How did you find your nanny?

[clucks]

In the next few weeks I will need to find a 3day/wk nanny for my two DS's as I return to work in November. Have registered with a local agency (who said its a bit soon) and will advertise in Sep in Simply childcare.

I just wanted some feedback as to how people recruited their nannies. Whether an agency gave you better candidates etc. to make the fee worthwhile. Clearly, a personal recommendation would be great but I don't know anyone with a nanny currently.

Any comments would be appreciated.

I don't have a nanny but have you searched on the internet for various agencies? I was shocked to discover how cheap aupairs are although there are certain types of regulations regarding working hours that you have to follow. Good Luck

As I cannot accommodate an aupair (and they can be very young). I need to get a qualified daily nanny and they will cost me about a hundred pounds per day. This is why I'm trying to take my time and get the right person. Tried before and failed and I put it down to the person being untrained and a casual employment. I want to do things differently this time with a more formal set-up.

I had a very good response from an Ad in "The Lady" and mine was also a 3 day week placement. The Lady is a weekly paper that is well known for its domestic placements. Buy one and look at other ads to get an idea of what to say in yours. And don't let the ads that are offering cars, flats and holidays put you off !!
I did in fact get a nanny from this Advert.

I have a long and glorious history of nanny-employing and have tried agencies, the Lady, and other mags including TNT.
The best way, IME, is through good agencies. The tricky bit is finding out which the good agencies are, as so many of them are useless. I recommend Bestbear.co.uk where they have gone out and tested lots of agencies anonymously to see which ones are any good - then put the good ones on their site. The bad ones are conspicuous by their absence. If you are in London I can also tell you the names of some good ones and some very reputable but TERRIBLE ones to avoid!
The Lady produces lots of responses, but never any good ones, for me. Produces lots of eastern europeans who can't speak english and ask if when you say "full time sole charge nanny with experience" you mean "part time to enable me to continue my studies and I don't actually have experience but have looked after my young cousins in Romania". Lots of people swear by an ad in the lady though - I may just have been unlucky the couple of times I advertised. You also have to be brutal about culling the applicants on the phone though, as you'll get so many calls.
TNT actually is good - especially if you like antipodean nannies (I do) and you are very specific about needing qualified/experienced nannies with full checkable references. Got a great Kiwi this way who was with us for 18 months and who only left because we moved from the bright lights of london to boring wilts.
If you want agency recommendations, feel free to contact me!
good luck

princesspeahead, you are right about the calls. But I only asked for CV's from about 5 people and of these I interviewed 2 and found our nanny.
A lot of these calls were from people who barely spoke english, and as this was definitely NOT what I was looking for I just said we'd already found someone. A few annoying calls were a small price to pay for what did produce a very good nanny.

thats good - as I say, I know lots of people who swear by the Lady, it just didn't work for me. I think it is the luck of the draw who happens to be reading it the week you advertise. And it is nice to have a lot of calls and feel you can pick and choose who to interview, I agree.

The other bit of advice I'd give Clucks is that if this is her first nanny, I'd go through an agency. I think that once you start employing your second, third and fourth nanny you have much more knowledge about what you are actually looking for (until you employ a nanny you don't really know what qualities are going to matter to you most) and have a much better developed instinct about who is likely to suit you and your household. And you are much better at interviewing and culling! I think by going through agencies you have lots of help with these issues and that is helpful the first time around. Also they generally provide a guarantee so that if whoever you employ is clearly a mistake in week 2, they will replace the nanny without charging a fee.
But again, that may have been me, other first time employers may have found it all a doddle!

Hi clucks--I agree with princesspeahead about agencies. Simply Childcare never really worked for me, but do give it a go, as it does work for lots of people. I never tried The Lady, admittedly. What has worked for me is 1) word of mouth and 2) an agency called The Nanny Service, which has found me some unbelievable people in emergencies. I don't know if they can find you someone only 3 days a week, though, but it's worth giving them a ring. (Once they accommodated me when I needed a nanny for half of each day.) I'll write back with the link.

I find that the real "professional" nannies who tend to enlist with agencies generally make everything run more smoothly, because they are incredibly organized and capable. They seem to do a much better job of keeping everything going than I do, frankly--but I guess it's because it's their talent and vocation. Worth the money, IME, though it's annoying to have to spend it.

The Nanny Service

Kat, thanks I have e-mailed them.

The organised, professional type is exactly what I need. For my first DS I did advertise in the Lady and got lots of young european ex-aupairs who wanted to be paid as nannies. I used Simply Childcare for a mother's help and barely got any applicants. My current mother's help is qualified and came through word of mouth but has no baby experience.

Princess, I would be grateful for your low-down on the agencies and will get my e-mail forwarded to you. Thanks

I'm a qualified nursery nurse have done nanny work. I live in birmingham but if you live in london you could try tinies nanny agency it's very good and they have their own website tinieschildcare.co.uk where you can look for nannies and register with them. hope this is some help to you. Good luck in your search. just a hint make sure your nanny has had all the correct checks ie: CRB disclosure check agency should make all their nannies have this done before registering.

If you're in London, you could try Simply Childcare which is a magazine full of ads for childcare wanted and offered. I found my current nanny through them, and you only pay £35 for 5 issues which are published fortnightly.

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I used an agency which was brilliant, but doesn't cover your area I'm afraid. I did try several agencies though. Try to find one where the person your dealing with knows and has interviewed all the candidates - this can save a lot of time, and if a nanny has been placed successfully by an agency, they will often return there. Avoid any agency which asks for money upfront. They should also be able to give you good information regarding salaries etc in your area. And always check references by phone - people are always more frank with you, and the previous employer has a much better idea of temperment etc.