Do you know what to ask when you want to hire a nanny?
Prior to beginning the search for a nanny, it’s vital that you have clear expectations of what you want this person to do. You might need someone to watch the kids, help with housework and cook meals too. Start with a list of realistic wants and needs from your potential nanny and their child care nanny services. Make sure you’re not rushing the process, so start early and long before you’ll need the nanny to start working. These questions for nanny interview should help with the process.
1. Structure of the Interview
Talk About the Children
First, you should tell the potential nanny about the children as well as the family and what will be expected of her on a daily basis. While you want her to meet the children, it shouldn’t be done until the end of the interview, or during the second interview after you’ve screened out others and picked a few favorites.
Duties of the Position
After telling her about the children, talk about the duties of the position. She might be required to pick up a child from school during the day. Meals and snacks might have to be cooked by her. If she’ll be responsible for laundry or food shopping, that should be talked about during the interview as well as routines for the children like play groups or activities.
House Rules and Other Details
The house rules should be discussed at length. If the nanny will be living in the home, this is the time to show her the room. You should talk about the rules regarding visitors during work hours as well as use of the Internet or computers. The start date and hours should be discussed too.
2. Interview Questions On Being a Nanny
Ask Why She Chose to be a Nanny
Most likely, you want a nanny who has chosen this career specifically. You don’t want one who fell into it because it was easy or she just saw the ad one day.
What Qualities Does a Nanny Need?
The love of children should be top on the list of a nanny’s qualities. Nurturing, energetic and trustworthy should be on that list too. You should get a sense of the nanny through a question like this.
What Do You Enjoy Most About Being a Nanny?
The answer to this question shouldn’t have anything to do with the work hours. It should relate to the love of children somehow. You’ll have to make your own judgements about some of these answers.
What Do You Enjoy the Least?
The answers to these questions vary, but you should use your gut to figure out if the answers are satisfactory to you.
Questions about Daily Activities
What Would a Typical Day Look Like?
You want to know whether she’ll pick suitable activities for your children during the day. She shouldn’t be sitting them in front of the television.
What are Some Suitable Activities for the Children Based on Their Ages?
This answer should include activities that will stimulate them intellectually as well as physically.
What Materials Would You Need?
Some nannies have their own toys that they bring with them for the children. In other cases, they might have preferred toys for you to buy that they’ll use to interact with your children.
Scenario Questions
What Would You Do if the Child Threw a Temper Tantrum in the Store?
This answer will show you a lot about the kind of discipline your child might receive when they are not in your care. You should also be telling the nanny what you expect in terms of discipline.
What Would You Do if the Child Wasn’t Using Good Manners at the Table?
This goes back to discipline too. You want to see how the nanny would react to and correct unwanted behavior.
Emergencies
For these questions, the nanny should have clear details about the proper lifesaving techniques used to save a child’s life.
- What would you do if the child locked herself in the car?
- Do you know the proper procedure for a child who is choking?
- Have you updated your CPR and first aid training recently?
Ask for References
Make sure to follow up with the person’s references. Ask why they left the previous family. Find out what she enjoyed at the last job.
Once the interview is almost over, ask her if she has questions. She should have a list of questions for you to answer. These questions will tell you about her priorities too. Are they mostly about the children or her days off from work?
At the end of the interview, you might be uncertain about hiring her even after asking the questions for hiring a nanny checklist. You can let her know you’ll be in touch. You may want to see other nannies and do more interviews. You can have any candidates come back for a second interview and meet the children later. This can help you make a decision based on who interacts the best with the children.
Author BIO
Riya is Australia-based writer. She is very delighted to work with aspiring small business owners. This time, she writes for Ayasan Service, the leading professional Human Resource Company, specializing maid, nanny, driver industries operated in Thailand, Vietnam and Indonesia. Riya enjoys decorating her home, crafting, trying new recipes. She is also a runner who likes to enjoy the morning breeze.
Thank you for sharing this. The post is very informative. I plan on hiring a nanny in London for my three children, and I had no idea that there are a lot of things to consider. But through your blog post, I know now what to do. I’ll take not of your checklist and hopefully, I can find the best nanny at once.
This is some really good thing to be aware of when you want to have a nanny. My sister has been thinking about getting a nanny when she goes back to work. I liked that you talked about how you should ask if they know proper child CPR.