CONSIDERATIONS WHEN HIRING A NANNY

Hiring a nanny can be one of the best decisions you make for your family... as long as you hire the right nanny! Check out these highlights of common nanny screening pointers for parents.

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GATHERING ENOUGH INFORMATION

Don’t hire a nanny unless you have met them. It’s not enough to accept the information a nanny agency provides you on face value. From verifying a candidate's identity to reviewing her work history, you need to gather enough information so you can make an educated and informed hiring decision.

ASKING THE RIGHT QUESTIONS

If you want a nanny candidate to share real and detailed information with you, you need to give her the opportunity to ‘do’ instead of just ‘say’. Instead of yes and no questions, ask open-ended questions that give her the opportunity to give information. Regardless of how she thinks she’ll handle a situation like a toddler temper tantrum in public, find out how she has handled the situation in the past. So, you could rephrase “how would you handle” to “how have you handled” to get the information you are seeking.

BACKGROUND SCREENING

Background checks are referred to as ‘preliminary checks’ for a reason. To do a thorough screening, you need to check court records where the candidate has lived for at least the last 7 years. A social security trace will lead you to addresses associated with that social security number and from there you can identify what court records should be checked. Remember, your background checks will probably require the candidate’s permission to do the checks.

GETTING A FALSE SENSE OF SECURITY FROM THE RESULTS OF A BACKGROUND CHECK