Missing/odd nanny references - red flag?

[Anonymous]

Personally if #1 has all other glowing references, I wouldn't obsess.

And NDAs are a real thing, and in DC its not just the Clintons and Trumps.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MB here. When I was hiring if any reference seemed even the least bit fishy or felt odd, I moved on to another candidate. I didn't feel comfortable giving someone the benefit of the doubt when it came to my kids. Just something to think about.

OP here. Thank you. This was my first inclination too. Unfortunately, where I live (big city but not DC/NY/SF/LA) the market for professional nannies seems to be smaller, and many of the candidates I've seen with 5+ years nanny experience (which is our minimum bar) have had something weird on their resume: one could not provide her TWO most recent references, one had 5 years experience but never nannied for a family for more than 6 months, etc. So that's why I'm even spending any time looking into these issues before moving onto other candidates.

Nanny #1 does have 3 other glowing references of FT work from within the last 6 or so years, but she provided a full list of work history and reference letters going back 10+ years. I almost didn't call this particular reference thinking it was a temp situation, but now am glad I did! (Though still undecided about what to do with this information.)

MB here. I would probably not hire either candidate, but then, we had a couple candidates fake references so I am extra careful. I might consider nanny 1, as it sounds as though she has had other jobs since the one that's concerning? If so perhaps that was a one-off, a difficult family, something like that. I would be curious what the families she worked for afterwards have to say--did they check that reference?

I do think you sound overly rigid in your requirements. Our best nanny ever had never nannied full-time before she worked for us. You may want to be flexible about 5 years experience. You could be missing some gems.

[Anonymous]

I'm a nanny and say keep interviewing. Why would anyone even outback a bad reference in the mix? We all have had bad work experiences it's not big deal to have one bad work relationship but to include it is odd. I left a job abruptly and regretted walking out but the mom gave me a stellar phone reference anyway. And NDA are normal especially for high profile families