Opps i just bumped this post by accident. Didn't realize it was months ago.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm not sure what the problem is. Many families, especially first timers, are flexible in their requirements because they appreciate a good fit, personally, and will adjust the job accordingly for a good fit.

If you are so rigid you can't deal with that, then just decline the interview. There are many more reasonable nannies out there open to what could be a great job. You are not that nanny. No big deal.

But they still have requirements - ie they may need 3 days cover but are flexible about which days - which is perfect as long as they state this.

The thing is - I emailed to express interest in the job - AND to ask a few questions about the schedule they require. The MB emailed me back to invite me for an interview but didn't answer any of the questions I had asked about what they do require. Not only will I be wasting my time if I arrive at the interview for the MB to tell me that she is looking for weekends or part time - but I'll be wasting her time as well. Thats an hour she could have to look at other applications CV's because I could tell her in 2 minutes that I am looking for full time (or whatever)

I agree.

Whenever I've had this happen, I'll happily set up the interview, but ask again for the details and/or ask for a phone interview beforehand. If they still continued to refuse to give any information at this point (which has never happened to me personally) I'd consider it a safety issue. These people are asking you to come to their house without giving any details of the job, and that's a bit fishy.

Anonymous wrote:I'm not sure what the problem is. Many families, especially first timers, are flexible in their requirements because they appreciate a good fit, personally, and will adjust the job accordingly for a good fit.

If you are so rigid you can't deal with that, then just decline the interview. There are many more reasonable nannies out there open to what could be a great job. You are not that nanny. No big deal.

But they still have requirements - ie they may need 3 days cover but are flexible about which days - which is perfect as long as they state this.

The thing is - I emailed to express interest in the job - AND to ask a few questions about the schedule they require. The MB emailed me back to invite me for an interview but didn't answer any of the questions I had asked about what they do require. Not only will I be wasting my time if I arrive at the interview for the MB to tell me that she is looking for weekends or part time - but I'll be wasting her time as well. Thats an hour she could have to look at other applications CV's because I could tell her in 2 minutes that I am looking for full time (or whatever)

Anonymous wrote:I'm not sure what the problem is. Many families, especially first timers, are flexible in their requirements because they appreciate a good fit, personally, and will adjust the job accordingly for a good fit.

If you are so rigid you can't deal with that, then just decline the interview. There are many more reasonable nannies out there open to what could be a great job. You are not that nanny. No big deal.

Would you be willing to do an in-person interview with every nanny interested in your position without knowing anything about her?
My guess is no.

Anonymous wrote:I'm not sure what the problem is. Many families, especially first timers, are flexible in their requirements because they appreciate a good fit, personally, and will adjust the job accordingly for a good fit.

If you are so rigid you can't deal with that, then just decline the interview. There are many more reasonable nannies out there open to what could be a great job. You are not that nanny. No big deal.

If they are flexible about certain things, then they should say that. We would like 5 hours in the afternoon/evening, it can be anywhere between 12 and 8pm or say they want 3 days a week, any 3 of your choosing but we would stick to those same 3 days for a regular schedule. Mention what you are flexible with and what you aren't, give as many details as possible, give a range of pay you are willing to consider DOE etc. Mention what job duties you expect to be done, and which could be added on for higher pay.

Just because you are flexible about things, doesn't mean that the position will totally be up to the nanny to create how she wants it, and ANYTHING that is needed could make it a wrong choice for the nanny. If they refuse to give any paid PTO (vacation/sick days) then that is a bad fit if you are looking for something with that. You wouldn't want to waste your time or theirs by doing an interview just to find this out later on. Most ads will specify stuff like this to save everyone the time. If you have an ad that says baby or infant and want the nanny to have experience with that age group, then it is best to say exact age. Some people refer to their 18 month old as baby and I won't apply if my experience is with kids 12+ mos. Or the opposite, if they have experience with younger infants but not as much with older toddlers and people don't specify that, then again it is not a good match. Too many parents just have ads like "We are looking for a FT nanny for our daughter. Pay is good, please have at least 3 years of experience, a clean DL and background. We are located in x area." That is not nearly enough info to go by to quickly see if something is worthwhile to respond to and follow through with regarding what you are looking for in a position.

I'm not sure what the problem is. Many families, especially first timers, are flexible in their requirements because they appreciate a good fit, personally, and will adjust the job accordingly for a good fit.

If you are so rigid you can't deal with that, then just decline the interview. There are many more reasonable nannies out there open to what could be a great job. You are not that nanny. No big deal.

agreed

Got a reply back from an application asking if I wanted to come for an interview. The job description that was supplied was a little patchy and as well as asking to know some more about the job and the family (standard questions that I ask every application) I also asked some specific questions about the work schedule.

There is no point me wasting valuable time and traveling to your house if you aren't going to tell me about the basics of the job! Grrr Rant over