I'm a nanny and I use sittercity, enannysource, nannies4hire, gonannies and care.com. Nannies4hire is the best for having all messages in one place, ease of access to references and background check, areas for parents to fill in for profiles, allows for limiting by live-in/out, allows for nationwide searching. Enannysource works, it's just a bit cumbersome, also allows for nationwide searching and limiting by live-in/out, additionally sorts by one-time, part and full time. Gonannies is good, almost on par with nannies4hire, the only problem is that there is a character limit for applications/messages, has more choices for limiting a search than any of the others. Sittercity allows for a 75 mile radial search around a zip code, but the number of posting is decent (though most aren't relevant for me), only limiting is nanny versus babysitter, requires a keyword to filter (and live-in also pulls up "we live in"). Care.com has the most posts (most not relevant to me), 50 mile radial search around a zip code, keyword to limit (live-in also pulls up "we live in" and "living." I've checked into DCUM, but I think that it's better to just provide links to my profiles. DCUM doesn't have the resources to do background checks, and that's very important to many families.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So stupid when parents looking for help don't post their own contact info. It tells you what kind of people they are. Not good, so they deserve exactly what they get.

Not posting personal contact information is a basic premise of searching on a site like DCUM -- its much smarter to use an email address just for the nanny search. I would hope that any nanny I'm working with would be as cautious.

Your email address just for the nanny search IS exactly what parents NEED to post if they're looking for a nanny. Duh.

Anonymous wrote:So stupid when parents looking for help don't post their own contact info. It tells you what kind of people they are. Not good, so they deserve exactly what they get.

Not posting personal contact information is a basic premise of searching on a site like DCUM -- its much smarter to use an email address just for the nanny search. I would hope that any nanny I'm working with would be as cautious.

Anonymous wrote:We used Care.com, Sittercity, and DCUM, and neighborhood listservs to interview nannies - I think the best candidates came from parent referrals on DCUM. Act fast though!

I've only done two nanny searches but in both cases the best candidates (and the people I hired) came through parent referrals. That can happen here (DCUM) and it definitely happens w/ neighborhood listservs, and being able to talk to another mother - especially one w/ similarly aged kids, who employed that person and is genuinely recommending them, is absolutely invaluable.

We used Care.com, Sittercity, and DCUM, and neighborhood listservs to interview nannies - I think the best candidates came from parent referrals on DCUM. Act fast though!

We recently hired a nanny and used neighborhood listservs, care.com and DCUM to advertise the job.

I put a very specific job posting up (included all hours, number/age of kids, compensation and benefits package, and outline of job responsibilities.) I also included a few basic requirements like fluency in English, legal employment status, etc..

I got 17 responses/applicants from DCUM. Of the 17:
- 3 were alleged referrals from other parents. However 2 of the 3 were nowhere near fluent English and the third was an invalid email address when I attempted to follow up. (Presumably the nanny contact info was valid and the alleged referring parent was bogus.)
- 5 were completely non-responsive to the ad - they just didn't read, and sent generic emails that didn't match what I had listed at all.
- 4 were in barely decipherable english. Truly barely comprehensible at all.
- 4 were promising and I followed up with them. Two turned out not to have read the initial posting - they just sent their resumes without checking to see if there was a match. One never responded.
- One (of the prior 4) I interviewed over the phone and liked very much but she wasn't a good fit.

So while I was initially impressed with the responses from DCUM I was overall pretty turned off by how few people actually read the ad I posted. I tried really hard to provide as much info as possible to save everyone time, and people just don't read.

I ended up hiring someone who came through a neighborhood referral. Care.com generated something like 25 applications, and a couple of serious candidates (did 4 phone interviews and one of my final candidates came from that group.)

Found our amazing nanny here. I love her - I'd rather have no husband than no her. She's so great with our child. We got a preschool spot and I am considering saying no because she's so amazing - if I have a second kid, I only want her to be there. She's a great person and great care provider. And we treat her as such.

So stupid when parents looking for help don't post their own contact info. It tells you what kind of people they are. Not good, so they deserve exactly what they get.

i tried to use this site. had several that just were not ok at the first phone call stage.
the one i hired (and who had good references) was a disaster.

The job posting part of this site is the best and most complete and will get you a good nanny. The rest is a bit over the top but that is to be expected on some level as most people won't resort to posting unless they are really pissed off!

I've gotten side jobs from this site. Which were both good. You have to read between the lines on here and anything else that you use. You have to use your own gut feeling and know if it's right for you or not. Always Always read between the lines.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
I have never and would never look for a nanny on DCUM. The posts from nannies here are almost universally negative and mean and I would not want that kind of person caring for my DC. Sure, there are a few good ones here, but they have been overrun by the mean ones. I feel bad for the potential good ones, having a potentially useful forum ruined so by others.

I only hire through neighborhood list servs and word of mouth from people I know. Personal recommendations trump anonymous trolls every time.

Almost everyone knows how often most parents try to take advantage of nannies.
I suspect you're one of those parents, and thus have no appreciation of nannies who will stand up to abusers like you. TS.

There you have it. The typical mean, ignorant, and insulting nanny of DCUM.

There you have it. A grown up professional, not afraid of bullies like you.