Experiences in hiring/being hired through DCUM?

[Anonymous]

I have found DCUM to be quite useful, and also quite scary.

I'm wondering if any of you out there who have either hired from or been hired through DCUM can talk a bit about the quality of the employers and nannies you found here?

I'm hoping that the nasty tone that is so prevalent here doesn't reflect the reality of the positions listed or people applying, and I'd like to think this could be a good resource. But I'm nervous.

Any success stories (from either side)?

Thanks!

[Anonymous]

We found our amazing nanny and wonderful nanny share family through DCUM. I had thought we would have had more
luck through the neighborhood listservs, but that wasn't the case.

[Anonymous]

We also found an AMAZING nanny on DCUM. Personnally, I found care.com too overwhelming. I have to admit, I never read any posts on the other areas of the site and stuck only to the sections related to actual job postings. However, recently -- after almost 2 years -- I got on here just to ask a question about health insurance and was shocked at how nasty some of the posts were - quite unreal actually. I frankly got scared myself!! It sounds like no one is happy and made me appreciate even MORE my nanny. Thus, my advice, is to ignore these sections and just look at the nanny postings for jobs. There are some great nannies out there and many are being recommended by thier current employer!!

[Anonymous]

nope.

[Anonymous]

You aren't really looking, OP, are you?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You aren't really looking, OP, are you?

Yes, I am.

[Anonymous]

I found my current position through DCUM, and we're going on 3 years now. I had just found the site, looking for contract advice, and I responded to a few listings. If I had read much of the nanny/MB wars in this forum I would have been scared to work with an MB from this site. Yes there are some nasty nanny posters, but some of the MBs are scary as hell too. Fire you at the drop of a hat, secret hidden cameras, blatant disregard for the law, and a general lack of respect for nannies.

All of that being said, I'm happy with the job I found here, and the forums have given me some really useful advice.

[Anonymous]

I found my current family on here. Best family I've worked for in over 12 years. But we are just finishing up our first year, but I'm excited for the second. Can't really offer much more, everyones different, there could be total wackjobs on here just as much as there could be on care.com or from an agency.

[Anonymous]

We used Care.com and found a nanny who seemed great, but turned out to be a disaster.

After that I was desperate and looked everywhere (including back on Care.com). We found a fantastic nanny through DCUM who had a completely low-key posting that she was looking for a job. She worked for us for the next 3 years and we are still friends.

More recently, we found someone through our neighborhood listserv but also got some great prospects through DCUM. I mean, we interviewed 4-5 nannies through DCUM postings that all seemed really, really great.

[Anonymous]

I have never and would never look for a nanny on DCUM. The posts from nannies here are almost universally negative and mean and I would not want that kind of person caring for my DC. Sure, there are a few good ones here, but they have been overrun by the mean ones. I feel bad for the potential good ones, having a potentially useful forum ruined so by others.

I only hire through neighborhood list servs and word of mouth from people I know. Personal recommendations trump anonymous trolls every time.

[Anonymous]

We found our nanny through DCUM 3 years ago. Her prior family's youngest was starting school, so they posted a recommendation on her behalf.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have never and would never look for a nanny on DCUM. The posts from nannies here are almost universally negative and mean and I would not want that kind of person caring for my DC. Sure, there are a few good ones here, but they have been overrun by the mean ones. I feel bad for the potential good ones, having a potentially useful forum ruined so by others.

I only hire through neighborhood list servs and word of mouth from people I know. Personal recommendations trump anonymous trolls every time.

You do realize that you have no way of knowing if your candidate is a DCUM nanny right? This is only one of many avenues.

[Anonymous]

Nanny here. I have found three great jobs on DCUM and one awful job. I worked for two teachers who only needed me for a school year and one permenant position I'm still in. The awful job was with a family that seemed to be very active in the nanny forums. Based on that limited experience, I would avoid any parents that mentions they are active on the site vs using DCUM as just to post an ad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have never and would never look for a nanny on DCUM. The posts from nannies here are almost universally negative and mean and I would not want that kind of person caring for my DC. Sure, there are a few good ones here, but they have been overrun by the mean ones. I feel bad for the potential good ones, having a potentially useful forum ruined so by others.

I only hire through neighborhood list servs and word of mouth from people I know. Personal recommendations trump anonymous trolls every time.

Almost everyone knows how often most parents try to take advantage of nannies.
I suspect you're one of those parents, and thus have no appreciation of nannies who will stand up to abusers like you. TS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
I have never and would never look for a nanny on DCUM. The posts from nannies here are almost universally negative and mean and I would not want that kind of person caring for my DC. Sure, there are a few good ones here, but they have been overrun by the mean ones. I feel bad for the potential good ones, having a potentially useful forum ruined so by others.

I only hire through neighborhood list servs and word of mouth from people I know. Personal recommendations trump anonymous trolls every time.

Almost everyone knows how often most parents try to take advantage of nannies.
I suspect you're one of those parents, and thus have no appreciation of nannies who will stand up to abusers like you. TS.

There you have it. The typical mean, ignorant, and insulting nanny of DCUM.