Picking your Perfect Poppins

When interviewing a prospective nanny, you should keep a few things in mind. Most importantly, you want a qualified nanny with experience. Additionally, you must consider the type of experience this nanny has. What are the environments in which the nanny has worked?  What age groups and number of children are they most comfortable with? Are they a self-starter that takes the initiative, or do they prefer to wait for directions? What childcare philosophies do they follow? These are just a few questions that can help you determine whether or not a nanny has the right type of experience and work ethic to fit perfectly with your family.

After discussing your needs with your spouse/partner/family members or nanny agency, you probably have a clearer idea of the role you need a nanny to fill, not just for your child or children but within your household.  More than anyone else, you know best what your child responds to and their typical energy level.  You also know the environment your family promotes and how the family communicates through positive and negative moments. All of these things can help you assess what sort of nanny would work best with your family and the type of experience or qualifications from which you could benefit.  Just because a nanny is highly qualified, with glowing references, pages of experience, or multiple certifications, this does not necessarily mean they would be the best nanny for your family. Do you want someone to work off their initiative, e.g., “Today I’ll take the kids to the park for a nature trail, pack a picnic to eat out before returning home for nap time,” or “I see we are out of bananas, and milk, I’ll make a list and take the kids to the store this morning”?  Or do you want to be in control of giving these directions, for your nanny to wait on kids’ activities and grocery store runs until instructed?  Finding the perfect nanny has as much to do with personality as their experience.  Finding a nanny with childcare philosophies that match your own and a communication style that fits your own is paramount.

Questions you can ask, and topics you should raise that will help assess if a nanny would be a good personality fit for your family and if you have a similar approach to raising and caring for a child:

-Talk about prior nanny/teaching/childcare positions:  Age and number of children they were responsible for.  What their day with the children and family typically looked like.  Duties required of them.  What are the positives and negatives of these positions?

-What experiences would you take from previous positions that would assist you in this position?

-What is your approach to childcare, or what philosophy(s) do you follow?

-Does the nanny have any related background training/certifications/skills?

-What are your methods of dealing with negative behaviors, and how do you plan to work with a family to create cohesive positive and negative reinforcement methods?

-What activities do you enjoy doing with children or think are important for kids to participate in?

-What would an ideal daily schedule look like?

-How would you approach teaching opportunities?

-What are your requirements for an ideal work situation/environment for a nanny position? What is the most important thing in maintaining a good working environment that allows you to commit long-term?

-How would you approach any issues with your family regarding the children, communication, or running of the household?

-What are your personal and career goals for the upcoming years?

-Outside of your nanny career, what are your hobbies/important things?

-Are certain times of the year or events important for you to have off work?

-As a full/part-time nanny, aside from caring for the children, what do you feel are jobs or duties that you should be or are willing to be responsible for?

With all of the above questions answered, you should have a clear picture of the type of nanny this candidate will be.  Taking the nanny on for 1-2 trial days is advisable, which will run like your everyday routine.  These days should reflect the routine and duties the nanny would be expected to undertake if they were your official nanny.  This will indicate how this nanny performs.  These things should help you make a definitive choice if they are the right pick and your very own Mary Poppins.

Questions you should not ask:

As you are about to become a household employer, you are subjected to the laws surrounding employment. A nanny/family relationship is personal, so it is tempting to ask a nanny as much information as possible to get to know them. However, under the law, some questions and subjects should never be raised in an interview. 

1) Health and Disabilities: According to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, you may not ask a nanny about their health or any possible disabilities, as this class is protected. You are allowed to ask them if there is any reason they would not be able to perform the job duties required for the position.

2) Race, Ethnicity, Nationality, or Citizenship: Questions of this nature should never be asked. The agency has already confirmed our nannies’ authorization to work in the United States.

3) Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity: These are protected classes and cannot be discussed in an interview. 

4) Marital Status: Nannies may not be asked about or discriminated against based on their marital or relationship status. 

5) Children: You are not allowed to ask if the nanny has children or if they plan on having children in the future. Equal employment opportunity laws protect their parental or pregnancy status and is not something to bring up in an interview.

6) Religion: You may not ask a nanny about their religious affiliations or beliefs as equal employment opportunity laws protect these. You can share your family’s religious practices, beliefs, or customs so the nanny understands your expectations regarding these practices with your children.

7) Age: Age is a protected class, and you are not allowed to ask the nanny how old they are. All of our nannies are at least 21 years old. Again, you are allowed to ask if there is any reason the nanny would be unable to fulfill any of the job requirements.

Don’t hesitate to reach out to the agency for clarification if needed.