Best not to exhaust your references by giving them out too soon.

If you feel good about a family and the feeling is definitely mutual, then by all means issue them reference contact info if you feel you are close to being hired.

And I agree w/a PP re: Reference/Referral letters.
They are so useless.
Any good + efficient parent who would just take one of these letters at face value would not be doing their due diligence w/out speaking to past employers DIRECTLY.

First meet the parents in person to see if they are not crazy...then give your references.

Why would a family offer someone a position w/out references????

This makes zero sense.

References are to be contacted when a family is 99% positive that they will hire a prospective Nanny.

After chatting w/references, THEN a job offer is made.

Anonymous wrote:As an employer I don't expect, or want, references until I'm down to my top two candidates.

And then I value every reference but especially long-term and recent ones. And I find reference letters generally useless - I want to talk to the reference personally. If I can't do that then it will raise doubts.

This.

OP here. Thanks for the input everyone, it's been helpful. I plan to only share references after I meet a family in person and decide I would accept their offer, if one is made. Because a lot of times you know in the interview that you wouldn't work for that family. So hopefully that will limit the calls my references get.

I plan to share 3 references which covers the last 6 years, but can get the others if needed. Also will ask current family for reference letter when job ends next month. Thanks again.

Anonymous wrote:I give a list of the families without contact information, including job description, number and age of children, and any special circumstances. Then, after an offer, I send the contact information, and it's all chronological. The major reason I do it that way is that I want it crystal clear that I worked for the same family twice, so the DB can answer a wide range of questions.

This is what I do. I have a reference sheet and resume both with and without private information. They get the information without to begin with. Though I prefer to go through an agency who has already vetted both me and the family, so it’s not quite as big of an issue, but I still handle it the same way.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FWIW, as an employer I would never make a job offer without being able to talk to references--that's an important part of the evaluation process. That doesn't mean you need to give them at the first meeting, but if you declined to provide references without an offer in hand, I would move on to the next candidate.

I found both recent and longest valuable (when not the same). Most people we interviewed provided a list of the past 10 years of employment (so for some that = 4-5 positions, and for others it was just 1-2) with a letter from the most recent family.

And if I provided references to everyone who interviewed me, I wouldn’t have any references left. I give a letter per family and a list of families, you may have contact info when I know I’m in the top three or better, I’m not going to give it out when I have 25% or worse chance.

You don't provide references to everyone who interviews you (and references are not one-time-use!) You put "references available upon request," and a family who is seriously considering hiring you asks for and calls your references. Reference checking is the very last stage in any hiring process, child care or otherwise.

We have never called references for anyone we didn't intend to make an offer to (and did in fact make offers to those whose references we called). But we would never, ever make an offer without checking references first, and if you came into an interview telling me you needed an offer in hand to provide them, that would be a huge red flag.

As an employer I don't expect, or want, references until I'm down to my top two candidates.

And then I value every reference but especially long-term and recent ones. And I find reference letters generally useless - I want to talk to the reference personally. If I can't do that then it will raise doubts.

Anonymous wrote:FWIW, as an employer I would never make a job offer without being able to talk to references--that's an important part of the evaluation process. That doesn't mean you need to give them at the first meeting, but if you declined to provide references without an offer in hand, I would move on to the next candidate.

I found both recent and longest valuable (when not the same). Most people we interviewed provided a list of the past 10 years of employment (so for some that = 4-5 positions, and for others it was just 1-2) with a letter from the most recent family.

And if I provided references to everyone who interviewed me, I wouldn’t have any references left. I give a letter per family and a list of families, you may have contact info when I know I’m in the top three or better, I’m not going to give it out when I have 25% or worse chance.

FWIW, as an employer I would never make a job offer without being able to talk to references--that's an important part of the evaluation process. That doesn't mean you need to give them at the first meeting, but if you declined to provide references without an offer in hand, I would move on to the next candidate.

I found both recent and longest valuable (when not the same). Most people we interviewed provided a list of the past 10 years of employment (so for some that = 4-5 positions, and for others it was just 1-2) with a letter from the most recent family.

I give a list of the families without contact information, including job description, number and age of children, and any special circumstances. Then, after an offer, I send the contact information, and it's all chronological. The major reason I do it that way is that I want it crystal clear that I worked for the same family twice, so the DB can answer a wide range of questions.

Recent listed first, then longest second. I echo not giving out your references until you have been offered the job (pending reference check) and you would accept. It is unfair to your references and you are going to burn them out.

I would likely share my most recent references first + foremost.

But if I had any long-term positions, I would definitely use them as well as long as they weren’t TOO FAR into the past.

The only caveat is if you are looking for a new position w/out letting your current family know then of course you do not list them as a reference.

Signed-
A Nanny

Nanny here. I do not give out any references until after I meet and get an offer. You’re wasting your references time by giving out references to everyone you meet with. I would give a lost if all and let them choose which ones they want to call.

Nannies, when providing references at an interview how many do you share? And is it better to use the most recent references or the families you’ve worked for the longest? Thanks in advance!