Strange nanny website encounter/Parents who flaked an interview/wasted my time- insight?

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09/12/2017 20:13

Subject: Strange nanny website encounter/Parents who flaked an interview/wasted my time- insight?

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Anonymous

Does anyone have any insight to this? Slight rant and also just an appeal to parents searching for nannies to consider when looking for/working with nannies so you know what we experience on a daily basis when looking for jobs and working with families...bottom line please try to remember the golden rule when searching for and maintaining a relationship with your nanny once you employ her. Nannies are not doing what they do for a hobby or going on interviews for fun...this is their daily lively hood and they take interviews as seriously as you do for your nanny interview or your personal employment.

I communicated with a parent on a nanny website who was looking for a full time nanny and we conversed back and forth until agreeing to meet for an in person interview. I knew that they were a real person based on our communication, specific needs and familiarity with locations and i looked for general signs of a scammer which I did not find. I usually request to have a phone conversation with parents I encounter via online nanny forums as I believe its mutually beneficial for the nanny and parents in regards to originality, safety, for parents to get a sense of my sincerity and decreasing the chance of having time wasted in case both parties see that it is not a mutually beneficial situation thus worth an interview. This individual contacted me towards the end of a week of Aug 7thth and requested to speak with me asking me which times I was available for a chat in the following week as they were available that week and wanted someone to start work the week of Aug 21st. I returned their message saying I was available Monday Aug 14th and gave them a free time frame for them to pick which works best and then they responded that they had planned to go away that week coming back Saturday Aug 19 (literally two days before their post starts)-- That was the first red puzzling red flag, when I wondered why would someone tell me that they will be away coming back two days before the post starts (something was telling me they weren't being honest and just wanted a back up or something like that...btw I still continued searching and doing other interviews). So I remained flexible and suggested another time to speak and requested that I'd like to speak over the phone before meeting in person and can work around their schedule to do so. They then picked a time frame to speak based on their time difference which would have worked for me and then followed up with an emails saying due to time difference it was going to be too difficult to speak so they asked if I could just meet on the Mon Aug 21st and possibly start work on the 22nd if its a good fit...and I agreed to meet at 4pm (the was an eclipse going on)- we agreed on location of meeting and since I knew it was an unusual day with the eclipsed, I messaged her to confirm the time of meeting at 4pm and location (this was around noon) and the mother even followed up with an email via the same nanny forumn asking me if I could meet around 6:15 instead because she was going to be out of work late (another thing, changing the time abruptly a few hours before and waiting to do so after the candidate has sent you an email first...didnt sit well with me, but I remained professional and told her I could meet them however, our time may be a bit shorter than if we met at the planned time because I also had a mandatory commitment at 7pm...she agreed. Well I showed up at before 6pm at the location we agreed. and just to let them know where I am sitting and what I am wearing so that it is convenient for them, I opened my nanny forum to send her a message. I then saw a message from her saying something like "Sorry (insert name), we just hired someone a few minutes ago, sorry for the inconvenience" So I sat there having wasted my transport and time to travel to an interview with a family only to be told they hired someone else thus cannot meet. Now I do not mind the fact that they hired someone else, that happens and that is totally okay. What doesn't sit well with me is that this family did not even think it was necessary to give me a call or text (which i provided) prior to me leaving, or even giving a heads up that they planned interviews and thus didn't need me urgently to start work the next day or even consider the fact that I had been flexible to work around their abruptly changing times back and forth. Has anyone else had any experience like this? And do nanny forums such as sitters city or care allow this sort of behavior from parents and/or nannys who do not respect others' time?

My only appeal to both nannies and parents is that parents, yes, nannies are looking for jobs and willing to work around your schedules and spend time to travel to meet you, but that does not mean they are signing up to have their time wasted/disrespected or jump to the rhythm of your needs only. Please respect nanny's time, including candidates even those you may not end up employing. Imagine applying for a corporate job in your career, showing up on time and then your interviewer either doesn't show up or notifies you that the interview is not taking place after you have already arrived.....most of us would not like that thus why do it to a nanny? is it because we view nanny jobs as hobbies? these are people helping parents invest in their children's life for a lifetime. If you want to cancel an interview please do so in a way that respects his/her time by notifying her a good amount of time ahead via phone/text if she has provided it, especially if she did a follow up the day of.
Nannies, it is our duty as well to respect parents' time by showing up on time and if we are hired before an interview with a certain family, notify them respectfully and wish them the best.

Thank you and my post is respectful with the aim to appeal to both parties, possibly gain insight/encouragement, see whether such behavior is tolerated on nanny websites (from nannies and parents) and to see whether others have had similar experiences. Thank you all and I hope this never happens to anyone!