Which nanny shall I offer the post to? More help for first time nanny employer...........

[conniedescending]

I've been interviewing all week and have it wittled down to 3 candidates. I click with all 3 and they haven't said anything to put me off.

A - Very flexible, lives locally, keen and enthusiastic, happy with a lower rate of pay
but, can only commit for 6 mths, has no childcare related qualification, is younger (nearly 19)

B - also very flexible, good references, experienced, qualified, fun and thoughtful, can commit long term
but, wants more than we can pay (am hoping to neg somwehere in between), liver further away, does something unusual in spare time

C - experienced, comitted long term, lives locally, is bubbly and organised, tons of common sense, crb checked and has first aid cert.
but, also wants more money, less flexible than A&B (but still could work)

very confused by this...........how did others make the big decision???

How old are your children?

What do you mean by flexible and how important is flexibility - flexibility to change days/do extra hours?

How much of a stretch would the money be for B and C?

What is more crucial for you - flexibilty or the affordablilty and who would you be most upset by if they were to turn you down?

Hi! In order to help you with your question, it would be helpful to know whether you have one or more children which need to be looked after, how long the child/children are and how important flexibility is to you. For example, A sounds rather good if you have a older child (say 7+) but I am not sure that hiring someone so young and who can't commit beyond 6 months is good idea for a child under 5. Very young children, in particular, can get very attached to a good nanny and it is not easy to explain to them why the nanny is leaving. B and C sound better for younger children, but C may not give you enough flexibility. On the other B may go into the job feeling that she is earning less than she wants to so may not stay long unless you can narrow down the gap between her expectations and what you are willing to offer a lot.
Regards,

after reading this quickly I'd choose C, common sense, bubbly and organised are the key factors

less flexible less important than one you REALLY want.

children are 1,2, 6,6

by flexible I mean ability to switch set days and work longer one day/ shorter next. This will make our lives alot easier but we can forgo this if necessary

I am hoping to meet B and C midway between what we wanted to pay and what they wanted - we can afford to come up a bit but not to the amount specified by the nanny. That being said we can offer her a permanent position with paid holidays which both B &C do not have and say they want.

Hi there,

I'm speaking as a nanny here, and I say B or C, as like others have mentioned it is not good for little one's if nannys keep changing (I feel this is just as important to older children as well).

And also even though a nanny has asked for a certain wage in a job interview, they may just be pushing for more money than they are currently earning as to be honest it's the only way to get a pay rise (i've had one pay increase in 5 and a half years and only because i asked for one)

If a job is perfect accept for the money then I would accept less money, happiness in a job is more important to me than the money, I'd happily choose a lovely boss over money anyday (within reason)

Have you seen the nanny with your children? maybe they could help you to choose, as a nanny if a parent wanted me to come for a second or third interview I'd completly understand as it's a big decission, If you've already meet them a couple of times then why not ask them to come for a couple of hours one afternoon to see how you all get along , I'd also offer to pay them for their time (Personally I would never accept any money for this though) but mabe it will also show you how flexable they are.

I hope this helps, Nicola X

A would be out for me, as your children are very young - a six month commitment is too short and if she's not qualified does she have much experience?

I would be leaning towards C, if you can cope with the lack of flexibility. Living locally is a big plus, and you want someone organised and with common sense with so many young children.

Is B's unusual hobby a negative?

c

I was going to ask about the Unusual Hobby too

I would rule out A because of the 6 month commitment.
I would probably try a second interview with B and C, with kids present and ask the older children who they prefer.
Would also have a fixed idea of how much I would pay for the job and then offer that amount, this is because (in this area at least) nanny salaries are dropping quite considerably and once you have taken someone on (and hoping that they stay for a number of years) you won't be able to decrease their salary even if the 'going rate' decreases...if both B and C reject the job because of the salary I would re-advertise.

thanks Nicola - that's very helpful

B's unusual hobby is something that we dont really agree with - as long as its never discussed ot talked aboiut with the children we'd be happy but not sure how to phrase this without offending the nanny

obv she has every right to do what she wants in spare time and we dont mind about that but more the possible influnence on the childen

Eve more intrigued as to what the hobby is now

Can we have some clues???????

Hi again,

well, it's always difficult to advise without knowing the people - but, having said that, I would not even consider putting an experienced nearly-19-year old in charge of four children under 7. That would only work if you were around and she came in as mother's help. The fact that she may be available for only 6 months is an added negative.

Of the two others, I would go for the one you like best, based on pure instinct. I would ask both of them to come in one afternoon and observe them with the children. You may get a very obvious difference in reaction from your children,but, if not, I would be very careful about letting them have a say as I believe that 6-year olds can be quite fickle. In addition, given the number and age of the children, I would personally (you may feel differently) treat flexibility as a relatively less important factor.

Finally, would it be possible for you to start checking out some or all of the references supplied? IMO, you need to do this before making a final offer anyway. If you ask careful probing questions (what was the nanny's greatest strength? Biggest weakness? Why did she leave? Would you hire her again? and so on) these reference checks can be very revealing and may make you more comfortable with whatever candidate you are leaning towards.
(Be careful though: I once decided not to hire a nanny who I liked at interview because her previous employers were giving her very mixed references. I chose to take a woman with very little nanny experience and only one - very good - reference (from a friend of her parents) and it was an unmitigated disaster. I had to fire her after 6 weeks. Moral: multiple good references are very, very important, especially when hiring for very young children who can't speak their mind!)
Hope this helps - good luck!

I would say that the relationship between the nanny and parents is a very important one, and one that I personally have found works best if you have a similar outlook on the world and similar values.

If B's hobby is something you are uncomfortable with, it sounds like the relationship will not work. For me, I probably wouldn't hire someone who went fox hunting in their spare time or had strongly right wing views.

pleeeeeze tell us what the hobby is !!!!

thanks for the advice - I guess A is out of the question, she was far more capable than I was envisaging and has a lot of voluntary experience but I guess it's too much really

am going to ponder B &C and perhaps ring some referees tomorrow.

The hobby is....well more of a 'calling' I guess, involving something that tells the time and where rapunzel was locked (am crap at cryptic .)

I bet the hobby is foxhunting

oops - posted before I saw connie's last post

Why doesn't B & C have paid holidays?

Watchtower... Hmm, not good with cryptic clues.
How will B and C travel to work? What distance? Are there references saying they always arrive early.
My gut is to say C.
Who do you think will be best at keeping control? 6yr twins can run circles around someone they feel isn't going to tell them off.
With 4 children you need someone with v.good organisation skills. Has any of the nannies cared for 4 children before?

connie - you aren't making any sense about a.

B & C don't gte paid holidays in their current employment - am not sure why but both said they only get paid when they work

not sure why I'm not making sense about A??? I mean her only experience with children in voluntary but she seemed very mature for her age hence why I was initially considering her......have I ruled her out too soon?

B &C travel by car....B lives about a 35 mins drive away and C lives 10mins away.

B has experience of baby twins and toddler (mine aren't twins btw they are just turned 6 and nearly 7)

I think B would be firmer than C - she talked better about boundaries and disciplie at interview than C. Or a t least her ideas were more in tune with my ideas iykwim.

Both had excellent references from more than 1 employer and both are good time keepers apparently. Although C was about 8 mins late for interview.

Appreciate peoples thoughts on this...thanks

I think the 'calling' is Watchtower JW.

I would still rule A out - voluntary experience with children (in a holiday playscheme? Gap year orphanage?) is very different to long days sole charge of 4. The 6 month commitment is too short anyway.

I think I would be ok with B's religious views so long as she kept them to herself. Her views on discipline being in tune with yours sounds positive. I wouldn't be impressed with C being late for the interview if she only lives 10 minutes away, unless there was a very good excuse.

Could you invite B and C back for a second interview to spend some time with the children?

You need to find out what A has actually done. It doesn't matter if she wasn't paid if she did really well. The same as a qualification means nothing if the childcarer isn't good at what they do.