do they not read the ad?!

[Anonymous]

I swear, we have gotten so many applications where it's clear they didn't even read the ad.

It is such a waste of time.

Either that, or they send something that looks like an interview would make sense and then never reply to an email or phone call to set one up.

Blargh.

[Anonymous]

Same experience here. One ad, very clear, 18 replies - only one of which was appropriate/responsive to the ad we posted. The rest were form letters, or barely literate.

Really undermines the good folks attempting to use things like Care.com and sittercity.

[Anonymous]

I feel the same way, but I'm a nanny.
I constantly ask myself " Did they bother to read my profile? "

I am very close to leaving Sitter city and Care.com both sites have become too much of a hassle.

[Anonymous]

Part of the problem is the way those sites are constructed

[Anonymous]

this is why I stopped using care and sittercity. I'm a nanny and switched over to white house nannies and it is amazing how much better my experiences have been. no longer wasting my time on families that will never hire me/I would never work for!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I swear, we have gotten so many applications where it's clear they didn't even read the ad.

It is such a waste of time.

Either that, or they send something that looks like an interview would make sense and then never reply to an email or phone call to set one up.

Blargh.

It's the same with NFs. They reach out to me based on my profile, write a long and personal note with many references to me/my experience and then I send a reply saying I'm interested and agreeing to a phone call and then you never hear from them again. It's so confusing.

[Anonymous]

Some of these problems would be avoided by putting more detailed information in the ad, for example how much are you paying? $10-15 doesn't tell me much. I've gotten to interviews and find out they're only paying $10, and my starting rate is $14. Are you planning to withold taxes? Are you offering paid time off? Tell me about your parenting style. If you require a car, tell me why. What are you looking for in a nanny? What traits do you hope she'll have? Exactly how many hours are you offering? Are you open to a share if you're offering the low end of market rate?

So many of the ads just have a few form lines clicked (must love children! [Really?!] Looking to start in weeks! (WHEN exactly?) and are missing the information needed to make a good decision about whether I want to apply. Those are the ads that get form letter applications. I generally give a thoughtful application, but so many of them don't get a response that i do a lot of copy and pasting but will change details to suit the specific ad.

[Anonymous]

That is true. I think some parents don't realize the tick boxes on those sites at not at all informative.

It is true that some applicants do not read even when a family gives a detailed listing I helped my former family look for a new nanny and I was surprised to see how many applicants didn't read the job description.


But parents are not much better. My profile clearly states I am seeking full time work and specialize infant care. Why would you contact me to be a part time chauffer for your 14 year old?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I swear, we have gotten so many applications where it's clear they didn't even read the ad.

It is such a waste of time.

Either that, or they send something that looks like an interview would make sense and then never reply to an email or phone call to set one up.

Blargh.

It's the same with NFs. They reach out to me based on my profile, write a long and personal note with many references to me/my experience and then I send a reply saying I'm interested and agreeing to a phone call and then you never hear from them again. It's so confusing.

This happened to me this week. I can understand if you have changed your mind, but a simple thanks no thinks message isn't too much and doesn't take much time. I'd rather get that email than waste 15 minutes of time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Some of these problems would be avoided by putting more detailed information in the ad, for example how much are you paying? $10-15 doesn't tell me much. I've gotten to interviews and find out they're only paying $10, and my starting rate is $14. Are you planning to withold taxes? Are you offering paid time off? Tell me about your parenting style. If you require a car, tell me why. What are you looking for in a nanny? What traits do you hope she'll have? Exactly how many hours are you offering? Are you open to a share if you're offering the low end of market rate?

So many of the ads just have a few form lines clicked (must love children! [Really?!] Looking to start in weeks! (WHEN exactly?) and are missing the information needed to make a good decision about whether I want to apply. Those are the ads that get form letter applications. I generally give a thoughtful application, but so many of them don't get a response that i do a lot of copy and pasting but will change details to suit the specific ad.

If you can work for $14 I'm sure you can work for $10. Get over yourself.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:That is true. I think some parents don't realize the tick boxes on those sites at not at all informative.

It is true that some applicants do not read even when a family gives a detailed listing I helped my former family look for a new nanny and I was surprised to see how many applicants didn't read the job description.


But parents are not much better. My profile clearly states I am seeking full time work and specialize infant care. Why would you contact me to be a part time chauffer for your 14 year old?

Because you don't have a job and they are offering one. Just gracefully say no thank you. Don't you know how to be civil?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I swear, we have gotten so many applications where it's clear they didn't even read the ad.

It is such a waste of time.

Either that, or they send something that looks like an interview would make sense and then never reply to an email or phone call to set one up.

Blargh.

Get over yourself .
You need a nanny right?
At least you have people responding to your ad.
If you're not interested just decline politely.

Maybe your ad isn't as great as you think it is.

Nannies do not ignore great positions.

[Anonymous]

If you're only attracting a small number of applicants (18 is a really small applicant pool for sites like care and sittercity) and you are not thrilled with the quality of the applicants, you really should reassess your benefits package, or the way you are portraying your job.

If you are offering a market rate package, and your ad doesn't read like a list of demands, you should be getting lots of qualified applicants. At least that is what every MB on here loves to say. It's easy to find a good nanny, right ladies???

[Anonymous]

Yes, it is easy to find a good nanny. There are many more nannies than jobs.

[Anonymous]

There are way more "nannies" out there than there are jobs, so it's obviously something you wrote. Everyone wants to be a nanny because it's so easy and doesn't require any training or school, so if you can't find SOMEONE worth interviewing it's on you.