Is it me,or the competition is really tight for nannies in London?nannies&even parents please help

[NannyNorthLlondon]

I am looking for a nanny position since november,I tried agencies aswell,I have been for a few interviews,but no answer..
I have 3 years exp as live-in nanny+some volunteer in Eu,Icp and first aid...the crb is in progress.I am starting to get worried little bit,maybe I am doing something wrong at the interviews or my qualifications are not enough,I really dont know,because I have excellent references,and the 2 families I worked for have been really pleased with me,and we still keep in contact,but they dont need me anymore.
Nannies who have more experience and parents..what should I do?some advice please.
Thank you

But nnl look at Bellamy's registration requirements. They're a subsiduary of Eden who will register you with 2 years exp but you'll have a hard time getting a job with just that and there's travel required so they will pay more. ponders calling Bellamy to check the job out

Newborn baby experience also adds about £1 net to your wage for a job with a newborn. I kid you not.

I like agencies now. They get me nice jobs but they didn't previously.

We've found it quite hard to find a nanny for a 3-day-a-week nannyshare. We didn't need him/her to drive but we wanted someone who was willing to look after 4 children (1 of whom is at school full-time, another is at pre-school in the mornings).

I think our problem was that we were only offering a p/t position and plenty of others in this part of London were offering f/t with fewer children.

Our new nanny has just started and is in the process of registering with Ofsted, getting a CRB etc. but we've checked her references and she has CRB equivalents from working in Scotland and Australia/NZ.

I'm posting to say that there are families out there who are looking for you, they just may not have found you yet!

NNL from those links it looks as though you are very muddled. Nanny Housekeeper is really a job for a highly experienced mature woman who may have brought up her own children and can run a house more or less to hotel standards.

I've got someone who does this for me one day a week and she charges £10 an hour. She is in her 50s, has about 20 years' experience including a stint running the domestic side of a local stately home, and has brought up three children.

I really wouldn't put you in this category at all. If this is the kind of thing you've been applying for, expecting this kind of salary, then I am afraid you are doomed to disappointment.

it took me a long time to understand this houskeeper experience thing. from what i found running a home is just a normal thing we 'easterneuropians' can do because that's how we grow up and don't find it a special skill the way the british do. what i am trying to say is i can understand why nnl applies for a houskeeper job and i am pretty sure she is more than capable of doing well in a houskeeper nanny job.

SE13mummy thank you for encouraging me.I am sure I will find the right family soon.
Boffinmum I thing is enough what catepilarr said, it covers everything I wanted to say about me being capable to do housekeeping.
If I was able to keep a 5 bedroom house with huge kitchen and 2 bathrooms +huge living room clean for two years and look after 3 children , I think I am more than capable!
And somebody said in this tread that probably the parents were looking for cheap childcare etc. ,its deffinetly not true.Both parents had prestigeous proffesions , and were pleased with the way the house was looking and the way the kids were growing
Some people judge without knowing , but they gave me the chance and I proved I am capable

I think that this thread is beginning to run its course. As aahn (sp?) said, the fact remains that whatever the agencies are telling you, they have not been able to find you a job so far and you have not been able to find one yourself. So, either you are asking too much money (if you are, I don't think that it can be by very much, otherwise you are looking at cleaner rates, which are about £7 gross in Inner London, as far as I am aware) or it is something about you - perhaps even just a minor things that you could easily change or put someone's mind at rest about.

Whatever it is - and the two effects are, of course, interlinked - I think that you need to take some advice from people who actually know you or at least have met you in person - however well-meaning we MNers may be , we can't judge how you come across to people.

So: I would give your previous employers a call and have a chat - nothing heavy, but explain that you have been looking unsuccessfully and you are beginning to think that perhaps you are not selling yourself properly and, knowing you, what would they recommend you say about yourself.
Next, ask the agencies: what do they think the problem is? What has been the honest feedback from the families you have interviewed with? If you interviewed with someone you felt you really got on with and assuming this wasn't more than a few weeks ago so that they still remember you e-mail them and ask, very politely, for feedback.

That's it from me - once again, good luck and do let us know how you get on.

It was no need to call my previous employers because it seems that I am on the right direction.I finaly meet a nice family who seems to like me and I will go for a few trial days to see how it works out.
At the end it looks like it was nothing wrong with me , I just didnt click with the families.
Thank you for your suport and advice.
X x X

Brilliant - very pleased for you. Go for it and let us know how you get on.