Please come and help me with interview questions for a nanny

[spottedandstriped]

Very new to all of this. My friend and I are trying to set up a nanny share and we are going to be interviewing some nannies soon. Please can you help me with some good questions?

1. Ask about the nanny?s family background ? get a sense of who this nanny is. Does the nanny have a good relationship with his/her parents?

2. Why did you choose to become a nanny and take your first nanny job?

3. Tell me a bit about the childcare qualification you hold ? how long was the course? What subject areas did it cover? Did you find it valuable? Why or why not?

4. How did you find your first nanny job? What did you enjoy most about it? Look to see whether the nanny has a negative attitude about the position or if she can speak positively about it. Regardless of whether (s)he had a negative professional experience, a good nanny would share his/her lessons learned instead of complaining or slandering his/her previous employer.

5. Why do you enjoy your job as a nanny?

6. What qualities do you have that make you unique/stand out from other nannies?

7. What do you feel is the most challenging aspect of a nanny job?

8. What activities would you do with a child who is years old (fill in your child?s age)?

9. How would you describe your approach to a nanny job and children?

10. What are your disciplinary philosophies? How would you respond if (give a specific incident in which a child is not compliant)?

11. What kind of supper/tea would you prepare for a _ year old? This question is crucial, especially if you are interviewing a nanny to look after a baby. You will know whether the nanny truly has experience with this age group based on his/her answer.

12. Do you believe in routine? If so, what would you say is an ideal routine for children that are the same age as my son/daughter?

13. Do you know our area well? If so, what do you find to be its best resources for children/families?

14. How long have you been driving? Do you feel comfortable driving children around? Have your previous positions required you to drive children? Have you ever had any tickets or accidents?

15. How do you think your referees would describe you as a person and as a nanny?

16. What are you looking for in your next nanny job?

17. Have you just started looking for a new nanny job? If not, how long have you been looking?

18. Aside from childcare, which nanny tasks are you happy to perform in a nanny job? Nursery duties? Light housework? Babysitting?

19. What do you enjoy doing outside your nanny job, in your spare time?

20. Tell me/us one of the most challenging nanny job situations you have ever faced (in or outside of childcare) and how you handled it. What did you learn from it?

21. If offered this nanny job, how soon are you able to commence work?

A good nanny will spend time asking you about your family, your children?s interests, current daily schedules, and your child-rearing philosophies. This is what separates the nannies who are looking for the right job from the nannies who are seeking just any nanny job. If a nanny does not show interest in learning about your family from the beginning, (s)he most likely will not in the future. Lastly, if a nanny mentions his/her salary expectations (without you asking) and inquires about the accommodation (if it be a live-in position) in the first interview, take notice. This may not be a nanny you want to hire.

You deserve a nanny who will take the time to get to know your family. You deserve a nanny who shows genuine interest in finding out what you expect and need. You want the nanny to be as sure of the position as you are of the nanny - this will make for a much more promising match.

For a second interview, give the nanny time to meet and connect with your children. You should set aside at least two hours for this second meeting. If you have a baby who is crawling or a toddler, does the nanny get down on the floor to play with him/her? How ?hands on? is the nanny? Does the nanny appear confident in his/her childcare abilities? How do your children respond to the nanny? Is this a person with whom you can communicate openly and respectfully?

Some parents believe that if a nanny makes it to a second round interview, it is the children who truly end up doing the ?hiring.? More often than not, nanny agencies discover this to be the case! Children can be wise and intuitive, so consider their responses to each candidate. The candidates whom you choose for second round interviews may be fantastic all around. If this is true, then your decision boils down to chemistry between the nanny and your children. Sometimes, a smile on your child?s face and some laughter can be the final determining factor in your decision-making process.

Again, we have not exhausted all potential nanny job interview questions, but we hope that this helps get you started. Trust your instincts when interviewing nannies. If something a nanny did or said bothered you, make a mental note. Most of the time, your instincts are right on, so do not discredit or ignore them. After your interview, be sure to call the agency to give them feedback on the candidate. Whether you liked or disliked the nanny, tell the agency why. This will only help them in scouting the most suitable candidates for the nanny job and keep them from wasting your time by sending you unsuitable nanny candidates!

good questions to which i'd add - lots of scenarios eg if my child was choking, what would you do? (amazing how many nannies with first aid certificates didn't know the answer to this)
if my child had a massive tantrum in sainsburys how would you deal with it? (hopefully they should as well as giving an answer ask what YOUR views on discipline are and what you do in these circs so that there is a consistent approach)
if it was chucking down with rain and you couldn't go out, what would you do to entertain my child? (depending on how old the child i would've liked to hear both some suitable rainy day activities and the words "but sometimes just chuck on some wellies, go out in the rain and splash in puddles")
since you want a nanny share ask what problems they can possibly see arising from a share and how they would deal with them (eg what if parents have different expectations/standards of discipline/diets/assumptions about tv etc)
i also asked what they currently earned and what they expected to earn in this job; and how they planned to get to the job (you will be particularly interested in the answer to this if your own job is the type where you absolutely cant be late)
and more than anything else be guided by the canddiate's response to your child. i hired the only nanny who really attempted to play with ds, picked him up confidently and whom he seemed to like - amazing how many prospective nannies completely ignored him. it has turned out to be one of the best decisions i've ever made. good luck!

Good grief, Supernanny's keyboard may need replacing before she can post again.

Seriously, great advice in her post.

As some qustions about nanny share, what are holiday expectation, haow many sick days has she had in the last year. Ask her about the children she has looked after and try to guage if she is genuinely attached to them and misses them.

Also, if you are planning to offer any perks (like gym membership) as some questions about whether this is actually of interest. No point in buying a gym memebership she doesn't actually want.

• Describe how you would envisage a typical day with charges.
• What would you cook - describe a recipe.
• What would you do if a child wanted to be carried while you were preparing supper?
• Do you sing? Favourite nursery rhymes? (The nanny I've just hired sang to my DD in interview, spontaneously.)
• Would you be prepared to do housework as well as look after children? (Again, the nanny I've just hired was the only one to answer "no" to this question, quite rightly pointing out that her priority was looking after my DD not concentrating on housework, though she would of course clear up after DD;s meals, etc.)

Supernanny19's list was good, though was clearly Cut&Paste - the source of the list appears to be: nanny-nanny.co.uk. Nothing wrong with Cut&Paste, I do it all the time , though I do acknowledge sources.

woodstock3 has a very good point - how a nanny responds to the children is very important. It's one of the reasons why I dislike nanny interviews where the children are not present.

You could ask the really horrible questions that are asked in most job interviews, such as:
Where do you see yourself in 5 years time?
Why do you want to work for us?

You could ask them where they used to be taken as a child. As a nanny I quite often go back to places that I was taken to by my parents when I was say aged 5-10 years old.
Even if they are quite far away from where they grew up, hearing about the places they remember visiting may give you a clue as to the sorts of places they like - museums, science centres, country walks etc.

Also look at other things...
How are they dressed - suitable attire for an interview which may involve rolling around the floor?
Did they arrive on time? Did they need a map which you supplied - or did they find your home without assistance?
Did they bring lots of things with them to help support their application - a portfolio with references, certificates for example.
If using an agency, did the nanny bring along a CV (with a copy you can keep), rather than rely on something the agency may have sent out?
Do they know the area, places to visit, activities?