How to Hire a Nanny

A nanny can be an amazing addition to your home not only because they can help around with house chores but also because they can help you focus on your work so as to better cater to the needs of your family. Although finding a good nanny may sound challenging, it’s actually not that difficult to find a suitable person. Depending on your budget, time and work obligations, you are more than capable of finding a nanny all by yourself, or if necessary, you can seek the help of a hiring agency.

Hiring a Nanny or Going with Day Care

Decisions concerning your kids’ upbringing are extremely personal and a solution that may work for somebody else may not necessarily work for you. While approved in-home baby sitters and child day care services are amazing options, some families prefer the personalized service and care that professional nannies offer.

Hiring a Nanny

Come Up with A Job Description

Before you proceed to look for a suitable nanny, it’s crucial to establish what you are family are look for in a nanny. It’s advisable to write down your specific needs that will inform the job description of the person you will eventually hire.

List down the hours you expect your nanny to work, taking note of their arrival and departure times. How much experience do you want your nanny to posses? Do you want a person who has knowledge in child CPR? Do you require them to be proficient in certain languages? Will you want your caregiver to have any non-child care related responsibilities like doing grocery shopping or taking out the trash? Detail everything you want your prospective nanny to do for you and your family so as to ensure they understand their job description. Using a nanny salary calculator will help you organise finances before hiring a nanny.

Find Suitable Candidates

There are various ways to find suitable candidates for your vacant position. Word of mouth can be extremely helpful. You can request trusted persons like friends, relatives or others parents at the neighbourhood meet-ups to give you referrals for suitable candidates. Many a times, a friend will know of a nanny who has just finished her contract with another family – mostly because of kids growing up – and is now available to work for another family.

Schedule an Interview

Once you have found a few suitable candidates, it’s time to schedule in-person interviews to get a better idea of each individual’s personalities, experience, work ethics and employment expectations. It’s crucial that you ask as many questions as possible, such as their professional training, education, background, as well as any other relevant information that may come to mind during the interviews.

Some questions that should come in handy when screening the candidates are: Why did you choose the care giving profession? Where do you see yourself in the coming years? How flexible is your schedule? How would you handle specific emergencies like fires, kids being injured and many others? These questions will help you get a rough idea of how qualified, experienced and committed an individual is to their job.

Contact their Referees

An important step to take when hiring a nanny is to ascertain the candidates have the experience that they claim to have. You can do this by requesting the candidates to give you contact information for past employers who can offer you firsthand information of a nanny’s performance.

Do a Background Check

Before you enter into an agreement with a specific caregiver, it’s important to do a thorough background check of their personal life and the agency the work for if applicable. Talking with people who know the nanny can help you get accurate information regarding their integrity and reliability. You don’t want to leave your kids in the hands of a criminal.

However, in order to do a thorough background check, you will need written consent from the nanny as well as other crucial details like their name, driver’s license, and social security number. You will also want to check Child Abuse and Neglect registry as well as the National Sex Offenders registry to be safe. If a nanny is an immigrant from another country, it’s important to do an international background check. If a nanny fails to give you permission to do a background, it’s advisable to move on to another candidate.

Jasmine