What are the questions you WISH you asked during the interview

[Anonymous]

For your Live-in nanny or AP
I will be hiring soon and don't want to miss any good questions!

Thanks!!!!

[Anonymous]

What will you do while the child is taking a nap? TV should be limited to X hours/minutes per day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What will you do while the child is taking a nap? TV should be limited to X hours/minutes per day.

Please do not tell your nanny what she can and cannot do during naptime.
This is a sure way to scare away decent candidates.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What will you do while the child is taking a nap? TV should be limited to X hours/minutes per day.

Please do not tell your nanny what she can and cannot do during naptime.
This is a sure way to scare away decent candidates.

This.

[Anonymous]

Nap time is my time. Sometimes I choose to do work related stuff, but not always.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What will you do while the child is taking a nap? TV should be limited to X hours/minutes per day.

She should finish any agreed upon tasks then relax. Are you one of those MBs expecting your nanny to fill her time with anything and everything whether you pay her to do so or not?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What will you do while the child is taking a nap? TV should be limited to X hours/minutes per day.

She should finish any agreed upon tasks then relax. Are you one of those MBs expecting your nanny to fill her time with anything and everything whether you pay her to do so or not?

Egads! One of those mom bosses that expects someone at work to fill her time..... Working!

(Nannying is an hourly job. Salaried jobs have lists of tasks to complete. Hourly jobs have periods of time that are filled with work. It's a distinction that is lost on many here. Of course, anyone can negiotiate more or less break time or different priorites on how to spend that paid time. But, when you have an hourly job, your work is done when you are off the clock)

[Anonymous]

Nap time is my time. Sometimes I choose to do work related stuff, but not always.

Ugh

. The nasty nannies on this site are exactly the type you want to avoid. Asking references what the nanny did during naptime is a great way to weed out the bare minimum, lazy nannies. A one hour break is entirely reasonable but expecting naptime which can be 3-4 hours out of the day to my "time" is plain ridiculous.

Lazy in one area usually equals lazy in other areas. The nannies who do valuable tasks during naptime (after their one hour break) either on their own initiative or as agreed upon with the employer, are the ones who take their jobs seriously and engage the kids when they are awake. The lazy ones expect naptime as entirely freebie time are the same darn ones who pretend to do things with the kids but really surf the web, chat on the phone, or hang out with other nannies. Avoid these nannies! Worthless.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What will you do while the child is taking a nap? TV should be limited to X hours/minutes per day.

She should finish any agreed upon tasks then relax. Are you one of those MBs expecting your nanny to fill her time with anything and everything whether you pay her to do so or not?

Egads! One of those mom bosses that expects someone at work to fill her time..... Working!

(Nannying is an hourly job. Salaried jobs have lists of tasks to complete. Hourly jobs have periods of time that are filled with work. It's a distinction that is lost on many here. Of course, anyone can negiotiate more or less break time or different priorites on how to spend that paid time. But, when you have an hourly job, your work is done when you are off the clock)

And this is why I only take my jobs through agencies: better pay and the families are clear on what a nannies duties are and ARE NOT. If my charge naps for four hours tomorrow (rare but not unheard of), how exactly do I fill that time without making my job housekeeper/gardener/laundress/cook/electrician/painter? Despite being paid hourly, nannies also have a list of tasks to complete and that list doesn't change based on the (short term) changes in a child's schedule. If we're talking about a child moving into PT schooling then yes, the job description changes -- and sometimes the nanny does too!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What will you do while the child is taking a nap? TV should be limited to X hours/minutes per day.

She should finish any agreed upon tasks then relax. Are you one of those MBs expecting your nanny to fill her time with anything and everything whether you pay her to do so or not?

Egads! One of those mom bosses that expects someone at work to fill her time..... Working!

(Nannying is an hourly job. Salaried jobs have lists of tasks to complete. Hourly jobs have periods of time that are filled with work. It's a distinction that is lost on many here. Of course, anyone can negiotiate more or less break time or different priorites on how to spend that paid time. But, when you have an hourly job, your work is done when you are off the clock)

Crazy.

[Anonymous]

I really don't understand why, if you hired a nanny to care for your child, and complete agreed upon tasks such as the child's laundry and meal prep, but never discussed her doing anything outside of that, how you can be miffed that she doesn't do it. If we agreed on tasks and a rate to go with it, why would you expect more than that? You can be pleasantly surprised when she does more than that, but to be miffed when she does exactly what she said she would do for the money you pay her is beyond logic to me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I really don't understand why, if you hired a nanny to care for your child, and complete agreed upon tasks such as the child's laundry and meal prep, but never discussed her doing anything outside of that, how you can be miffed that she doesn't do it. If we agreed on tasks and a rate to go with it, why would you expect more than that? You can be pleasantly surprised when she does more than that, but to be miffed when she does exactly what she said she would do for the money you pay her is beyond logic to me.

[phone]

[Anonymous]

OP - I can't see any useful responses to your question. I'm an MB and here are a few questions/topics for discussion I'd suggest for interviewing childcare providers:

- obviously ask about experience, different situations, ages of kids, types of parenting approaches etc...
- what is the best fit for you? What kind of parenting style do you feel most comfortable supporting?
- With which former employer did you have the best relationship and why?
- what kinds of things can you not feel comfortable supporting (diet, discipline, tv watching, activity level, etc...)
- training in things like CPR
- what's the worst experience/scariest thing you've had happen on the job
- what's your best day/memory/most enjoyable experience on the job
- what matters most to you/will make for the "best fit" between you and your employer/charges
- how do you like to communicate w/ your employers? Regular in person meetings, daily emails, quick end of day chats, etc...?
- Why are you a nanny?

Those are some that come to mind. Of course you'd ask all the usual reference check questions, why they're leaving/looking for work, etc... And with a possible live-in situation I bet there are many additional things to explore (like cooking, entertaining guests, rules of the house, etc....) but I haven't done that so can't offer much.

I think the most critical thing is to talk sufficiently about a variety of issues to ensure that whomever you hire will be on your side, view things you feel strongly about in similar ways (or at minimum be fully willing to abide by your rules - eating, schedule, discipline for instance). Different things are relevant for different age kids also - with an infant there are approaches around napping, CIO, feeding, that can be very tricky to navigate if the nanny's beliefs/approach differ from the parents. So try to know as much as possible about your parenting style and the things you are or are not negotiable on before you interview. Then you can screen for people who share your beliefs and will support them as you wish.

Good luck!
Good luck!

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the one helpful response!!
If there are any more I would love to hear them!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What will you do while the child is taking a nap? TV should be limited to X hours/minutes per day.

As a nanny I hope you ask this question too. If you're the kind of employer who wants to micromanage how I spend my entire day I'd like to know upfront so I can steer clear of the job.

I think the most important things to discuss are expectations, communication, and parenting styles. I also wish more people (employers and nannies!) would discuss what they liked best/least about previous nanny experiences. This gives a lot of insight to what kind of arrangement people are looking to have.