What is the worst or weirdest interview you've had?

[Anonymous]

Interested in hearing from both nannies and MBs.

I had a interview where DB asked what a typical day looks like at my then current job. When I told him, he rudely said, "Well none of those things are around here, so are you going to just sit in the house all day?"

But I think the worst was when I went to interview, and the family's house was in complete disarray. Toys, crafts, and food everywhere. The dad acted like a child the whole time and told me the kids make all the rules (age 5 and 2) and the mom looked like she just couldn't handle it. I felt bad for her until they told me DS2 sleeps in the bathroom because DS1 didn't want to share his room.

[Anonymous]

I've heard it said that most families who get nannies are pretty disfunctional to begin with.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I've heard it said that most families who get nannies are pretty disfunctional to begin with.

Or, you know, have jobs.....

What is dysfunctional about hiring a nanny?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I've heard it said that most families who get nannies are pretty disfunctional to begin with.

Or, you know, have jobs.....

What is dysfunctional about hiring a nanny?

+1

[Anonymous]

I had a phone interview with a lady once and she wanted me to crawl in bed with her 9 year old son every morning to cuddle. I thought that was inappropriate. She also told me he can't do anything by himself. If he wanted to draw a picture I needed to have a pencil myself and draw with him on the paper. She said he can never play alone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I've heard it said that most families who get nannies are pretty disfunctional to begin with.

Or, you know, have jobs.....

What is dysfunctional about hiring a nanny?

Sure. "We (the parents) have jobs."
"So we'll pay you to deal with the kids."

I'm sorry.
I thought your kids WERE a job.
Which is it?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I've heard it said that most families who get nannies are pretty disfunctional to begin with.

Or, you know, have jobs.....

What is dysfunctional about hiring a nanny?

Sure. "We (the parents) have jobs."
"So we'll pay you to deal with the kids."

I'm sorry.
I thought your kids WERE a job.
Which is it?

Parents, and nannies for that matter, let's all agree to ignore this poster. We all know this is nonsense and posted solely to inflame the discussion.

[Anonymous]

I had an interview where the dad was probably the most condescending douche I've ever met. He went on about his degrees, and his big important career. And he was oddly fixated on whether or not I'd be willing to clean the bathrooms. He kept saying that housekeeping wasn't part of the job, but "it'd be appreciated if you were a helpful presence, especially since you'd use the bathroom more than us, you should probably clean it, but housekeeping isn't part of the job". I got the feeling he didn't want me using the same bathroom as him, and if I MUST, then I'd have to scrub it down.

Also had another interview where the dad challenged every legal right that a nanny is entitled to, and it was clear from his arguments that he knew the laws but assumed that I didn't. Said I would be paid a salary, so the job would come with no OT and my hours would "fluctuate". He also tried get me to agree to be paid under the table, and when I refused, tried to convince me that I'd be an independant contractor.

[Anonymous]

We interviewed several people while I was on maternity leave. One woman came in and it honestly seemed like she was on drugs with how zoned out she was. She had a vague smile on her face the whole time, her expression never got any more animated than that but sometimes went completely blank, and sometimes when I asked her a question I then had to prompt her to answer it once or twice.

With most of the interviewees we would chat, then I would hand them the baby while I went into the kitchen and futzed with drinks so I could give them space to bond a smidge with the baby, and overhear how they spoke with her. This woman made me so uncomfortable that I wouldn't hand her the baby at all.

[Anonymous]

After telling a man during a phone interview what my hourly rate is (very slightly above average), he asked me to email him am itemized list of my expenses so he could come up with an appropriate rate. I told him we would not be a good match and thanked him for his time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I've heard it said that most families who get nannies are pretty disfunctional to begin with.

Or, you know, have jobs.....

What is dysfunctional about hiring a nanny?

Sure. "We (the parents) have jobs."
"So we'll pay you to deal with the kids."

I'm sorry.
I thought your kids WERE a job.
Which is it?

Parents, and nannies for that matter, let's all agree to ignore this poster. We all know this is nonsense and posted solely to inflame the discussion.

I'm actually curious what this poster's intentions are. I'm assuming they are a stay at home parent so why are they trolling the nanny boards? I mean, that is exactly what you are doing. If you are a nanny, well doesn't your entire livelihood depend on working parents? So odd. Either way, you are an obvious troll and not a very good one at that.

[Anonymous]

Living in NYC at the time, an agency had me meet with a family from Florida and they were in NYC for whatever reason. I had to get on the subway to meet them at grand central station at midnight while they were waiting for a connecting train. It was the dad and his brother, no kids or mom there to meet me. I was young and naive, should never have agreed to it. Just goes to show how little the agencies look out for nannies.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Living in NYC at the time, an agency had me meet with a family from Florida and they were in NYC for whatever reason. I had to get on the subway to meet them at grand central station at midnight while they were waiting for a connecting train. It was the dad and his brother, no kids or mom there to meet me. I was young and naive, should never have agreed to it. Just goes to show how little the agencies look out for nannies.

Weird. But you went? And it legitimately was a man (and his brother) looking for a nanny for his kids? Did you take the job?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Living in NYC at the time, an agency had me meet with a family from Florida and they were in NYC for whatever reason. I had to get on the subway to meet them at grand central station at midnight while they were waiting for a connecting train. It was the dad and his brother, no kids or mom there to meet me. I was young and naive, should never have agreed to it. Just goes to show how little the agencies look out for nannies.

Weird. But you went? And it legitimately was a man (and his brother) looking for a nanny for his kids? Did you take the job?

I went because I was a stupid 21 year old and thought I was I invincible! I did not take the job. I assume it was a legit family and that the agency checked out, but looking back who knows. My safety was clearly not a priority for them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Living in NYC at the time, an agency had me meet with a family from Florida and they were in NYC for whatever reason. I had to get on the subway to meet them at grand central station at midnight while they were waiting for a connecting train. It was the dad and his brother, no kids or mom there to meet me. I was young and naive, should never have agreed to it. Just goes to show how little the agencies look out for nannies.

Weird. But you went? And it legitimately was a man (and his brother) looking for a nanny for his kids? Did you take the job?

I went because I was a stupid 21 year old and thought I was I invincible! I did not take the job. I assume it was a legit family and that the agency checked out, but looking back who knows. My safety was clearly not a priority for them.

While the whole arrangement sounds odd (meeting at midnight), I am not sure why you saw this as a safety concern. You were in a public place and it sounds like the family just wanted someone to meet you before the next step of interviewing. Mom and kids were probably not on the trip. The dad and his brother were likely traveling together so it isn't odd they were both there. It sounds like they wanted to take advantage of being able to meet you in person, and in many families dad is just as involved in the process as mom is. I am not sure why the agency is at fault as they must have told you this was at midnight and you agreed to go. Very odd time to meet a prospective family but circumstantial in this case. Were you worried about taking the subway alone at night? I guess that could be a safety concern however many people use the subway late due to shift work or social events. Maybe the NYC subway is known to be very sketchy and that was your concern.