possible to work as a nanny even without qualifications?

[evuscha]

I am a Czech girl with plenty of aupair experience (incl. babies and mostly sole charge) and I am planning to come to London in Sep 09 to study at a university. As I love children, I would like to work as a live-out nanny, around 3-4 days a week (to allow me to study the other days), but as I´m not a qualified nanny and don´t intend to pursue a career in childcare (my degree is in Economics), I wonder if it is at all possible to look for a nanny position? How much should I charge? Thanks

whould you be prepared to do a mothers help role ?

rather than sole charge nanny?

i think this would open up more options for you

good luck
x

Certainly you can be a nanny without qualifications, though if you do then you can become registered which means that parents can pay you via a voucher scheme which is advantageous to them. You also need to decide whether you want to be paid cash in hand or via payroll. The former is tax evasion for the parents, though the main risk is for the parents, rather than the nanny. That said it is fairly common for overseas nannies to be paid cash in hand.

If you look on Gumtree then you'll get an idea of the range of rates depending on which area you opt for.

I would hire you (if you met my other 6,000 requirements of course).

Seriously, formal nanny qualifications aren't that high on my list of qualifications for the job. And with the new visas everyon who hires holiday makers (Canada, Australia, etc.) is going to have a rethink and look to the EU. So I'd say your options are probably pretty good.

But, why do you want live out? I would think a live in job would be more convenient for you (and more cost effective when you look at the price of rent in London)

AtheneNoctua, feel free to send me your 6,000 requirements and we will see ))
I imagine that being qualified doesnt automatically make a good nanny (experience and love for kids is far more important), however on Gumtree etc. most of the families seem to prefer candidates with qualifications. I am happy to become registered (thank you LadyMuck for your advice) but not aiming to become a professional nanny. I have however done a lot of sole charge and would be confident to do a complete sole charge, so nanny rather than mother´s help. But I will look into both options closer to date. (surprisingly not many adverts for September yet
As for living in/out, I will again consider both options, but I would prefer live out for purely personal reasons - like having my own place, being able to have frieds over for dinners (without annoying my host family) etc. Also, I imagine most part-time positions are live out, but again I will consider both
Thank you soo much for all the comments!

Would you be prepared to consider more flexible arrangements? At the moment, my two are small, and we need a 3-4 day a week full time nanny. I think qualifications are reassuring for parents when children are small, particularly when the children are pre-verbal. But I can see a situation in a few years' time when they are both at school where what we will actually be looking for is someone who can do school pick ups and dinner 4 days a week, plus more extensive work in the holidays - if you were willing to do that, then I think lots of parents would leap at the chance to employ you. Which might, I suppose, work better for you if you're studying.

Sure, I am willing to be flexible. Plus my degree will take at least 2 years (part-time master´s) so I am very likely to stay in the area and stick with the job and also can do more hours during holidays.

Someone is going to be very happy to take you on board, especially if you can up the hours in the holidays. I can vouch that many of the mums on here are just as lovely in real life, so you can use these boards to jobhunt as well as gumtree.

Thank youuu! It´s my first day registered in here and so far very nice I will certainly jobhunt here as well.
When is the best time to start looking, if I want to start in September? I won´t be moving to the UK before then, but I will surely come for short visits so it would be great to use it for meeting the prospective families..

I am 'hosting' an au pair/nanny in a similar arrangement from July onwards. She has a course at a nearby Uni, my kids are school age. She has lots of Au pair experience and is confident enough for sole charge. Main difference is that my 'job' is for afterschool hours only during the termtime and is paid at Au pair rate (she will live-in), and then a higher hourly rate during school hols.
I think for a full-on 3-4 day a week job for pre-school age children I would want to have proper face to face interviews rather than emails/phone calls that I do to recruit au pairs though.

I understand - and actually for me it is also better to meet the family and children in person before agreeing on anything (so I am prepared to do the interviws closer to date).

So anyway, if someone would consider hiring me, let me know my e-mail is [email protected].
I'm nice , friendly and with good references, no qualifications though but willing to do for example first aid. I am 21 (22 in March) and I have experience with children of all different ages - I've looked after my nephew since he was born (he lived full-time with us up to the age of 1, now he just turned 3), in Prague I was a part-time nanny for a girl aged 2 (but that was almost 2 years ago so we lost contact I'm afraid) and as mentioned before, I have plenty of au-pair experience. My first AP stay was in summer 2004 (3 months) when I was 17 (2 boys aged 6 and 9), since then I have spent every summer in UK as an AP for approx 3-4 months (would love to stay longer but I study in Czech rep.) - in 2005 it was a girl (4y) and a boy (6y), in 2006 it was a girl (15m) and a boy (5y) and I came back to this family again in 2007 and 2008 (so the kids are now 3 and 8, time flies!) and we are regularly in touch and visit each other. In 2007 I also spent 2 months with another family (single mum and a 4y girl and a 5y boy), also lovely and still in touch. So the last 2 families in particular are very happy to provide references (and I believe good ones - both of them was almost completely sole charge, so I am very confident to do sole charge even with a baby - might gain some more baby experience before September as lots of my sister's friends have babies and need a babysitter once in a while.
My location and other circumstances are all to be decided, but I hope to find a flat in SW/W London, and to be able to work 3-4 days a week.
I don't drive and don't smoke.
I imagine some issues would be that I'm not a native English speaker (but if it helps, I have to have reasonable knowledge of English in order to go to Uni ;) and that I'm not available for an interview - but I am prepared to meet the prospective family well in advance as I have a few short trips to London planned before September.
So, if anyone is happy to consider me, I will be soooo happy to hear from you