Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We also tried Care and didn't have much luck. Ended up making the decision to just suck it up and go with an agency. They did some of the pre-vetting and presented us with three wonderful candidates. It may be worth it for you to go the agency route, if you really aren't having any luck otherwise. Yeah, I hated writing that big placement fee check, but honestly, the nanny we found was WELL worth it. Just something worth considering, if the time draws near and you still aren't having any luck.

Just how big was that check you had to write them?

Painfully big. $7K. It was based on a percentage of her annual salary.

Anonymous wrote:We also tried Care and didn't have much luck. Ended up making the decision to just suck it up and go with an agency. They did some of the pre-vetting and presented us with three wonderful candidates. It may be worth it for you to go the agency route, if you really aren't having any luck otherwise. Yeah, I hated writing that big placement fee check, but honestly, the nanny we found was WELL worth it. Just something worth considering, if the time draws near and you still aren't having any luck.

Just how big was that check you had to write them?

We also tried Care and didn't have much luck. Ended up making the decision to just suck it up and go with an agency. They did some of the pre-vetting and presented us with three wonderful candidates. It may be worth it for you to go the agency route, if you really aren't having any luck otherwise. Yeah, I hated writing that big placement fee check, but honestly, the nanny we found was WELL worth it. Just something worth considering, if the time draws near and you still aren't having any luck.

Anonymous wrote:They are right about you, PP. You are a very bitter nanny.

What a pity that you feel threatened by successful and well-compensated people. Maybe you could learn something?

They are right about you, PP. You are a very bitter nanny.

How stupid you are if you believe that wages don't matter to a good nanny....

OP, we have a great PT nanny and it was a tough search for us as well. I really don't think it has much to do with what you're offering as it seems like a good rate (we pay $17.50/hour for 2 kids, very minimal non-child-care duties). I think it is more that it is hard to find people who don't want to work FT. We had NO luck with care.com and I personally wouldn't pay the money to use it in the future.

We looked a lot at DCUM, local listservs, and even contacted local schools (NOVA, Marymount) to see if there was a way to find a student or grad student looking for PT work. We found our current nanny through DCUM and her ad was very low-key--not something that would have normally caught my eye, but I was looking high and low because we were really in a jam.

A couple of things that helped me--we were pretty flexible on days but when we needed/need her she works all day--so on her days off she is completely free and we don't ever ask her to come on a day that isn't her norm. If you don't have set days I think it's much harder. Also, I did consider making it into one FT job with another family as a "share" of sorts but we ran into a lot of issues there--primarily that the nanny could wind up working over 40 hours with no overtime which for many would be a deal-breaker. Also, how do we decide on vacations? Right now we do one week our choice, one week her choice, one week around holidays--would another family agree to the same and/or would we have to coordinate vacations and days off with another family's schedule? I actually think this is harder to do than to just find someone who wants to work PT.

Good luck. It took us about 2-3 months to find our current person but she is a gem and has worked for us for going on 2 years--so the search was well worth it!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, any luck? Are you able to up your hourly rate maybe?

There is nothing wrong with the hourly rate she is offering.

Then why can't she get anyone, Einstein?

Because most of the "nannies" out shouldn't even be nannies and that is who is looking for jobs. Most of the really good nannies are already in a position where the family realizes what a gem they have or they have moved on from being a nanny.

The few families who have the best nannies are most likely paying a solid living wage to.

Yes, and those FEW good nannies out there should be paid well. I am a former nanny and quite honestly, there were very few nannies I would ever trust my children with, even some of those so called great nannies. Most nannies out there are just crappy. Parents have plenty of nannies to choose from, but very few quality nannies. But when I would look for a job, it wasn't always about the money. There were jobs I had been offered where I would have made a lot of money, but it was a crappy job, or it wasn't a good fit. My last position I had, I started off a bit lower than what I had been previously been paid, and it was a great job and after I had been with them for a bit, they greatly increased my salary because they saw what a great job I was doing.

Throwing money at a bad nanny isn't going to make her a better nanny.

+1,000

I'm a former nanny as well and I feel the same way. If parents really only knew what went on while they were at work.

Hello, I'm a nanny and mum in the UK, but I hope my suggestions translate!

Firstly, any chance of winning your old nanny back? Or asking her / him to recommend someone?

If not, for an experienced career nanny whom you only need part-time, you'll need to "share" them in some way. You could look at doing a nanny-share of say 3 days with family A and 2 days with family B, or by sharing your nanny with another family at the same time, OR taking a nanny with their own child. (google nanny-share and your location).

I don't know if your part-time needs are for a few hours a day, or 2-3 days a week, but here are some ideas of where to look:
The e-newsletter and noticeboard of your local nurseries and (pre) schools who may have parents who want or need to share a nanny. Nannies doing drop-off may also see your notice & pass to friends.

Your local university or college offering advanced childcare qualifications.

I hope that helps some,
Rebecca
Montessori Nanny, UK

"So true. Not OP here, but I wish I could team up with a family who needed a nanny on days opposite of when I did so together we could offer one FT job. "

So do it. put in the leg work and work to find someone to nannyshare w/ the opposite days. It will indeed make you job much more attractive.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, any luck? Are you able to up your hourly rate maybe?

There is nothing wrong with the hourly rate she is offering.

Then why can't she get anyone, Einstein?

Because most of the "nannies" out shouldn't even be nannies and that is who is looking for jobs. Most of the really good nannies are already in a position where the family realizes what a gem they have or they have moved on from being a nanny.

The few families who have the best nannies are most likely paying a solid living wage to.

Yes, and those FEW good nannies out there should be paid well. I am a former nanny and quite honestly, there were very few nannies I would ever trust my children with, even some of those so called great nannies. Most nannies out there are just crappy. Parents have plenty of nannies to choose from, but very few quality nannies. But when I would look for a job, it wasn't always about the money. There were jobs I had been offered where I would have made a lot of money, but it was a crappy job, or it wasn't a good fit. My last position I had, I started off a bit lower than what I had been previously been paid, and it was a great job and after I had been with them for a bit, they greatly increased my salary because they saw what a great job I was doing.

Throwing money at a bad nanny isn't going to make her a better nanny.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, any luck? Are you able to up your hourly rate maybe?

There is nothing wrong with the hourly rate she is offering.

Then why can't she get anyone, Einstein?

Because most of the "nannies" out shouldn't even be nannies and that is who is looking for jobs. Most of the really good nannies are already in a position where the family realizes what a gem they have or they have moved on from being a nanny.

The few families who have the best nannies are most likely paying a solid living wage to.

Agree.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, any luck? Are you able to up your hourly rate maybe?

There is nothing wrong with the hourly rate she is offering.

Then why can't she get anyone, Einstein?

Because most of the "nannies" out shouldn't even be nannies and that is who is looking for jobs. Most of the really good nannies are already in a position where the family realizes what a gem they have or they have moved on from being a nanny.

The few families who have the best nannies are most likely paying a solid living wage to.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, any luck? Are you able to up your hourly rate maybe?

There is nothing wrong with the hourly rate she is offering.

Then why can't she get anyone, Einstein?

Because most of the "nannies" out shouldn't even be nannies and that is who is looking for jobs. Most of the really good nannies are already in a position where the family realizes what a gem they have or they have moved on from being a nanny.

Anonymous wrote:We have focused our pt search not on folks needing ft and settling, but rather those available pt. I'm not sure where the earlier poster is going with the comment about bills.....not relevant.

The quality is simply quite different than ft pool of candidates.

So true. Not OP here, but I wish I could team up with a family who needed a nanny on days opposite of when I did so together we could offer one FT job.