Who would you choose?

[Anonymous]

Interviewed two people who I really liked. This will be our first time having a nanny. We have a 6 year old and a 2 year old and will have new baby in f fall. One parent will be home most of the year - between WFH and parental leave.

Candidate 1 - been a day care worker and nanny for a while. Is not currently a nanny as does translation services for a school. Established. Worked for a friend of mine years ago. But was very low energy on the interview. Almost seemed bored / disinterested, but answered all questions with good ideas. Did not blow me away and both kids are high energy and high attention (6 year old is super extrovert and needs a lot of attention since school is computer). But would be able to manage 3 kids and set up routines.

Candidate 2 - 22 and new. Worked in a preschool as an assistant for a year. Would need a lot of guidance and explanation but would be high energy and go go go. Would most likely need help with routines and I don't know how she would do with all three on an outings, but since parent would be home most of the year, maybe something we could help her learn.

Experienced families - who would you pick.

[Anonymous]

Candidate 1. Number 2 is just too young. Covid risktaking and constant phone use are what you’re going to get with #2.

1 sounds much better to me.

[Anonymous]

Candidate 1

[Anonymous]

It depends on what you mean by low-energy. Is it a potential personality clash? I always ask references “what personality type do you think X would be happiest working with?” It could be that she is over child care generally or just not all that interested in your family specifically beyond the paycheck. Or it could be that you are a high-energy, high-engagement family and she is more of a laid-back, low-key person. The former is a problem, the latter isn’t necessarily a dealbreaker.

[Anonymous]

2 but you shouldn't be doing outings if you want covid to go away and kids return back to school.

[Anonymous]

Neither.

1 was disinterested. Saying the right Things doesn’t matter. Being able to handle three with your age range is good. But being disinterested does not bode well. The fact that she moved on to something else, and only when Covid struck, did she return to nanny? That says that she’s not interested in being a nanny anymore.

2 Has no Experience with children of multiple ages. Has no experience with handling an older child and an infant simultaneously. Has no experience doing homeschool or distance-learning, or dealing with the educational needs of two different ages. Has never nannied before, so may be shocked at the differences between daycare and nannying. Was not the lead teacher in daycare, so may be shocked to be the adult in charge.

This is covid and you’ll need to either homeschool or support dl with your 6yo. You need a nanny who WANTS to be there. She needs to have experience handling the energy level for a 1 to 4-year-old with a new baby in the house and two older children with a new baby in the house. Do you need someone to make your life easier, not hand hold until she figures out how to do it.

~Nanny

[Anonymous]

^I wholeheartedly agree w/the poster above.

It is definitely not a good sign that the first candidate seemed so disinterested during her interview.
This disinterest will only be problematic later on.

And the second candidate just seems too inexperienced.
Also due to her age, she may be on her phone more times than not.

My best advice?
I strongly advise you to continue your search!

Good luck!

[Anonymous]

I wouldn't move forward with either, but I would suggest doing a paid working trial day with each and then deciding.

[Anonymous]

My advice as a nanny with so much experience. Keep looking. Nanny No. 1 don't shows no interest at all and no excited about taking care of your little ones, no energy and positive vibe.

No. 2. No experience at all. She would tell you she is able to handle the situation with multiple kids. I would doubt it. Too young and won't be very patient with your kids. Also it will be a lot of work for you trying to teach her almost everything. She won't be able to work in an independent way. Also keep in mind that because of her age she will be always on the phone, texting, checking her social media etc. When she is at home and mostly when she is outside and no parents around.

[Anonymous]

Neither

[Anonymous]

Hard pass on Option 1. You put your best foot forward in an interview, and she couldn't even fake enthusiasm, from what you say.

With Option 2 - does she have babysitting experience? Many people don't count that as experience, so she may have left that off her resume. I know when I was interviewing, some families dismissed my years of babysitting experience, which is foolish - I babysat multiples (infants into preschool) part time (2-3 days per week for several hours) in high school. You're telling me that doesn't count as experience?

If she has experience, and you don't mind putting in more work during your maternity leave by creating a schedule and providing more guidance, I'd consider her.

I would at least give candidate 2 a trial few days to see how they go.

As an aside, there are always older nannies on every thread like this who bash younger nannies and claim they're always on their phone. I've seen plenty of older nannies chatter away on their phone constantly at the playground.