Nanny here I use both.
I use written letters as part of my portfolio and during the application process. I use it as one of my tools to introduce myself to a family.

I have permission to share my previous employers phone numbers, but I don't share that information with everyone, only if we're at a certain point in the process.

Honestly, I want a potential employer to call my references and chat. I'd be concerned if they didn't want to speak with them. To me it's a sign they are responsible and thorough.

MB here and I would completely respect this process.

I totally agree that a nanny should wait until she meets a family in person and is at the final hiring stage before handing out references. This prevents her from exhausting them out.

I do not see why some childcare websites encourage nannies to post their reference's contact information on their public profiles and claim it gives them a much better chance of being hired. I think the opposite. I wouldn't want my personal contact info on some public website and have complete strangers contacting me that even my former nanny hasn't even met in person.

MB here. I totally agree with the approaches of the last two nanny posters. That is exactly what I would expect/want from candidates.

I share my reference letters along with my resume at the start but contact information only gets shared with families I want to work for based on the interview.

My references actually requested me not to give their information unless I am serious about a position. I might go on 3 to 6 interviews in a week, that can be really time consuming, especially if it takes a couple weeks to find something.

Some prospective employers have requested my references information up front. I always explain why I can not do that. Still few of those people ever email or call me back to set up an interview. They are probably doing me a favor.

Nanny here I use both.
I use written letters as part of my portfolio and during the application process. I use it as one of my tools to introduce myself to a family.

I have permission to share my previous employers phone numbers, but I don't share that information with everyone, only if we're at a certain point in the process.

Honestly, I want a potential employer to call my references and chat. I'd be concerned if they didn't want to speak with them. To me it's a sign they are responsible and thorough.

MB here. I want to speak directly with former employers. I don't completely disregard letters of reference but I don't consider them in any way sufficient.

There is no substitute for talking directly with another mother in my opinion.

I've also written letters of reference and what I don't say in them is as important as what I do say. So a prospective employer who calls me for a reference will get a great deal more information than could ever be put in a letter. Also, the myriad things that influence "fit" cannot be captured in a reference letter. Someone else's nanny who wasn't a great fit might be perfect for us, and vice versa, but you can only discern information like that from a conversation (assuming you ask the right questions).

+100.

The person we hired had no prior nanny experience and gave us three reference letters from former jobs and two people to contact for character references. We contacted all five.

MB here. I want to speak directly with former employers. I don't completely disregard letters of reference but I don't consider them in any way sufficient.

There is no substitute for talking directly with another mother in my opinion.

I've also written letters of reference and what I don't say in them is as important as what I do say. So a prospective employer who calls me for a reference will get a great deal more information than could ever be put in a letter. Also, the myriad things that influence "fit" cannot be captured in a reference letter. Someone else's nanny who wasn't a great fit might be perfect for us, and vice versa, but you can only discern information like that from a conversation (assuming you ask the right questions).

After a decade I've noticed the families most insistent on calling numerous references and doing their due diligence do so because they have been "burned" by bad nannies in the past. But the reason it seems they were usually burned is because they always seem to be the worst MBs out there. Jobs I have turned down because of the excessive hours, misbehaving kids, purposeful use of gauge language when discussing duties, not wanting to pay OT, etc.

MBs that have those problems are usually the first ones to call all my references and my refs will usually call or text me afterwards and tell me they sounded crazy or high maintenance.

My best jobs have been from direct word of mouth, but other good jobs came from neighborhood list serves. Most of these people did not call my references, and we had many years of no problems.

Hi all. What sort of references do you get/give? A written letter of recommendation? Permission to give the family's email address or phone number to a potential new employer?

Nannies, what do you prefer?
Families, what do you prefer?

Bonus points if you explain why one is better than the other or why it doesn't matter.