Nanny w/ degree but no experience—pay rate

[Anonymous]

I am considering hiring a new college grad (non-education major) with no nanny experience. We live in the DC area and need care for our two preschool aged children 40hrs per week. One child is in preschool two mornings per week and the other is in preschool three mornings per week. On the two mornings where preschool overlaps, I’d like her to maybe do some grocery shoppings or kid laundry. All federal holidays off plus three weeks vacation. I know this person, and feel like she will look to me to throw out an hourly rate rather than suggest one. What is a reasonable rate in this circumstance?

[Anonymous]

She is not a nanny, so maybe go with the $16-18/hour.

[Anonymous]

My concern would be how long will she stay?

[Anonymous]

She’s not going to stick around.

[Anonymous]

Wait, she has an unrelated degree, no experience and you think throwing her off the deep end into a 40 hour job with two preschoolers, laundry and grocery shopping in the few hours that the kids aren’t home?

I agree with PPs, she’s not going to stay.

With that said, I also wouldn’t suggest more than $18/hour for someone with zero experience or a related degree.

[Anonymous]

Does she have any experience working with young kids?

[Anonymous]

This is a job for the year after college while she figures out what she really wants to do.

She may be great, or she may be flakey. She has no relevant experience or references, so you're taking a big chance (ask me how I know).

So, yeah, very low end of the scale. Tell her you'll do a three or six-month review for a raise.

Given my experience, I would never hire this person again. A job that requires total reliability at 7am in the morning and does not include long holidays is not at all the same as anything this person has done before. Even the first corporate gig is culture shock for a lot of young people, but they can see career advancement in it to help get them to work every day.

[Anonymous]

OP here, she has been a babysitter for my kids since they were very small while she has been in undergrad. She is going to stay here for two years before starting a PhD program for personal family reasons. I recognize that she is not a traditional nanny, but I trust her and she has never once flaked on me. If she leaves, so be it, but I think she will work for what I need at this moment in time.

[Anonymous]

We replaced an older career nanny with a nanny similar to what you describe. However she did nanny part time in college with excellent reviews , but we are her first full time job. She is figuring out what she wants to do , says possibly grad school but Doesn’t seem too eager from what I’ve seen ( but I really don’t know). What I will say is she has been far more reliable and better for us than the 20 year career nanny. So it really all depends on the person. And we pay her the same.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here, she has been a babysitter for my kids since they were very small while she has been in undergrad. She is going to stay here for two years before starting a PhD program for personal family reasons. I recognize that she is not a traditional nanny, but I trust her and she has never once flaked on me. If she leaves, so be it, but I think she will work for what I need at this moment in time.

This is a very different situation than what you describe in your original post, which implies that you don't have prior knowledge of her. She not only has childcare experience, she has childcare experience with your children. AND you have knowledge that you get along with her and she's reliable.

Start with the babysitting rate, and figure out if you should go up or down from there, but I would consider this woman the equivalent of someone with experience with one family, so would give her a solid rate and benefits. Probably $18-$20/hr for two kids full time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here, she has been a babysitter for my kids since they were very small while she has been in undergrad. She is going to stay here for two years before starting a PhD program for personal family reasons. I recognize that she is not a traditional nanny, but I trust her and she has never once flaked on me. If she leaves, so be it, but I think she will work for what I need at this moment in time.

This is a very different situation than what you describe in your original post, which implies that you don't have prior knowledge of her. She not only has childcare experience, she has childcare experience with your children. AND you have knowledge that you get along with her and she's reliable.

Start with the babysitting rate, and figure out if you should go up or down from there, but I would consider this woman the equivalent of someone with experience with one family, so would give her a solid rate and benefits. Probably $18-$20/hr for two kids full time.

That’s totally different than zero experience. She knows your kids and had babysat them, so she’s a step up from a random nanny. Now, she may be clueless when in comes to setting a routine for the week, knowing what to do for sensory as educational experiences, where to go for classes and free activities. But that can all be researched.

I’d say start at $18/hour, evaluate at 3, 6 and 12 months.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here, she has been a babysitter for my kids since they were very small while she has been in undergrad. She is going to stay here for two years before starting a PhD program for personal family reasons. I recognize that she is not a traditional nanny, but I trust her and she has never once flaked on me. If she leaves, so be it, but I think she will work for what I need at this moment in time.

This is a very different situation than what you describe in your original post, which implies that you don't have prior knowledge of her. She not only has childcare experience, she has childcare experience with your children. AND you have knowledge that you get along with her and she's reliable.

Start with the babysitting rate, and figure out if you should go up or down from there, but I would consider this woman the equivalent of someone with experience with one family, so would give her a solid rate and benefits. Probably $18-$20/hr for two kids full time.

I would start higher to keep her.

Yes, unconventional but so was our nanny. She was 55 when she started with us, had a masters degree in liberal arts and retired from a creative field. She’d been a nanny in Europe right out of undergrad but then had her career. We were so blessed to have her as our nanny! She was brilliant, loving an incredible teacher and has given my kids the most astounding vocabularies! She remains a dear family friend and is still so close to my children.

Unconventional works sometimes!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here, she has been a babysitter for my kids since they were very small while she has been in undergrad. She is going to stay here for two years before starting a PhD program for personal family reasons. I recognize that she is not a traditional nanny, but I trust her and she has never once flaked on me. If she leaves, so be it, but I think she will work for what I need at this moment in time.

This is a very different situation than what you describe in your original post, which implies that you don't have prior knowledge of her. She not only has childcare experience, she has childcare experience with your children. AND you have knowledge that you get along with her and she's reliable.

Start with the babysitting rate, and figure out if you should go up or down from there, but I would consider this woman the equivalent of someone with experience with one family, so would give her a solid rate and benefits. Probably $18-$20/hr for two kids full time.

I would start higher to keep her.

Yes, unconventional but so was our nanny. She was 55 when she started with us, had a masters degree in liberal arts and retired from a creative field. She’d been a nanny in Europe right out of undergrad but then had her career. We were so blessed to have her as our nanny! She was brilliant, loving an incredible teacher and has given my kids the most astounding vocabularies! She remains a dear family friend and is still so close to my children.

Unconventional works sometimes!

Yours had experience, albeit decades earlier. This nanny is not a nanny yet, not until she starts caring for the children as a nanny does, instead of how a babysitter does.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here, she has been a babysitter for my kids since they were very small while she has been in undergrad. She is going to stay here for two years before starting a PhD program for personal family reasons. I recognize that she is not a traditional nanny, but I trust her and she has never once flaked on me. If she leaves, so be it, but I think she will work for what I need at this moment in time.

This is a very different situation than what you describe in your original post, which implies that you don't have prior knowledge of her. She not only has childcare experience, she has childcare experience with your children. AND you have knowledge that you get along with her and she's reliable.

Start with the babysitting rate, and figure out if you should go up or down from there, but I would consider this woman the equivalent of someone with experience with one family, so would give her a solid rate and benefits. Probably $18-$20/hr for two kids full time.

I would start higher to keep her.

Yes, unconventional but so was our nanny. She was 55 when she started with us, had a masters degree in liberal arts and retired from a creative field. She’d been a nanny in Europe right out of undergrad but then had her career. We were so blessed to have her as our nanny! She was brilliant, loving an incredible teacher and has given my kids the most astounding vocabularies! She remains a dear family friend and is still so close to my children.

Unconventional works sometimes!

Yours had experience, albeit decades earlier. This nanny is not a nanny yet, not until she starts caring for the children as a nanny does, instead of how a babysitter does.

Give me a break. She worked part time with the family. News flash: she is already a nanny!

[Anonymous]

I value education, OP. Intelligence and education. Actual full time nanny experience is secondary in my book. This woman has babysat for your kids and she can expand upon that early training. But there is no learning curve for smarts and education - you either have it or you don’t.

Offer $30 with the promise of a review and increase to $22 after six months. Also lay out the duties of a nanny (children’s laundry, children’s meal prep and clean up, etc).