Question for those with nannies.

[NannyMcphee55]

Would you consider hiring a 22 year old nanny/housekeeper for her first job with the following.....
5 year's childcare experience. 1 year within a childminding setting and private day nursery and 4 years in a school with ages 3 - 11.
She left school in 2020 early because of covid. Further education was a disaster also because of this and the course she chose. Therefore she has no qualifications other than gcses including a level 2 in health & social care.
She can drive (automatic only) but doesn't have her own car.
Obviously the best paid jobs are in London and surrounding areas but how much competition would there be for them?

How old are the children?

What hours are you looking for?

Are you WFH (so around in an emergency) or in the office (so you'd need her to be totally able to deal with any emergencies)?

What housekeeping do you need? Will she have childcare time to do it in?

I think they're all crucial considerations.

Generally, we all need to start somewhere so I wouldn't rule her out completely. It's be dependent on the answers to those crucial questions.

Sorry the post read like I'm a person hiring her.....I'm not. I'm her aunty who used to be a nanny 20 years ago.
I'm just trying to gauge opinions as I have no recent knowledge.

What would she be paid compared to a nanny with actual qualifications and experience?

I’m generally in favour of giving young people a chance but I wouldn’t want to pay for someone who required 'too much' help on a daily basis from me/us to do the job as she is responsibility for children.

Couldn't she pursue formal training or education in the field of childcare?

She is too old to go to college now and doesn't want to anyway. I have no idea what she would get paid. I would say she is definitely capable of doing the job it's just without qualifications would anyone hire her? I don't know the job market anymore. She would have to give her notice in at work which may or may not be good in the long run.

She could do some more training and as a minimum do her common core skills training to get an Ofsted registration which will help families and agencies see that she is commited to the career as a nanny. Enhanced DBS on the update service and a paediatric first aid too are non negotiables.References from any babysitting roles she done privately would also help. It’s very competitive at the moment due to the new government funding in nurseries. Depending on where she lives a driver with a car can be a deal breaker too.

You can always educate yourself. She is only 22 yo.

My guess is that parents will chose a nanny with an interest in educating herself in early childhood, first aid ect over a young girl saying "Oh I can do the job without a formal background and I won't persue one".

She is a bit like an expensive aupair tbh as you will have to pay her minimum wages.

We’re not looking for a nanny right now but I’d absolutely hire her. She has far more experience than the nanny that we had when DS was younger! I’d put experience, friendliness and enthusiasm over qualifications, other than a basic first aid course.

when I hired our nannies, qualifications were way less important than attitude and adaptability. If she felt like a good fit, I’d hire her in a heartbeat.

We have had a part time nanny for a year or so, younger than that and with less experience. We liked her personality and attitude. She has been working for a few families for around £13/hr, with that experience and good word of mouth reviews she has a full time live in position starting with a family next year for about twice that.

I’ve never had any “formal” qualifications but absolutely loads of exposure to small children before I started taking care of any, and a willingness and ability to learn and grow and a great attitude. I’ve always been gainfully employed.

I’d take someone with childcare experience any day as long as they presented themselves well during an interview.

Thank you that's good to know.

Well my daughter took on a 19
year old to look after her first baby. She was very good and stayed for 20 years and three more babies. The nanny had no formal qualifications but my daughter interviewed her and she was a good fit. It all worked out fabulously and in the 20 years the nanny had two children who became part of the extended family. Sometimes go with your gut.