Hellobee Boards

Observations with the kids. Do a trial run

See how much she checks her phone during the interview. If it seems to be often....nope

What are her expectations for salary, vacation, personal and sick days

What would she do if you had to stay late at work (is that even an option for thr nanny, does she have obligations outside of her hours, etc)

Really probe her references and ask for more. Double check that the references are legit.

@agold: nanny interviews are hard because I realized (after first hiring a bad nanny that I had to let go after 2 weeks) that the interview doesn't really matter. Definitely ask the basics--past experience, pay and time off expectations, what duties other than childcare they have done in past jobs or are willing to do. But then, pick your top 2-3 contenders and do a paid trial day with all 3 of them. And have a security camera so you can observe. I did not do a trial day with our first nanny, but I did a lengthy interview and called her most recent two nanny families, both of which lived in our town, so I thought I covered all my bases. But she was awful---just so bad. But her previous families didn't have cameras and I do, so maybe they didn't know. She was just very lazy, not attentive, on her phone all day from the get go, did not care about my baby's schedule from the get go.

Anyway, after that experience with her, I realized I don't necessarily want someone with years of experience who thinks they are going to run the show, I just want someone who I can train to do things my way. And I wanted a rule follower and someone with energy. That was what I looked for when I let go the first nanny and went back to the hiring process. With my final two picks, I paid them to come a full day and I stayed the first couple hours and walked them through our day and my baby's schedule. Then I left and went nearby and observed from the cameras how they interacted with baby, Hoe often they were on their phone, how well they stuck to the schedule, and then I picked my final choice and that time, I got it right. Our second nanny was a real gem and was great with both our kids AND would randomly tidy up the house (I mean, like reorganize their closet and drawers and the kitchen pantry--big jobs) without me ever asking, while the first nanny would 100% have just been on her phone in any downtime.

Our nanny is an hourly employee but she essentially gets a salary as we agree to pay her a set number of hours per week regardless of whether we use her or not. The exception is if she takes off early/gets in late, then we do not pay her for those hours when she is not there. We do give her 10 days PTO, and try to sync it with our vacations to the extent possible. Basically, we treat it like a daycare since most day cares get paid whether you're there or not and also close for a couple weeks a year.

But we do a nanny share (another family drops their baby off at our place), so it's a bit cheaper than a solo nanny situation. For us, main questions we had were:
(1) CPR/first aide certified or willing to take a class
(2) fine with the hours we needed (and her reliability/punctuality, which we confirmed with referrals)
(3) how she handles two babies, like syncing naps, feedings, how to handle if both babies crying, etc.
(4) activities she enjoys doing with the babies, like library time, parks, etc.
(5) up to date on vaccinations

Also I generally liked to get a feel for past experience (I rely heavily on referrals) and how they handle various situations with babies in the past, like discipline, emergencies, fussy eating, etc. But I also pose a lot of these same questions to prior families and run an independent background check to confirm clean driver's license and criminal history.

I also ask about what they do when babies are napping. If they are willing to do some light cleaning or at least organize baby stuff, that's great so I don't have to clean up after the babies when I'm home. But I don't have that be a main part of the job. My current nanny goes some cleaning and food prep (mainly for the kids) when the babies nap and that's been a huge relief. Also, I agree with the above comment that it's important that the nanny is willing to do things your way, if you're really specific about certain things, like diet or nap times.