I got like 30 responses in less than 12 hours! I'm glad, but it's a bit overwhelming! And I don't need a nanny until the end of August.
Any nanny interview stories/suggestions?
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I haven't done any hiring, but when I first moved to DC and was job hunting I made a caregiver profile. I had offers from two different families that paid more than the job I ended up accepting on the Hill... Lest you think all of those Hill rats are rolling in the dough.
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@Mrs Green Grass: I'll be doing this in the fall so following! Did you post what you'd like to pay the nanny? If so, where did you come up with that amount? I have no idea what a nanny would earn in our area.
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We didn't interview for a nanny but we did for a babysitter. We used care.com. I weeded out a lot of people because they did not fit my exact job specifications. I think started narrowing down based on feedback. After I had gotten done to 2, I did a background check on them and invited them to our house for interviews. We found an amazing babysitter! It was overwhelming at first but I was very happy with the end result!
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I was able to eliminate a lot of people from care.com just based on their profile picture. I couldn't believe the photos that some people were using. I want you to watch my kids, read them books, sing them songs, etc ... not take them out clubbing!
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Never hired a nanny, but I have gotten nanny jobs through care.com. The first job I got, I went for an interview, then they asked me to come back for a trial run. The mom and I went for a walk together/hung out at the house with the baby for an hour or so, then she left for a couple more hours. I really liked that because I could see more how the job would be before committing. I think it would be great to do on the other side of things as well, because it's sometimes hard to tell how a nanny will be with your kid during an interview.
That same family, some time later, told me a story about a girl they hired right before me. It was an acquaintance of the husband, actually. She apparently took the baby (>4 months old) to a bar to meet a friend for lunch. They were out for over 3 hours, didn't tell the parents that they were leaving, and she didn't answer her phone when they tried to call. Needless to say, she didn't work for them after that!
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We used care.com and had a similar experience in regards to the number of respondents. We developed a list of questions based upon online searches for nanny interview questions and a post done by Mrs. Bee. We found someone we really liked and had two interviews with her but then opted not to go with her because of a contradiction in something she said regarding the number of children in her care. I received an e-mail stating that she would only be watching our 2 LO and her own child but then when we were just about to pose an offer to her she said she'd have another child FT and one PT as well. When I questioned her she said she had always said the additional children were a possibility.
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@Mrs Green Grass: do you need a account (paid?) to peruse care.com?
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I have never hired a nanny but was a nanny. I would weed through them by getting rid of the ones with unprofessional profile photos and the ones who can't spell or do not use professional language. We did a brief search for a date night sitter on care.com and we received a ton of emails. The ones where the girl was giving the peace sign with duck lips and wrote like this "i just love kids n watched kids b4". No. I think asking a couple (maybe 2-3) initial questions to each of the candidates would weed them out too. If they don't reply with what you want to hear or take days to get back to you, scratch them. Good luck!
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@regberadaisy: I think you can browse and make an account too you just can't contact anyone unless you pay.
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The same thing happened to me and it took me forever to go through all the responses. It's very overwhelming. I went through and first said no thanks to all the people I could tell off the bat were not a good fit, then i separated the rest into 2 groups. The group I liked the best I contacted and interviewed first. I ended up deciding on a center, but I found several babysitters via care.com. I would suggest closing the job to new applicants if you feel like you already have a lot of good candidates because the apps just keep coming!
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I posted an ad on care when we hired our nanny. It can be overwhelming! I just looked over their profile to see if they fit the job and also immediately got rid of ones that couldn't even write a proper response to the ad. (ie writing with "u" instead of "you" that kind of stuff bugged me so they were automatically out). I favorited ones that interested me and then ended up interviewing 5 girls at a local coffee shop and then did a trial with my favorite and hired her.
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@regberadaisy: You don't need to pay to post and get responses, but you do to respond to them! I haven't paid yet, but I will.
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@Mrs Green Grass: @regberadaisy: I posted a care.com coupon in the deals thread!
I'd eliminate similar to what others have said. I'd also go by their message response rate bc I think it indicates how seriously they're taking it!
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I agree with the tactics others have suggested. It might be a good plan to write up a detailed description of the job and pick a few pre-interview questions. Send it to your favorites and the ones you are on the fence about. It will help you really weed people out.
I would ask things like "what kinds of activities would you do with a child this age?", "where do you see yourself in three years?" and "what do you consider to be 'light house keeping'?"
Some people will give you really thoughtful answers and others will give one word our not even respond. Ultimately it saves a lot of time!
When you are ready to interview pick a neutral shot like a coffee shop. It would not be out of line at all to schedule several interviews back to back.
Good luck!
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I haven't done any looking around but I have already been approached by a nanny who currently works in my building! I was glad to have the contact, but it stresses me out since I'm sure she's getting paid waaay more than we would be able to give her.
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@scg00387: Awesome! I figured there was one out there, but hadn't searched yet.
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@Cara M. 17: I really have no idea! Care.com said the typical rate for my area is about $11.50 an hour. I posted the range that was the default which was $15-25 an hour after looking at the threads on here that mostly dealt with NY nannies. I need to keep researching.
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@Mrs Green Grass: I'm not sure where you are but here we find the rate to be $10 - $15 for a babysitter and $15 - $20 for a nanny. I live in suburb of DC (VA side).
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