When to offer references?

[Anonymous]

NEver give references until you know you're a pretty final candidate. You don't want to burn out your references on people who may not be serious about you, or for whom you don't want to work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't offer my references until I have met the families for an interview. If it's not a good fit, why should my references be bothered? Go ahead and send your resume and let them know that references can be contacted once you have established if its a mutually beneficial fit.

This is excellent advice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I never give my references until I meet the parents and children in their home. If everything checks out -- and I like the entire package and think it is a good fit and know that I would take the job if offered -- then I hand them my references. Never before.

This is exactly what responsible nannies do.
You also first need to know what they want to pay you, because most of them want to nickel and dime you. Forget that. No need for them to bother your references for nothing.

[Anonymous]

I ONLY give my reference after I have met the family and I determined that I would accept their position if offered. Otherwise I would burden my references with calls for no reason.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I never give my references until I meet the parents and children in their home. If everything checks out -- and I like the entire package and think it is a good fit and know that I would take the job if offered -- then I hand them my references. Never before.

This is exactly what responsible nannies do.
You also first need to know what they want to pay you, because most of them want to nickel and dime you. Forget that. No need for them to bother your references for nothing.

Good advice.

[Anonymous]

I have two resumes ready, one with personal information and one without. I immediately send the one without and only give out my references when I know I want the job.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I never give my references until I meet the parents and children in their home. If everything checks out -- and I like the entire package and think it is a good fit and know that I would take the job if offered -- then I hand them my references. Never before.

Excellent advice.

[Anonymous]

I would send my resume out (if I really needed a job!).

But I never give out my references information to a prospective family until a.)We have met face-to-face and b.) I would like to work for the family if they hired me.

I see references as a final step for the prospective family.

My past employers have busy lives -
Working careers along w/caring for young children at the same time.

I would never want to exhaust my references by giving them to people I have not met yet.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I never give my references until I meet the parents and children in their home. If everything checks out -- and I like the entire package and think it is a good fit and know that I would take the job if offered -- then I hand them my references. Never before.

Excellent advice.

To flip this around, maybe the employer does not feel comfortable introducing you to their children or their home without checking with a reference first? If you come from an agency that might not be necessary, but as an employer, I do not want to introduce my children to someone I don't have some background information on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I never give my references until I meet the parents and children in their home. If everything checks out -- and I like the entire package and think it is a good fit and know that I would take the job if offered -- then I hand them my references. Never before.

Excellent advice.

To flip this around, maybe the employer does not feel comfortable introducing you to their children or their home without checking with a reference first? If you come from an agency that might not be necessary, but as an employer, I do not want to introduce my children to someone I don't have some background information on.

You should ask about her background during the first phone conversation. If you suspect she’s lying, don’t bother meeting her.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I never give my references until I meet the parents and children in their home. If everything checks out -- and I like the entire package and think it is a good fit and know that I would take the job if offered -- then I hand them my references. Never before.

Excellent advice.

To flip this around, maybe the employer does not feel comfortable introducing you to their children or their home without checking with a reference first? If you come from an agency that might not be necessary, but as an employer, I do not want to introduce my children to someone I don't have some background information on.

So meet in a neutral setting and skip introducing the children. If an employer stated this, I'd be happy to furnish ONE reference after the initial meet-and-greet (15-20 minutes tops), if we were all looking at moving on to a trial day, and I'd be happy to furnish the rest when I know for sure that I want the job. However, I'm not burning out my references by giving out their information more than 3 times during any search.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I never give my references until I meet the parents and children in their home. If everything checks out -- and I like the entire package and think it is a good fit and know that I would take the job if offered -- then I hand them my references. Never before.

Excellent advice.

To flip this around, maybe the employer does not feel comfortable introducing you to their children or their home without checking with a reference first? If you come from an agency that might not be necessary, but as an employer, I do not want to introduce my children to someone I don't have some background information on.

So meet in a neutral setting and skip introducing the children. If an employer stated this, I'd be happy to furnish ONE reference after the initial meet-and-greet (15-20 minutes tops), if we were all looking at moving on to a trial day, and I'd be happy to furnish the rest when I know for sure that I want the job. However, I'm not burning out my references by giving out their information more than 3 times during any search.

Agreed. Parents are very busy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't offer my references until I have met the families for an interview. If it's not a good fit, why should my references be bothered? Go ahead and send your resume and let them know that references can be contacted once you have established if its a mutually beneficial fit.

I agree, I may not want the job after the interview so I would not want my references called untill an offer has been made and I accept all based on my references. I get written references that I supply at interview which they call call after I accept the position.
Also I would never give information about my families who have children to someone I don't know and haven't met and if you asked the family you were interviewing with they would not want a potential preditor knowing who and where they were. Be firm, send your resume with no contact info regarding references with a note that references will be made available after meeting.