assortment of toys (can't recall what exactly). Eldest two children then took me on a tour of their hideout in the garden!

No Nick
This is the next step. I only did round 1 in the home the first time I recruited a nanny. It was a bad idea - created wrong expectations, etc. I find it is better to chat (coffee) then move on to meeting DD. Telephone interviews are the worst in my view. Very hard to sense whether the chemistry is right.

By the way, re another thread (elusis - how young is too young). I met the teenager - no first aid training - what would you do if DD were choking. "Ring an ambulance. Call you. Offer her a drink of water." In principle someone older could have said the same thing too though.

By the way - I can't emphasize enough how different childcare courses which train people to be nursery nurses can be from ones tailored to a nanny. The teenager is one one and spends loads of time on paperwork related issues, i.e. equal opps etc, understanding state regulations. I learned an important lesson there about how the approach may be wildly different. Nick do you agree?

By the way Nick, we are 35 min outside of central London (on tube though). It would take this nanny over an hour of travelling to get to some of the destinations she was interested in. My concern was based on her emphasis on meeting up with nanny friends who just don't live in the area. Is that really in my daughter's best interests or is it for her entertainment?

Surely she can do that in her own time?

What course did the teenager do? And what would be your preferred nanny course? (Just to be nosy).

Frannikin - I don't really have a preference and don't know enough to say to answer your question well. But I was surprised at how much of this particular course (however it fits into the scheme of things available as training) seemed to be devoted to the admin side of things ie. complying with state regulations. But I guess if you are going to run a nursery of course you need to know that. However, I felt that her first aid knowledge was weak (one example) and I wondered about whether this particular course was getting the priorities wrong. Perhaps some of the admin stuff could be done with a more senior person who was closer to having a management job.