How to hire great part time help

[Anonymous]

We’re hoping to use outsourcing to improve our family lives when both kids are in elementary this fall. We’re a bit flexible (or maybe just undecided) about what kind of help is best (house manager type vs strictly an after school sitter vs someone who specializes in cooking or cleaning). After reading a lot of other people’s experiences it seems like finding a good, reliable employee can be challenging. I’d almost like to stay flexible on our needs in order to get the most helpful person.

Any advice on how to accomplish this is welcome. Obviously pay competitively for our area. Any recommendations in terms of screening for particular experience or background or what to look for in interview/trial days?

[Anonymous]

Are you planning on paying someone full time? What is the max you can spend? The things you list are wildly different, so the answer is obviously, it depends on what you’re looking for.

[Anonymous]

Don’t combine cleaning with driving/childcare.
Get a cleaning person once a week for regular cleaning or whatever works for your budget.
Then hire an after school sitter for the childcare.
If you have the room and funds an au pair might work for you. They work flexible hours although don’t keep changing them
Week to week. You would still need a house cleaner as well though.

[Anonymous]

Someone good at childcare might not be good at cleaning and cooking, and if you need a driver who can manage paying bills or even having your credit card, that will be an added challenge.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Don’t combine cleaning with driving/childcare.
Get a cleaning person once a week for regular cleaning or whatever works for your budget.
Then hire an after school sitter for the childcare.
If you have the room and funds an au pair might work for you. They work flexible hours although don’t keep changing them
Week to week. You would still need a house cleaner as well though.

We have a cleaning person who comes weekly. So definitely not planning on trying to combine these things. Just thinking for instance an after school sitter could give us more time/energy to focus on dinner prep. OR someone who comes in daily to do laundry and kitchen tidying could give us more time with kids at night. Just want some type of extra person in the mix.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Someone good at childcare might not be good at cleaning and cooking, and if you need a driver who can manage paying bills or even having your credit card, that will be an added challenge.

Agree. Not trying to find one person who can do it all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Are you planning on paying someone full time? What is the max you can spend? The things you list are wildly different, so the answer is obviously, it depends on what you’re looking for.

We are hoping to find someone part time. I know the nanny model exists of paying a full time salary for part time hours and trying to fill their time with other tasks but I think you run into issues with that model.

Something around 20ish hours a week, hoping to pay $30-40/hour. A college student doing strictly childcare I would expect to be at the lower end of that range. Would scale up based on experience or ability to handle multiple roles.

[Anonymous]

Think about it from the other person's perspective. Could you support yourself working 3pm-7pm 5 days/week at the wage you're going to pay? If not, how will that person?

It is easier to hire someone for several full days/week than for part of each day. It is easier to find someone for Mon/Wed afterschool care (a student, say) than for 5 days/week.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are you planning on paying someone full time? What is the max you can spend? The things you list are wildly different, so the answer is obviously, it depends on what you’re looking for.

We are hoping to find someone part time. I know the nanny model exists of paying a full time salary for part time hours and trying to fill their time with other tasks but I think you run into issues with that model.

Something around 20ish hours a week, hoping to pay $30-40/hour. A college student doing strictly childcare I would expect to be at the lower end of that range. Would scale up based on experience or ability to handle multiple roles.

Do you live right near a college? If you're in/near DC, there aren't that many college students, much less those who really need to work. If you live in a different area you might have more luck.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Think about it from the other person's perspective. Could you support yourself working 3pm-7pm 5 days/week at the wage you're going to pay? If not, how will that person?

It is easier to hire someone for several full days/week than for part of each day. It is easier to find someone for Mon/Wed afterschool care (a student, say) than for 5 days/week.

So anyway, if you need 5 days/week, you may be able to find two people each of whom can cover certain days. It's more work for you and more communication, but it's more attainable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Think about it from the other person's perspective. Could you support yourself working 3pm-7pm 5 days/week at the wage you're going to pay? If not, how will that person?

It is easier to hire someone for several full days/week than for part of each day. It is easier to find someone for Mon/Wed afterschool care (a student, say) than for 5 days/week.

You’re correct, we would not be providing an employment opportunity to someone who needs a full time job. That’s why I was trying to think through background (students looking for part time) or what might make sense. Good point on the specific days. We would probably be better off with someone helping out 2-3x a week than none at all.

[Anonymous]

Maybe a stay at home mom who wants to work very PT. That’s what I do now. The family I work with would be fine if I took my kids with me to work but I don’t because DH works from home. We don’t know enough about the ages of your kids, your needs etc. I take two kids to soccer once a week and wait for them to get off the school bus. It’s work well for me. I also have other very PT nanny/ babysitting jobs. I work as a substitute sometimes. I don’t think there are a lot of moms like me but who knows? I think I am more reliable than a college student who has a schedule that changes, dating life and maybe doesn’t really need to work because dad and mom will help them out.

[Anonymous]

I did very PT nannying as a SAHM. I watched my charge three days per x 3 hours. I fed her dinner, my children played with her and she became like family. I didn’t charge much and I think the mom was happy.

[Anonymous]

We hired an au pair who liked kids and cooking and dogs. We paid for her to take cooking classes during the mornings, and her responsibilities were laundry and then taking care of the kids from when school got out until 7pm, but later on Fridays. She made dinners and often we sent the kids with leftovers for lunch the next day. We also hired housecleaners for once a week.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We’re hoping to use outsourcing to improve our family lives when both kids are in elementary this fall. We’re a bit flexible (or maybe just undecided) about what kind of help is best (house manager type vs strictly an after school sitter vs someone who specializes in cooking or cleaning). After reading a lot of other people’s experiences it seems like finding a good, reliable employee can be challenging. I’d almost like to stay flexible on our needs in order to get the most helpful person.

Any advice on how to accomplish this is welcome. Obviously pay competitively for our area. Any recommendations in terms of screening for particular experience or background or what to look for in interview/trial days?

Pay extremely well.