You placed an ad and got a response from someone to take care of your one year old twins.  You invite her to your home for an interview.  This should be so simple, you think, but standards hiring questions just don’t tell you enough about whether or not the twins will be in good hands.  When she leaves, you’re just as undecided as when she arrived.

Why is hiring a nanny so much more difficult a task than you first thought?  First and most important, you are looking for someone who will have a profound influence on your children.  Therefore you need to find someone whose values and methods mirror your own, and whose temperament is a good fit with your family.  You may find that your emotions are getting in the way of an objective assessment if you are feeling ambivalent about going back to work or recovering from a previous negative nanny experience. 

Second, standard hiring interview questions are not always relevant to the nanny industry.  Long term plans? Your nanny candidate may be looking only for a one-year position after which she plans to go back to school.  Asking what the nanny liked and didn’t like in her past jobs is good, but are you able to keep her talking about it long enough to understand whether or not her experience is relevant to your needs?  In addition, many applicants for nanny jobs are young, with limited work experience.  How are you going to get a sense about responsibility, punctuality, flexibility, etc?

Parents also need to know how the nanny will handle situations that are sure to arise:  a toddler’s temper tantrum, a picky eater, a child with colic, a child with a mild fever, a child who refuses to wear his coat outside.  Will she set limits or will she let the children decide what they want?  Will she turn each problem into a control issue, or will she greet them with creativity and humor?  Under what circumstances, if any, would drive her to spank a child?  Does she ask you what you’d prefer or your rules before answering the question? 

 The most important way to know if the individual will be a great nanny is to find out if she WAS a great nanny. Check her references carefully and ask specific questions.  Was she energetic and active or was she more sedentary with board games and arts projects?  Was she creative and thought of things to do besides watching TV and videos?  Did she do homework while at your home? Was she responsive to the baby’s cues or did she believe that babies need to be put on a schedule?  There is not right or wrong answer – only that which makes you comfortable. 

Many parents end their search after the interview and reference checks, feeling that they have a good sense of the nanny they want to hire.  But others also seek out verification that the nanny’s resume is truthful.  The kinds of checks one can do on a prospective employee are many:  social security verification, driving records, credit checks, educational verification, criminal background checks by county, fingerprinting for an FBI check, or a personality test.  But a word of caution here: you need the candidate’s permission to do these background tests and you may alienate a wonderful nanny if you go overboard.   

This may be a daunting task for some, especially those who have a full time career and a number of children at home.  If that is the case, and you do not have the time or the confidence that you have covered all your bases, there are companies who can do the background screening for you.  For the nanny industry, there are several including NannyCheck.  NannyCheck is a service of Parents in a Pinch, Inc, an award winning 22-year-old company that has screened and trained over 10,000 nannies and temporary caregivers.  NannyCheck will interview your candidate(s) asking child development, developmentally appropriate practice and child safety questions.  They will also check references and do background verification checks. 

For more information on NannyCheck or Safety Questions, call 800-688-4697.

Barbara Marcus and Vivian Chiang-Zeizel, Parents in a Pinch, Inc., Boston, MA, 800-688-4697

www.pareantsinapinch.com

December 2006: Read Shelly Tween's article, "What is a Healthy Diaper" here!

September 2006: Read Be the Best Nanny's article, "How To Interview Household Employees" here!

August 2006: Read Protective Parents' article, "What is BabyProofing Anyway?" here!