Why aren't these nannies calling me back for our position?

[Anonymous]

So, we don't live in the DC area, we live in a much, much lower COL area and we're hoping to hire a summer nanny. We posted an ad (with the rates) and received several inquiries. We're paying $15/hr for a minimum of 40 hours/week (with the option to work more if they're interested) for 2 kids (5 and 1). No weekends, no overnights. We can be really flexible as DH works from home, however he travels on average a day a week (sometimes 2 days) and I am in medicine (but a resident - so not making a ton of money) so on the days he's traveling nanny needs to arrive pretty early, but on the days he's here, nanny can come in much later (9 or 10) and can even leave the house with the 5 yo when the one year old is napping since DH is here. We plan on having museum memberships, pool memberships, etc. Is it the varied schedule that is scaring off the nannies? I have liked them for the most part, but they always say the plan to email me their references and schedule a visit to our house and then we don't hear from them (this has been 2 nannies so far). I'm getting frustrated and am not sure what to do.

[Anonymous]

You are not going to find a full-time nanny just for the summer. You may get a college kid or recent graduate looking for a job. Its probably too early for someone to be looking for a summer job.

[Anonymous]

This will happen to some extent regardless of your position. My guess is that there's a combination of 1) nanny job searches can go pretty quickly, so people may have received another offer and just not bothered to tell everyone else they've been communicating with, 2) especially for summer nannies you may be dealing with a lot of students, so the level of professionalism in communications is not going to be what you'd be used to with seasoned corporate workers, 3) a lot of nannies seem to dislike confrontation so they may say yes to moving forward on the phone even if they decided during the conversation they aren't interested. Frankly it happens the other way as well, where parents often ignore messages they're not interested in because they get flooded with respondents who are clearly mass applying and not even reading the postings. So communication in general is just not going to be quite at the level that you'd expect in say, applications for residency or interview processes for corporate jobs, unless you're going through a nanny agency.

Nothing in your posting jumps out as a red flag. With a FT job, variations in schedule are not as major an issue as it might be in a PT job, as long as you can give nanny advance notice. It's quite common to have to go through 20+ phone interviews during the process to get one nanny, so if it's only 2 people who have "ghosted" you thus far, I would say just keep trying for now.

[Anonymous]

Many wish to avoid positions where a parent is working from home.

[Anonymous]

Thanks everyone. I do feel a bit better. DH does work from home, but he’s super laid back and he’ll be gone for a day or two of the week. He’s debating on getting a desk or an office at one of those multi use work places . Hmm. I’d honestly prefer him to be home at first though just to be around the nanny.

[Anonymous]

You aren’t looking for a nanny. You are looking for a summer sitter and need to advertise as such. You should post ads around colleges and high schools. Your job has many red flags most qualified nannies would avoid...

-The rate for 2 kids is very low. There will be someone else offering higher.
-Parent working at home (doesn’t matter if he is gone once a week). Plus you mention you want him at home to watch the nanny.
-Change in start time weekly.
-Can’t leave the house until 1 yr old naps. So basically at the mercy of one child’s schedule.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You aren’t looking for a nanny. You are looking for a summer sitter and need to advertise as such. You should post ads around colleges and high schools. Your job has many red flags most qualified nannies would avoid...

-The rate for 2 kids is very low. There will be someone else offering higher.
-Parent working at home (doesn’t matter if he is gone once a week). Plus you mention you want him at home to watch the nanny.
-Change in start time weekly.
-Can’t leave the house until 1 yr old naps. So basically at the mercy of one child’s schedule.

Also meant to add, most professional nannies aren’t looking for a summer job. They want stability and longevity. Your job offers neither.

[Anonymous]

I think one of the main problems is that your husband is home.
Just mention he'll be out of the way when the nanny's in charge.
And also, while he's home that doesn't mean she can't go out while the baby's napping. The children have to remain her sole responsability at all times. No sane nanny will want to work alongside a daddy, even if I'm sure your husband is a nice person

The rate might be on the lower end but what you could do is offer the nanny lunches and snacks when at your place.
I know I would have agreed to this kind of job when I was younger, good luck !

[Anonymous]

It is a summer job!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thanks everyone. I do feel a bit better. DH does work from home, but he’s super laid back and he’ll be gone for a day or two of the week. He’s debating on getting a desk or an office at one of those multi use work places . Hmm. I’d honestly prefer him to be home at first though just to be around the nanny.

The nanny would not prefer for him to be at home. Having the parent at home is almost universally a negative for a nanny, and they might feel uncomfortable with a man in the house all day.

Add in the summer-only aspect, which means you're not getting a full-time, professional nanny, and the low pay, and you're not going to the get super-professional candidates, which is going to affect things like communication.

[Anonymous]

I would say that if only two prospective Nannies have ghosted you, then that is not enough in my book to write off all the rest of the Nannys.

However there are a few things in your ad that may turn off certain applicants.

Having your husband work out of the home, especially when she barely knows him yet could make her feel ill at ease initially.

And for two small children, $15 p/h is a little on the low side

Hope this helps + I truly wish you only the best in your Summer Nanny search!

[Anonymous]

Also, you shouldn’t be asking for references from a nanny you haven’t met.

[Anonymous]

OP We have a now 6yo and only need Pt care over the summer. We had great luck hiring a mature teen for the last 3 summers and she is sitting for us again this summer. I don't need her to teach DD anything or be a tutor, or drive her anywhere ( its only 4 hours a day) . She makes slime, plays UNO and that kind of stuff.
I would look for something similar.

[Anonymous]

It's the rate. Try increasing it and see who you get.

[Anonymous]

Also, how would nanny get a break during the day with 5 yr old probably not napping? does she/he have a quiet time? With 10 hr a day on their feet, nannies need a break, and maybe they feel there isn't going to be one.