How to verify if reference is real or fake?

[Anonymous]

Has anyone encountered a nanny who has given a purported reference that you suspected to be a friend of the nanny rather than an actual past employer? Are there any good ways of confirming that a reference is actually a past employer of the nanny?

[Anonymous]

What is your reason for suspecting that this is a fake reference??

You could do a quick google or facebook search, though these might not lead to anything. There are also online services that will search people for a fee.

All that said, if you already don't trust this person nothing good is going to come of moving forward.

[Anonymous]

PP, how is anyone supposed to trust a potential nanny after just a couple conversations?

OP, I wonder this every time I've talked to a reference. The only suggestion I've ever seen is to get some of the details of the working arrangement wrong and see if the reference corrects you. But even that seems pretty easy to fake as well. Best bet seems to be hiring someone through a neighborhood list serve, but that can be tricky to nail down as well. Even after checking references, please do a background check. It can't catch everything, but at least that is verifiable. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Has anyone encountered a nanny who has given a purported reference that you suspected to be a friend of the nanny rather than an actual past employer? Are there any good ways of confirming that a reference is actually a past employer of the nanny?

You need to hire a friend or relative that you already know, OP. It's the only way sometimes.

[Anonymous]

This is tricky, and I have wondered about this also.

When I've interviewed nannies I've always had multiple references. One that we hired was quite young and she provided us with babysitter references, a highschool teacher, and things like that to be sure that we could speak with at least 3 people as a reference.

In her case even though her references were not all officially former employers, in speaking w/ all of them it gave us a pretty clear picture of her history, and a lot of consistency/confirmation of the authenticity of what she had told us.

You can ask some questions that might give you some insight into how well they know this person, and whether that knowledge matches what an employer vs. a friend might now. Did you get to know Jane personally at all during the time she worked for you? Do you know anything about her network in the area (friends, colleagues, family, etc...)? What does she like to do for fun? Did she ever have family or friends come to your house?

You can also ask process kinds of things that a fake reference might not be able to handle deftly - "I'm figuring out how we will handle withholding - what payroll service did you use? Did you find that automatic deductions or handwriting checks worked better for you? How did you handle hours - were they guaranteed and set, or variable from week to week?" That kind of thing.

Just listen really carefully to the answers - for what isn't being said as well as what is. As a mom, if I give a reference for a nanny to another mother I give a lot of information. If you are getting stilted or canned answers that's usually a warning sign of something you should follow up on.

But mostly if your gut is uneasy then ask for more references and see if that gives you a more complete picture of the candidate.

[Anonymous]

OP here. Thanks for the great ideas PP. I was suspicious based on a few odd items in the reference that just seemed out of place and in fact appeared to have been plagiarized from a different DCUM post from a few years ago. Suspicions were confirmed on call with reference -- some questions seeking more specifics were unable to be answered; the reference repeated generic statements from the written reference but couldn't get more specific. The reference also got some key facts wrong in ways that were in total conflict with the written reference she had purportedly written.

Good lesson in trusting my instincts.

[Anonymous]

Nanny here and all of my references have also left reviews on care.com. For them to be fake I would have needed to make all those fake profiles and pay for them.

[Anonymous]

Nanny here.

I talk with families at least twice before I give out my references. By that time, they should have plenty of details about each position. My resume and cover letter give more details about each position, and the reference list (no contact information on the resume, that way I can send out the resume with each application, but retain control of who contacts references) has a summary for each position. I note pay period and method of payment, schedule, children's ages and any special details on the reference list. Some parents call and spend less than 10 minutes talking to my references, but others spend about an hour, and I guarantee that they would have easily found out if it was a fake during that time period.

If nannies give enough information, it's easy for prospective employers to judge whether the reference is real. And that doesn't touch on checking online for information about the reference.

[Anonymous]

Once I asked the reference what she paid the sitter and she said "Um, I don't know, $5?"

[Anonymous]

I would make sure the reference is the person they claim they are.

My references offer their Linked in and Facebook profiles.
Also if they have a website for their employment, that usually helps out too.

My references also let any potential employers know that they are always welcome to call back anytime if they have any add'l questions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would make sure the reference is the person they claim they are.

My references offer their Linked in and Facebook profiles.
Also if they have a website for their employment, that usually helps out too.

My references also let any potential employers know that they are always welcome to call back anytime if they have any add'l questions.

This. The first nanny we checked references on did not give us last names or emails. Just first name and phone. My husband did the reference call and was suspicious. I googled the phone number of this "reference family" and the # was on a nanny job board (either care or dcum, I can't remember).

The nanny we hired gave full names, emails, etc and I found them all on linked in. Sure they could still be friends of the nanny but I found this to be more reliable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would make sure the reference is the person they claim they are.

My references offer their Linked in and Facebook profiles.
Also if they have a website for their employment, that usually helps out too.

My references also let any potential employers know that they are always welcome to call back anytime if they have any add'l questions.

This. The first nanny we checked references on did not give us last names or emails. Just first name and phone. My husband did the reference call and was suspicious. I googled the phone number of this "reference family" and the # was on a nanny job board (either care or dcum, I can't remember).

The nanny we hired gave full names, emails, etc and I found them all on linked in. Sure they could still be friends of the nanny but I found this to be more reliable.

Exactly. Nanny references should include full names, town, email address and phone number(s) with preferred method of contact noted. Resume should have a brief summary of each position, and each reference call should be able to clearly discuss the specifics about their situation (ages of children, daily tasks, pay period/method of payment/rate, etc).