Anonymous wrote:First you meet her. If she and you are interested, you check refs. Next you make an offer, then negotiate to see if you can reach a compensation package agreement. If yes, you can do a trial period.
Agree with this.
Interview the nanny and if you like her, call her references and screen THOROUGHLY. Search here for some threads advising what to ask former employers, particularly as new nanny employers there may be some things you haven't thought of.
Then make an offer and negotiate the overall compensation package with her. This offer should be the initial part of the overall work agreement you've put together which will also outline the trial period (usually 2-4 weeks during which time either party can walk away from the partnership), as well as job duties, expectations, paid holidays, performance review schedule, and so on.
If you feel like that's all too much too quickly, you can ask her to come for a day or two (paid) prior to making an offer. If she is available to do it (i.e. not working another job) it's completely fine to take that extra opportunity to see her interact with the kids and get a better sense of her.
Obviously this would happen after checking references but before making a formal offer.