A nanny with 7 year of experience or a graduate student nanny with 2 years of experience

[Anonymous]

Last weekend we interviewed two candidates for for a full time nanny position for our two kids ages one and four. I am not sure which one to go with:
1) Very sweet nanny in her 40s, she has 7 years of full time nanny experience and glowing reviews. Her English is OK, so it takes some effort to communicate with her. Her refererences said how great, loving and warm she is with kids and that she does good job planning activities for kids.
2) the second person is in he mid 20s, she worked as a professional at a consulting company in DC but then realized that it is not for her and wants to work with kids. She wants to work as a nanny for a couple of years while she is working on her masters to become a school councelor. She is young, full of energy and seems like would be great my little guys. But again, she has never been a full time nanny, she had other childcare experiences, but it is quite different when you babysit for 2-3 hours and when you have to do this for 10 hours five days a week.

Any ideas, suggestions, past similar experience? Thank you.

[Anonymous]

I would go with option 1. Option 2 has experience working in office type environments and might find that nannying isn’t the same and who’s to say she won’t want to go back to office work? Option 1 also seems like she’s willing to commit long term. Option 2 is getting her masters, and most likely will want to find work related to her masters that’s not nannying. Most likely she’ll want to work in a school since that’s what she’s getting her degree in. Option 1 can learn to communicate better in English as she works with your family. It’ll take time and patience but practice will help her.
It all depends on what matters most, would you prefer someone long term or someone who’s still trying to figure their career out?

[Anonymous]

OP we need someone for 12-18 months, that's when the youngest will go to school.

[Anonymous]

Absolutely go with #2. Education and energy are the two most important things (for me) in a nanny.

[Anonymous]

I would probably choose #1, but there are pros and cons to each. I don't think there's a wrong decision necessarily--just that they will bring different strengths and challenges to the job. I'd go with your gut feeling about them.

[Anonymous]

I would pick number 1.

There is no reason someone in their 40s doesnt have energy for your kids like a PP said.

[Anonymous]

Which do you have a gut feeling about, OP?

Like my wedding dress, I knew the right nanny when I met her. Don't second guess yourself.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Absolutely go with #2. Education and energy are the two most important things (for me) in a nanny.

So actual experience don’t matter?

[Anonymous]

Option #2 sounds a lot like myself, actually. I’ve had childcare experience before but never a full time nanny job before my current one. I love kids and I wanted to work with them while I went to school, but it turns out nannying really isn’t for me.

That’s not to say your candidate is exactly the same, just something to think about

Personally, I’d probably go with the first nanny. What I would really want is someone who knows what they’re doing and most of all, is a good person who my kids would really love and would love them back! That’s just the most important thing to me. Go with your instincts, though. This is just my two cents on the matter.

Good luck!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Absolutely go with #2. Education and energy are the two most important things (for me) in a nanny.

So actual experience don’t matter?

I value education.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Absolutely go with #2. Education and energy are the two most important things (for me) in a nanny.

So actual experience don’t matter?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Absolutely go with #2. Education and energy are the two most important things (for me) in a nanny.

So actual experience don’t matter?

You proved her point. Actual experience DOESN’T matter... I am a nanny and I may be turned away from positions because I never finished my degree in an unrelated field, but I very much value education and I focus on that with my charges.

OP, go with your gut. Personally, I would want the person who wasn’t great at English to use her native language and I think many parents value that. But I get the sense from your post that you lean toward candidate #2, so that’s who you should hire.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Absolutely go with #2. Education and energy are the two most important things (for me) in a nanny.

So actual experience don’t matter?

You proved her point. Actual experience DOESN’T matter... I am a nanny and I may be turned away from positions because I never finished my degree in an unrelated field, but I very much value education and I focus on that with my charges.

OP, go with your gut. Personally, I would want the person who wasn’t great at English to use her native language and I think many parents value that. But I get the sense from your post that you lean toward candidate #2, so that’s who you should hire.

If a simple typo (typing on an iPhone) proves her point I would hate to see you and her in the real world. While education is important, I graduated from UMD, I would never leave my child with someone who doesn’t have significant experience. A degree doesn’t mean you know exactly what you are doing, hence why even after medical school doctors have to do a residency.

[Anonymous]

I think that OP maybe doesn’t necessarily care that option 2 has a degree. I just think she’s a little concerned that option 1 May not have enough energy and her English is not good. I have a degree AND experience. However, when I was looking for work parents leaned toward experience. Also, even though I have a degree in child development and psychology, it hasn’t helped much with being a nanny.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think that OP maybe doesn’t necessarily care that option 2 has a degree. I just think she’s a little concerned that option 1 May not have enough energy and her English is not good. I have a degree AND experience. However, when I was looking for work parents leaned toward experience. Also, even though I have a degree in child development and psychology, it hasn’t helped much with being a nanny.

Unrelated but where did you look for employment as a nanny? I have a masters degree in ECE and I had three great offers to choose from when I first started (I had part time nanny experience - nothing more).