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I am starting to interview nannies and I would love some guidance on what questions I should ask.
21 replies [ Reply | Watch | Options ]np And based on the post above, I'd also tell her that her job will change when the dcs go to school--that I'd expect her to clean and run errands.
[ Reply | Options ]Thanks so much. Do you have a sense of what the going rate is for a full work week?
[ Reply | Options ]nnp: No need to go that far into the future, I'd definitely say light housekeeping is part of the job, not scrubbing the floors or cleaning your bedroom but picking up after dc's, cooking meals and cleaning the kitchen after doing so, and possibly the kids' laundry depending on your laundry situation.
[ Reply | Options ]Sure there is. The woman below with the 3.5 yo twins could have avoided the issues she's having if she'd stated what will be expected if the nanny remained in her employ once the kids were in camp/school.
[ Reply | Options ]I agree. Get it up front and right on the table during the interview/hiring phase. Or else OP will get an email in 3 years telling her what bad kids she has but she's a gifted nanny. Also discuss how raises will be handled.
[ Reply | Options ]IME, only about a third of women I know still had the same nanny she had went #1 was a baby when the kids were in school. I was actually one of them and had no trouble adjusting duties, but for many people there is a change anyway so negotiating 5 years down the road is jumping the gun IMO. You may well find you want/need something else at that point too.
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it's not so much the questions you ask but the answers they give. you want to find out that 1. they take their job seriously. 2. they are going to be reliable. 3. they actually like kids and want to be looking after them, rather than it being a "i can't find another job" situation. You can ask questions like: did you ever have a job watching anyone this age, what do you think a sample day will be like, do you prefer having the mother give specific instructions about food or activities or do you prefer having flexibility.
[ Reply | Options ]np: #3 is huge and so often overlooked. So many nannies don't really kid-people and obviously don't enjoy spending time with the kids and engaging them. Yes they will probably keep your dc safe but that's about it. Sometimes it takes a while to see though especially if you have a baby.
[ Reply | Options ]Also HUGE HUGE thing I mention that I enforce: NO CELL PHONES, and NO shopping with my children. I don't care who they have to talk to. I tell them I've lived in the neighborhood a long time and every shopkeeper knows me (somewhat true). But be clear: doing room cleaning, laundry and kitchen cleaning as pertaining to dc is PART OF ANY NANNY JOB (don't listen to anyone who tells you otherwise). Including GENERAL light cleaning, laundry, etc is part of YOUR job.
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Ask her what she would do if a baby wouldn't stop crying? How would she spend the day with the baby? You want to get insight into her behavior and her judgement. Everyone says they adore kids...but that could mean she watches TV all day, and just checks on the kid once and a while.
[ Reply | Options ]One thing I wish I could go back and do was negotiate vacation time. We give our nanny two weeks paid vacation at anytime, but I wish I would have said that she could choose the dates of one of the weeks and we could choose the dates of the other. Unfortunately, we didn't, and this summer we are ending up paying her for four weeks of vacation (her two weeks and the two weeks that our family is going out of town which happened not to coincide). Some might disagree with this, but that's my advice.
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