What makes you inwardly shout YES when interviewing a nanny?

[ChristmasShinySnowflakes]

Nanny friend is embarking upon a round of interviews, and I'm just interested to know what do you look for at interview?

On time, or text/call enough in advance to make it clear nanny is thinking ahead & although on her way has realised she won't make it on time.
Bright smile, essential!
Simple clothes - not high heels - you can't get down & make friends with children when wearing heels.
Readiness to produce paperwork, references, etc. - offering it rather than waiting to see if it's going to be asked for. (This shows confidence in own experience, abilities, etc. - can't be faked.)
Genuine interest in the children - speaking to them directly, being enthusiastic if they want to show nanny their bedroom/toys/books. One interviewee seemed OK until dd came jumping up with a toy to show her ... and she flinched.

Finally - just chemistry - where you find yourselves chatting away & the interview runs on beyond when you'd thought it would. Not something anyone can prepare for.

When she stops talking to me and starts talking to the children, and they wander off together to go and do something NOW and she follows them looking engrossed in what they are off to do

When she says she will babysit 6 nights a week and is happy to earn £4.50 an hour.

LL allgonebellyup

Thanks for all the sensible suggestions I have sent my friend a link to this thread and I know she'll be very grateful to you all.

If it's of any help... as a nanny, I find the worst interviews are the ones where the children are not around, or where you meet the children in the early evening (never the best time of day for most children).

So your friend should think about when to schedule interviews... the time of day being quite important.

Over the last 4 years, I've only had a few interviews... but I can say that the ones which went well, were the ones done during the day, and where I got to interact with the children.

My interview for my current job, went like soapbox said... I was on the floor interacting with the children, the parents were looking through my portfolio and occasionally asking questions. The older children ended up giving me a tour of the house and garden. I remember that 'dad' asked me about what music I liked, as the children (with parents following) showed me the vegetable patch.

Just one point: I only ever do the first round in a neutral location. I tried doing first rounds at our home when we recruited our first nanny and it was a bad decision - it seemed to create the wrong expectations on the part of the candidate. Also, I didn't appreciate at that point how important it was for ME to click with the carer as much as DD, and it's more difficult to assess this when you don't have five minutes to speak to them w/o interruption. I don't like telephone interviews because you have no sense of the chemistry IMO, but some people use this as a first step as well. So, I wouldn't be too freaked if part of the interview process doesn't involve the children.

Successful candidates - friendly, open, thoughtful and mature. Our current nanny, who knew we were interviewing a couple of other people at second round, said: "Look, you have to do what's best for your daughter, if you don't think the personality fit is right, I understand." I was impressed by that.

Don't kick off the interview with what does the job pay, I want X. Of course mention it though, if the parents neglect to, but want to bring you round again to meet the children. Our current nanny also asked some nice questions at interview, which made me think she'd really given some consideration to our needs.

Have names of references ready and be open about it - this includes telephone numbers of people. I wouldn't even bother producing letters - parents will want to speak to someone (should, I say) personally. I would never expect someone to turn up in a suit but professionalism that extends to references and original certs is really important. A copy of your CV handy is also good.

At the second round when they meet DD, it often really comes down to how you seem to connect to the child - everyone wants a scenario like Nick described - although it is possible to tell when someone is being really artificial about this. There's just no substitute for chemistry - sometimes either it's tehre or it's not. It sounds like a cliche but you've got to just be yourself. If you have a good feeling about the family, it will rub off.