Anonymous wrote:There are many more nannies than available jobs these days.



And lawyers. And teachers. And just about everything, frankly.

The best of any profession/career/skill set will always have access to jobs, though.

True, but nannies have additional challenges in that nannying is not a job that requires specialized knowledge or skills. Taking care of children is pretty easy. Sure, nannies can educate themselves on child development, but that's not really rocket science. So there is no real way to judge a "best" nanny other than a particular MB's opinion. This is why nannies are paid a market rate and why there are far more nannies than jobs. Nannies are always going to have a problem negotiating better terms based on how much more "skilled" they think they are as long as the skills are common and there is no way to measure degrees of competency.

As a nanny, I usually interview for 3-4 potential positions of interest and then choose between the offers which one I think is the best fit. In ten years, I've only not been offered a position one time.

I'm an MB who has hired two nannies. In the process, I made offers to three nannies who also received offers from other families and were considering which to accept. I don't know how common it is, but definitely not uncommon in my experience.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are many more nannies than available jobs these days.

And lawyers. And teachers. And just about everything, frankly.

The best of any profession/career/skill set will always have access to jobs, though.

And then again, there are never enough really good teachers, doctors, lawyers, or nannies.

Don't we know that.

I am a nanny and I regularly receive a number of offers but I never really have to weigh them in one on one for much time. I will happily decline one that felt off and take another the next day. But I fortunately have never been unemployed, I have always gotten another job within my two week notice. If I had periods of long unemployment I would definitely be asking whether or not to take that job.

Anonymous wrote:There are many more nannies than available jobs these days.

And lawyers. And teachers. And just about everything, frankly.

The best of any profession/career/skill set will always have access to jobs, though.

There are many more nannies than available jobs these days.

I get multiple offers if the economy is in decent shape.

Like the PPs, I try to cluster the interviews and give families a timeline on a response. If I'm not their first choice, it usually shows in an offer a couple of weeks after the interview.

As a nanny I am upfront with families when I'm interviewing with them - I tell them that I have other interviews lined up and when I expect to be in a position to make my decision. This buys me time to consider/collect offers from the earlier families while allowing me to keep interviews with families later in the week(s) (without making the first families feel like I'm dragging my feet).

In my experience this not only helps everyone understand the schedule I'm on, it lets families know I am in demand, am expecting multiple offers, and will be respectful of any commitments I make - i.e. that I won't cancel an interview because I got a great offer from someone the day before might suggest that I also won't accepting another family's offer when they try to poach me after I'm hired, and so on.

Anonymous wrote:In my experience, every job I've been offered was within 24 hrs. If they're not smitten enough to nab you, they're probably not a great fit anyway.

Exactly! Learn from this.

In my experience, every job I've been offered was within 24 hrs. If they're not smitten enough to nab you, they're probably not a great fit anyway.

When I'm on the hunt I normally pick a max of three families to interview and tell them I need a decision within two weeks. This gives me time to consider. But honestly the past few years I've always been offered a job either at the interview or directly after. I normally tell the families I'm interviewing and will give them an answer within a week. So far it's worked out great and they normally offer more benefits or money to sweeten the deal. I know this isn't common but I do a lot of screening via email and phone interviews before I pick a family to have a face to face by that point they are ready to decide.

It's also kind of hard to line up multiple jobs offers simultaneously. You can go on a few interviews over the course of a weekend. Say you get offered each job but they trickle in over the next week. The first family wants to make a decision from you in the next couple of days. The second family has another interview next week and will let you know then. The third family gets their panties in a bunch when you ask for a day or two to consider the offer. I usually am considering at least 3 potential positions and can be relatively sure that I'm going to get the offer, but rarely has it lined up where all the offers come in relatively closely and they are all willing to give me a chance to consider my options.

If the nanny uses an agency, the agency typically does not allow multiple offers. That's why the nanny feels forced into agreeing to bad things. The agency attitude usually is " take this or nothing".
Sure, there are exceptions to every rule.

Just curious on this. There are so many should I take this job posts with no comparison to other offers they are receiving. Even when posters ask, nannies never seem to be able to respond with comparative offers. It takes time for MBs to pick final candidates, interview everyone and call you back. Its not like these things all happen in one day.