Are your salary and benefit expectations in line with what other nannies are asking? Do you offer the same services? Why are you so sure that your age or race are the problem since these demographics can't even be viewed on the forum posts? Maybe you're right, but maybe you really could improve your presentation and are using these as an excuse not to self-examine your own behavior. If you're getting declined repeatedly, I would try opening with some general conversations on your skills/services, and hold the money talk to a second round interaction. This is the general rule in the corporate world....a nanny should behave the same way if she wants to be treated as a professional (i.e. you can't cherry pick). Also, there are certain conversations that just don't "translate" well in writing, and give a bad impression.

I can smell some "attitude" from the OP as well. Anyone who leads a professional interaction with salary demands or a "my way or the highway" approach just sounds rigid and solely in it for the money. I had a recent candidate approach me this way (leading with salary demands, but not a single question about my family or the role). it made me feel defensive and more likely to push back on her requests. The sad thing is I probably would have met all her original requests if she'd just taken the time to get to know us, as money will not be a key determining factor in our offer. Good childcare IS priceless, we just don't want the self righteous attitude shoved down our throats!

It's the $. Many/most parents simply aren't financially able to their nanny $50,000 per year. There aren't that many upper class families in America.
There are more upper middle class families that make maybe $200K/year. After taxes, health insurance and 401k, that is $110K/year. After mortgage and utilities, it's down to $70K. If we pay a nanny $50K, that leaves $20K for everything else we need- food, car, clothes, etc. The math doesn't work.
So- we either do daycare or find more affordable nannies.

Anonymous wrote:You can ask for whatever you think you deserve, but if people can find someone adequate to do the job for less, they aren't going to pay your rate. The extra $5 per hour that you are asking comes out to 10k per year not including overtime. Since I'm taxed on my money before I pay you, I need to make an extra 17k per year to pay you that extra $5 per hour.

Personally I didn't want an older nanny for my kids. I wanted someone young and energetic, and from experience my kids bond better with younger caregivers.

I also didn't care about a degree. Taking care of kids requires a lot of patience, but it's not rocket science. Having some prior nannying experience with same aged kids was more important than a degree. Our favorite nanny ever had a degree in math.

Her first paragraph is spot on. Guess what. I have a law degree, have more than 10 years of experience in my legal field. But to pay a nanny 40k a year, that takes out something like 55k-60k out of my salary due to my income taxes. I work for the government and after I pay for my income tax, commute costs (daily parking fee and gas), I get LESS a month than my nanny. I get about $1,000 left. I'm not complaining, it's my choice to go with a nanny for these early years. But my reality is that going up or down $5 an hour in nanny costs is a big deal to our monthly budget. I would love to have Mary Poppins level nannies, but I can't.

I would pass on you because of your bizarre line of thinking, stream of consciousness, poor writing, and, yes, attitude. I think you're putting the same thing out to prospective employers as you have here.

Also, sometimes people are busy and just don't get back to applicants in whom they're not interested. It happens, move on. If you're so great, you'll get a better offer immediately.

You are being decline or ignored because of you salary request alone, OP. It is all about the money and nothing else.

Some people simply don't value early education enough to pay for it - fine. You are better off not wasting your time with them. Some people simply cannot afford you - fine. That is the truth and a valid response. They are doing the best they can with what they have (and even a loving but under-educated and experienced nanny is better than institutionalizing your infant in daycare).

Regardless, you are better off being declined or ignored.

Anonymous wrote:Why pay someone 20 when you can pay someone else 10

Because expertise, certification and education matter the most in the first three years of a child's life.

Why pay someone 20 when you can pay someone else 10

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because some of us can smell attitude and want no part of it, especially at top of the market rates.

"Attitude"?! Is that like "uppity"?

Oh, please.

The only candidates I've ever interviewed for whom I could fathom applying the adjective "uppity" were young, white, american women who thought they were entitled to $25 an hour, and claimed 7 years of experience at age 22 because they were counting babysitting. Compared to highly qualified, experienced, and competent grown ups with stellar references, but perhaps no higher education, or for whom English was a second language, they looked "uppity" indeed, and were definitely not the candidates I pursued.

And then there was a tremendously qualified and professional applicant who walked into my house and started criticizing how I had a changing station set up downstairs. As a pp said, I'm not going to hire someone who thinks they are superior to me. I hire people I like and trust, who love and understand children, and who are incredibly important to my family. You might be tremendously qualified, highly paid, incredibly well educated, and someone else's ideal nanny. That's fine - different strokes...

But there is a whole class of nanny (in my limited experience) who think they are vastly superior to others because they are american. I loathe that mindset.

I have interviewed foreign nannies who thought they were superior to me and criticized my newborn set up. And I am NOT interested in hiring anyone - American or foreign - who is 22 and did not graduate from college.

Anonymous wrote:I think every parent hiring a nanny wants the best quality child care they can afford. We all want Marry Poppins. The reality is that there is only so much parents can afford.

If you are really rich -- you are not on care. You do agency, your managers searches for you, you use word of mouth.

If you are two working adults with about $200-300k annual income (which I think are likely majority of families trying to find a nanny on care), then depending on your expenses, $35-50K / year is all that you can afford for the nanny. Count the hours, account for taxes and overtime and this is how you get $15-18/hr rates... it is still much more expensive than a daycare. But if there are enough loving nannies that are happy with these rates, than that's what the going rate becomes.

If you are looking to make $70-80K as a nanny you should be looking for families that have at least $500K and not too many of them are on care.

Every time I hear nannies complain that parents don't pay high enough rates, I wonder if they did the math.

Not true. My weekend employers are very, very wealthy and their agency didn't have anyone for a weekend nanny so my employer advertised on care.com.

I think every parent hiring a nanny wants the best quality child care they can afford. We all want Marry Poppins. The reality is that there is only so much parents can afford.

If you are really rich -- you are not on care. You do agency, your managers searches for you, you use word of mouth.

If you are two working adults with about $200-300k annual income (which I think are likely majority of families trying to find a nanny on care), then depending on your expenses, $35-50K / year is all that you can afford for the nanny. Count the hours, account for taxes and overtime and this is how you get $15-18/hr rates... it is still much more expensive than a daycare. But if there are enough loving nannies that are happy with these rates, than that's what the going rate becomes.

If you are looking to make $70-80K as a nanny you should be looking for families that have at least $500K and not too many of them are on care.

Every time I hear nannies complain that parents don't pay high enough rates, I wonder if they did the math.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because some of us can smell attitude and want no part of it, especially at top of the market rates.

"Attitude"?! Is that like "uppity"?

Oh, please.

The only candidates I've ever interviewed for whom I could fathom applying the adjective "uppity" were young, white, american women who thought they were entitled to $25 an hour, and claimed 7 years of experience at age 22 because they were counting babysitting. Compared to highly qualified, experienced, and competent grown ups with stellar references, but perhaps no higher education, or for whom English was a second language, they looked "uppity" indeed, and were definitely not the candidates I pursued.

And then there was a tremendously qualified and professional applicant who walked into my house and started criticizing how I had a changing station set up downstairs. As a pp said, I'm not going to hire someone who thinks they are superior to me. I hire people I like and trust, who love and understand children, and who are incredibly important to my family. You might be tremendously qualified, highly paid, incredibly well educated, and someone else's ideal nanny. That's fine - different strokes...

But there is a whole class of nanny (in my limited experience) who think they are vastly superior to others because they are american. I loathe that mindset.

Anonymous wrote:I hired someone with no nannying experience for $15 an hour who lives here legally, and passed up higher costing people because DH and I didn't feel good about them, or didn't like the way they tried to come in and tell us how we had to do things.