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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]OP - three years with one family is not really a lot of experience, which may be part of the difficulty.  The reality is there are a lot of nannies out there with more experience who speak great English and drive, who are charging $15/hr for one child, so to make more, you need to bring more to the table.  As some PPs suggested, do you speak a foreign language well enough to each the kids?  Can you cook?  CPR/first aid certified?  There are definitely families out there who will pay more (it looks like some may be posting on this site) but if you are having trouble finding them, I think that is why.

I'd also suggest being cautious with the typical day you outlined - what you propose is the bare minimum I'd expect from a nanny and suggesting a bunch of lessons and classes, and other activities that cost money, will put parents off because those get expensive and don't require much work from the nanny.  It would be much more impressive to come in suggesting concrete age appropriate activities to do with the kids at home and talk about why those are developmentally appropriate for kids at the age of your potential charges.  That is something families would pay more for.

I'd also think a little about what you want long term.   Our current nanny wanted a family to be with for a long time - it was what she had before us as well.  As a result, she was happy to start at $15/hr for one kid (and she did have a better paying offer that would have clearly been shorter term) but after several years (and another child on our part) makes much more now.  Alternatively, you could look for families that already have multiple kids or a share, both of which should be better paying from the outset (but often are shorter term).

Finally, I'd enlist your current MB to post on neighborhood list serves for you (and provide a pre-meeting reference/conduct a screening for you).  We found our best candidates that way and after a while, we were only willing to interview candidates who met that criteria.  If she is willing to help (and hopefully she is - I wouldn't hesitate to do this for our current nanny), it might get you in front of more prospective families and save you a lot of time and effort.[/quote]

PP here - also do not mention the TV!  No TV is again the bare minimum I would expect from a nanny candidate.  Any nanny that came in talking about TV (even to say she wouldn't allow it) would set off red flags for me.[/quote]

Thanks for the great advice! I will definitely work on these things. I am getting re-certified in CPR next month and I have plenty of projects for kids considering I used to be a Girl Scout troop leader so arts and crafts is kind of my thing. :) I never thought to actually mention the activities ! I like the idea of creating a professional portfolio including various projects, résumé, certifications, kid recipes and my references. Your advice has helped a lot. [/quote]

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