How do families go about screening online nannies?

by, Steve Lampert President eNannySource.com

In 2001 when I started eNannySource.com it seemed as if the users of the site were almost pioneers. At the time I had been running Buckingham Nannies in Los Angeles for several years and the norm in those days was to hire through a nanny agency, get a referral from a friend or go to Craigslist. Families were afraid to even enter a credit card on the internet. How times have changed!

Nowadays it seems that almost everything is done over the internet and perhaps there is too much casualness about it. Hiring a nanny is not a trivial matter, but yet most everyone feels they can screen a nanny because they “know how to judge character”. Back in my nanny agency days we never felt that our “gut” was the most important part of making the decision on which nannies to represent and send out to families with our “stamp of approval”. We felt that was an important piece, but only a piece.

An important tool in our nanny screening arsenal was our nanny application. This application is much more complete than any online nanny profile can be. Areas of particular interest to us were her job history, references, and why she left those jobs. Seems very basic, but so important because through looking at her job history and then checking her references we could verify that she actually worked for those people, the reasons the job ended were truthful and the references weren’t fake. I wonder how many families do this? Perhaps the single most important part of screening a nanny, after the personal interview, is reference checking. We checked to see if the refs were real and more importantly we found out so much about the nanny. Most nanny references are given by the moms. We found that they greatly cared about the welfare of other kids that nanny might work for, as well as how she got along with the mom. We heard many amazing stories about truly awesome nannies—and some real nightmare stories too!

6 Responses to How do families go about screening online nannies?

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November 18, 2010 at 6:09 pm

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Marie says:

November 19, 2010 at 10:03 am

I’ve definitely been guilty of skimming over references and not actually calling, but I see why it’s so important. Will need to make that a priority in the future!

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Sue Ellen Smith says:

November 19, 2010 at 2:22 pm

My husband and I always call the references, and 99% of the time they have been more than forthcoming about their experience with the nanny we’re considering. It’s been such a help!

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Haley says:

December 1, 2010 at 11:56 am

I’ve given plenty of references for nannies I’ve previously employed, and am always more than happy to do so. You’re bringing a stranger into your home to care for your kids – it’s important to properly vet them before hiring them!

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Trina Johnson says:

December 3, 2010 at 5:33 pm

It’s always interesting to see what past families have to say about our potential nanny candidates – and the moms and dads I’ve talked to have always been more than willing to chat!

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Iris M. says:

December 7, 2010 at 4:59 pm

ha! definitely can attest to hearing some great stories and some horrifying ones when i’ve called references!

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