moving forward on care.com, how do you do this?

[Anonymous]

Stupid question I know. I am a mom who posted a care.com ad and got a lot of responses. Do I then have the babysitters over to interview? Or do I do that over the phone? I am not sure exactly how this works logistically. This is just for a casual babysitting position, maybe once every two weeks, so I feel kind of bad having them come all the way to me to interview but I would sort of prefer that over the phone. Just wondering what is typical.

[Anonymous]

I would spend the time to do a bit of phone or email screening, and then interview your top 2 or 3 ppl.

It's time upfront that is well worth it.

[Anonymous]

Definitely interview 2 or 3, and hire a couple to come one afternoon when you're home (not at the same time) so that you can see them with the children.

If it's occasional sitting, you want to have 2-3 people you trust since they won't have a "regular" slot available for you. Alternatively, you could try to set aside a particular night every two weeks (or whatever) to hire someone so that they'll hold that slot for you.

[Anonymous]

you definitely want to meet them in person and you definitely want to have a list of people to call so you increase your chances of having someone available when you need them. Either do an email or phone interview to weed people out and then meet a few in person and get a feel for their availability.

[Anonymous]

Not a stupid question at all OP.

I would pick the candidates that seem like they would be a good fit for your needs, and phone them & speak briefly to them. Make sure you are all on the same page regarding payment amount, childcare philosophies + that your personalities do not clash.

Once that is established, then you can have them come over to meet w/you (and your child(ren) as well.)

See how comfortable they are around the kids, get a feel for the type of personality they have and see how well you mesh w/them on a personal level.

It's okay to ask them to come over for a personal interview prior to hiring, many families require this.

If things go well, ask them if they can provide a few references for you to call as well as information from them for a standard background check.

Once the checks come back clean, then when you need a babysitter you can call her.

Hope this helps.