Nanny CVs - why do they have so many jobs?

[Pennies]

I'm recruiting a nanny for the first time and have had a few CVs sent through and it seems that no-one stays in a job for more than 6 months. What happened to the concept of longevity?

We need a nanny who is going to help us through a very difficult year (I will be having treatment for cancer) and I am so worried that we will be left in the lurch by someone who is always looking for a better opportunity.

Where is best to get the best nanny?

Hi Pennies,

You are just getting bad candidates. I've been a nanny for 13 years and most of my jobs have been 3 years plus. I know a couple of the other nannies that post here and they are also long term nannies.

If you are going through an agency try a local one rather than a large London based one - they will have local, settled nannies on their books I should imagine.

Other than that Gumtree, nannyjob, mumsnet local, maybe lady magazine? Stipulate long term position.

Just out of interest where are you based and when is the start date? There are nannies who are job hunting that look at these posts.

Very best of luck with your treatment and nanny search

so sorry to hear you have cancer

wishing you a speedy recovery with chemo etc

tbh most nannies i know tend to stay in jobs for 3/4/5+years

i would be wary to employ a nanny who flitted from job to job - but there may be reasons why had 2/3jobs in 2 years, ie family moved,got made redundant, wanted to be a sahm etc - so ask why they left, then ask the ref why they left and hope stories match

On the other hand, there are nannies like me who used to do temp work by choice. We would fill in for nannies who were sick or on holidays, short term nannies when a parent was ill or abroad etc so not everyone flits from job to job.
When advertising, specify that candidates must commit to a certain amount of time.
And am also sorry to hear of your condition. I do wish you all the best with treatment.

I have been a nanny for 13 years and have only had 3 main jobs. The first one for 6 years until they didn't need me anymore, the second for about 4 years had a year out for maternity leave and am still in current one. I would be slightly concerned if they didn't stay in a job for more than 6 months, the occasional job may not work out but all of them?? I belong to 1 agency near to where I live and have got all jobs through here, I would hold out if you can im sure there are alot of people looking for jobs at the moment they may be giving you cv's of people who have been looking for jobs for a while first? Just a thought?

There are quite a few nannies on here that stay in jobs for long periods. Apart from one job (where the parents had unreasonable expectations - think 13 hour days and having to be in by 10.30pm if I went out!) my shortest nanny job was 2 years.

I don't really know the best place to look for such a nanny, but I would only interview those that had a cv that showed commitment to staying in a job. Make sure you are upfront with all aspects of the job - hours (and any likelihood of needing extra hours), pay, how much you will be at home when nanny is working. Once you have a nanny treat her well and she is more likely to stick around - by this I mean keeping communication going, thanking her when she does a good job, letting her go a little early occasionally (if your able to).

Hopefully the situation you are in will mean that you only attract candidates that are professional and flexible given the nature of the job.

Good luck and I hope this year is not to bumpy for you.

Interesting to compare and contrast your post with that of the baffled nanny who is wondering why she is finding it hard to find a job in London!

I would keep looking until you find someone with a track record of staying in jobs for 2-3 years. Beyond that many nannies move because they may specialize in a particular age group. Personally, continuity is very important to me but I think that it is particularly so in your case.

Good luck - and I hope that the cancer treatment is fully successful! I am probably not telling you anything you don't know already but you may fell unwell during some of it and you really need a nanny you can lean on and who will help you in any way she can on those days when you don't feel so good. In your case, I would consider using a good agency who will do some screening for you and who will hopefully know the sort of nanny who will suit you. If you don't know any, post whereabouts you are located and I am sure that someone will be along with a recommendation.

Not all nannies have had only short term positions. Our nanny has over 15 years experience and has only had four jobs in that time (with her previous families 3 years, 3 years, 4 years, 4 years before she came to work with us nearly a year ago). It was one of the things that stood out about her CV. I'm not letting her go, either!

Sorry, should have said. We advertised on nannyjob.co.uk. Got about 15 replies. Interviewed five of them. Luckily our current nanny was one of them.

Keep going. Maybe you should be explicit about what you want in an ad, too. Say you want someone that can commit for one year and that they will be supporting your family through a difficult time. Why not?

We explicitly asked only for nannies with NNEB or similar recognised UK childcare qualifications and with 5 years + experience. It was the first time we had used a nanny, I had a newborn baby and was very nervous, so wanted to be sure I found someone high calibre.

nannynick is a really good person on MN to give you advice about recruiting for a nanny. She helped me loads.

nannynick is a he

and yes - he always has lots of useful advice. Knows all the ins and outs of nannies, lots about employment laws and I think he even worked for Ofsted at one point.

Pennies I am really sorry to hear that you have cancer,hope you get well soon.What area do you live in?I am the one that summersoon is talking about,the one who think that is hard to find nanny position in london

nannynick....where are you?I need your help,

sorry i know its off topic,i am just getting mad

Sorry I did mean to say He, honest! Just slipped out.

NannyNorth London - I'm in Herts, so not too far away from you depending on what the A1 has to offer. I'm off to find your thread now.

Mrs Mattie - we've advertised on nannyjob as well but the thing is I have said I want a nanny / housekeeper (I need someone to take up the slack for when I can't face cooking etc) and that's what puts people off. I put the add up two days ago and had no response as yet, so maybe it's early days.

I used to be a nanny myself (and did all the housework and cooking too) so I am au fait with the importance of keeping the lucky candidate (!) onside. The thing is that whilst i will be employing them for long days (7.30am - 7.30pm) the plan is that on the weeks when the chemo doesn't wipe me out totally I will be able to give the nanny days off to do her own thing so there will be a lot of give and take.

Just done Gumtree too now.

If you link to your ad we might be able to advise you on how it comes across to a nanny.

As most have said not all nannies stay for short periods, although I'll admit my longest job was a year, but a) that was the first perm job I left through choice, b) that was my first job after uni and c) I left it to get married as it was live in and overseas so not terribly convenient! I would have no problems committing to a year in your place though. Most nannies will do 2 or 3 years until their charges go to school or nursery and they aren't needed or they miss having a little one to look after. 6 months seems awfully short unless they've just been really unlucky. Most of my jobs I knew they were temp although I have had 2 families move on me when I thought I was onto a good thing for longer! But they were both part time jobs when I was a student so slightly different. I guess the point of that digression was echoing blondes to say check why they left but an experienced nanny should have a couple of 1yr+ jobs behind them.

I'm so sorry to hear you have cancer and wish you all the best.

pennies i checked nannyjob,but honestly i cant find you,unless its you who is lokking for a live in nanny in battersea .
Are you looking for a daily nanny or a live-in nanny?

NNL - If you search nanny jobs in Hertfordshire you will see the ad.

And the ad on gumtree is here.

nbee84,thank you.
I dont drive .And I do believe that Pennies needs somebody more mature,in her 30`s.Pennies best wishes for you,and good luck in finding the right support for you and your family

nick is a fountain of knowledge and useful info

hope you find someone soon pennies

When I've recruited nannies I've noticed that they've had a lot of jobs - certainly a lot more than I'd expect from someone I'd interview at work. I just need to tell myself every time that the jobs are completely different and that, as others have said, some nanny jobs don't last long because the family moves out of London, or mum gives up work when DC2 arrives. Even so, for an experienced nanny I do look for a couple of jobs of 2+ years.

Hope the treatment isn't too ghastly.

I think it depends on why they have had so many jobs - I've been in many jobs for 6-12 months because I chose to take temp jobs when I was younger as I wanted the flexibility and to be able to travel. I've also had a perm job that came to an end after 6 months as the mum was made redundant. I'd definitely want to ask the nanny why she left jobs - if it was just that she got bored then avoid.

I think on average nannies stay 18mths/2yrs but I've known some who stay much longer! A couple of nannies I know have had positions which lasted 10yrs! I've been in my current job 4.5yrs and if things dont change drastically I imagine I have a job here for another 4.5yrs!