How would you go about finding a nanny in South West London?

[deweydell]

Any thoughts, ideas appreciated. Should I start looking now for a November start?

Thanks

I would put an ad on:
greataupair.com (if the position is live-in)
nannyjob.co.uk
gumtree.com

Then I would prepare my lif of questions and send it out to candidate with replied to the ads with CV and recent photo (both of which I ask for in the ad).

Then I would e-mail the ones who I liked from the questionnaire.

Then talk on the phone.

Then interview in person if possible.

And hopefully still have about 3 I still like and start offering the job.

I would not employ an agency to do a job I can do better myself, althoug it is a fair amount of work.

i was going to answer this then i read AN's response and just decided to write "see above". hahahaha

My current lovely nanny came through an agency but realised i also had her details through nannyjob but was too disorganised to have sorted out on my own. So £2,500 later, i was kicking myself.

why do you ask for a photo is this more to confirm they are a 20yr old male/female than what they look like.

as any other job you wouldnt ask for a photo, this could be classed as discrimination should you not interview the large overweight ones or some-one of an ethnic minority group or someone with an obvious disability from their photos.

Actually, it's becasue I want to know if he/she dresses like a tart.

Interesting point about physically disabled because the jon involves walking to and from the bus twice a day with a 3 and 5 year old. I don't think someone who is disabled could do that. Frankly, if you can't run a mile faster than my 5 year old you are probably not really able to gurantee her safety when she decides to have a strop at the side of a busy road.

Simply Childcare is another great DIY way of finding a Nanny in London.

Thanks so much everyone! Very helpful. Will go right ahead.

I would recommend agencies if you are looking for qualified, experienced, English mother tongue people who are in this country already. I've just found a new nanny, and I used both agencies and advertising direct on nannyjob. The nannyjob candidates just weren't what I was looking for. Whether or not I was prepared to do the extra work to recruit direct just wasn't relevant.

www.simplychildcare.com
sign up for 4-5 issues, about £40 ish, much better candidates than gumtree. you can put an ad in and look at ads from nannies. they will advise how far in advance but i think about 6-8 weeks from when you need them to start (depends on time of year tho)
if you have to use an agency - would avoid if you can as it's expensive - we got our utterly brilliant nanny from Abbeville Nannies in Clapham, dpeneding where you are in southwest they might help. also ask everyone you know who uses a nanny if they could ask THEIR nanny if they know anyone - word of mouth also best

www.simplychildcare.com
sign up for 4-5 issues, about £40 ish, much better candidates than gumtree. you can put an ad in and look at ads from nannies. they will advise how far in advance but i think about 6-8 weeks from when you need them to start (depends on time of year tho)
if you have to use an agency - would avoid if you can as it's expensive - we got our utterly brilliant nanny from Abbeville Nannies in Clapham, dpeneding where you are in southwest they might help. also ask everyone you know who uses a nanny if they could ask THEIR nanny if they know anyone - word of mouth also best

www.simplychildcare.com
sign up for 4-5 issues, about £40 ish, much better candidates than gumtree. you can put an ad in and look at ads from nannies. they will advise how far in advance but i think about 6-8 weeks from when you need them to start (depends on time of year tho)
if you have to use an agency - would avoid if you can as it's expensive - we got our utterly brilliant nanny from Abbeville Nannies in Clapham, dpeneding where you are in southwest they might help. also ask everyone you know who uses a nanny if they could ask THEIR nanny if they know anyone - word of mouth also best

there's an echo in here

Well I was going to say SimplyChildcare....