Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most of the DC nannies posting on this site don't meet the screening bars of the agencies. They have spotty work histories, fake references etc. Law firms and larger employees tend to recommend Metropolitan and White House Nannies.

In my experience as a nanny for the last 15 years the agencies I have tried have been a joke. The 2 I tried lied about my qualifications to potential families. They went against my wishes in terms of not working with infants. I prefer toddlers. One agency once I signed up called my references at 5 am and woke them up. The ones I tried were not professional and left me feeling icky. Almost like a scam. I'm a real nanny with wonderful references and qualifications and my wishes should matter. What they care about is a match and not making the nannies happy.

I don't think this is a universal truth. I operate an agency and can tell you that I wholeheartedly care about the nannies I work with -- and that is aside from anything having to do with business or profit. I just do. Additionally, if all an agency cares about IS a match, then it would be awfully short-sighted not to care about the nannies' happiness since that is an integral part of any successful match.

Anonymous wrote:Nannies, have you had any really stellar (or really awful) experiences with DC-area agencies? I am looking for a new job and my previous agency was based mostly on the west coast (I moved here with the family) and I don't want to relocate.

The agency lost the power ,for now everything is in the net.

Anonymous wrote:Most of the DC nannies posting on this site don't meet the screening bars of the agencies. They have spotty work histories, fake references etc. Law firms and larger employees tend to recommend Metropolitan and White House Nannies.

In my experience as a nanny for the last 15 years the agencies I have tried have been a joke. The 2 I tried lied about my qualifications to potential families. They went against my wishes in terms of not working with infants. I prefer toddlers. One agency once I signed up called my references at 5 am and woke them up. The ones I tried were not professional and left me feeling icky. Almost like a scam. I'm a real nanny with wonderful references and qualifications and my wishes should matter. What they care about is a match and not making the nannies happy.

OP, there used to be a couple decent agencies here, but there are no great agencies here at this point in time. Metropolitan used to have different a different owner and they were decent, but not anymore.

OP here. I am surprised at the negativity towards agencies. In the past, I found my agency very helpful with finding a good personality match, helping me narrow down my search and also very supportive long-term.

From a nanny, I would not use either Metropolitan or WHN to find a job. They aren't good agencies for nannies. Metropolitan is just all together irresponsible, not returning phone calls, taking forever and a day to get back to you and WHN does not do a good job matching up families and nannies and if Barbara doesn't like you, good luck finding a job. They will just keep telling you nothing is available. Barbara kept telling me there were no jobs for me, but it turns out the family I ended up working for had also used WHN to find a nanny, but Barbara never told them about me. Family and I found each other from a different site.

Most of the DC nannies posting on this site don't meet the screening bars of the agencies. They have spotty work histories, fake references etc. Law firms and larger employees tend to recommend Metropolitan and White House Nannies.

I am curious what happens with the agency. Why is it preferable to go without? Thanks.

Have you just tried your luck using online childcare websites such as Care.com and Sittercity.com?

In the DC area, I don't know if I would recommend an agency.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Nannies, have you had any really stellar (or really awful) experiences with DC-area agencies? I am looking for a new job and my previous agency was based mostly on the west coast (I moved here with the family) and I don't want to relocate.

We don't like agencies in these here parts.

+1000
Put yourself out there, girl, and you go!

Have never used an agency.

I don't use an agency

Anonymous wrote:Nannies, have you had any really stellar (or really awful) experiences with DC-area agencies? I am looking for a new job and my previous agency was based mostly on the west coast (I moved here with the family) and I don't want to relocate.

We don't like agencies in these here parts.

Nannies, have you had any really stellar (or really awful) experiences with DC-area agencies? I am looking for a new job and my previous agency was based mostly on the west coast (I moved here with the family) and I don't want to relocate.