Since the references likely are working professionals w/young children to care for, they are likely super busy + it may take some time to get back to you.

I would wait a few days, no more than say...three max.

After that, you can always try to contact them again.

It's the weekend, the people may not have been around.

As others said make the offer contingent on a favorable reference.

You can let the employee know you're making an offer but it's contingent on getting a good reference from the person whose contact info she gave.

One of my references did that to me. She is a doctor and has a busy schedule. Luckily I gave my employer more than one reference. My employer emailed me to let me know that one of my references wasn't responding so I emailed the reference. She dosen't like answering the phone if it is an unknown caller so that was why she hadn't answered. She ended up calling my employer to give the reference and then added a written reference to my Care profile.

Let your nanny know you are interested. Or ask if she has another reference.

My best reference wasn't even someone I nannied for but a police officer who knew me very well and vouched for me.

Anonymous wrote:So we found a nanny we think would be perfect. My husband called her main reference last night around 6pm and we still have not heard back. Do we call again? Give them 24 hours? We want to get this offer out to her ASAP as we have already lost 2 other nannies due to not making an offer quick enough.

My employers offered me the job before they called my references and the offer was conditional based on both my references checking out and my background check. You can offer the the job now with the same conditions just to hold her.

Anonymous wrote:PP Here, but definitely let the nanny know ASAP that you're interested and waiting on refs.

+1 The nanny can contact her reference and have them call you.

PP Here, but definitely let the nanny know ASAP that you're interested and waiting on refs.

I had a reference play phone tag with a potential employer and she eventually just left a long message on VM. Maybe you could call again after 24ish hours and ask for a voice mail or email instead? Personally, I HATE talking on the phone and would be much more likely to respond to an email.

Hopefully they're just out of town or busy and will get back to you soon.

Let the nanny know you are waiting to hear back from her references. If she is still close to them, she may be able to contact them herself and ask them nicely to respond. If she is not close to them, she will know you are both serious and close to offering her a position.

So we found a nanny we think would be perfect. My husband called her main reference last night around 6pm and we still have not heard back. Do we call again? Give them 24 hours? We want to get this offer out to her ASAP as we have already lost 2 other nannies due to not making an offer quick enough.