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Posts Tagged ‘nanny interview’

Searching for a nanny like Mary Poppins?

Sunday, November 20th, 2011

Disney's Broadway tribute to "Mary Poppins" is fantastic PR for the nanny and au pair profession.

No matter how many applicants you screen with our Safe Nanny Hiring Kit — included with all levels of membership — chances are that you will not be hiring a magical nanny with a flying umbrella.

Not to say that a real-life Mary Poppins couldn’t exist, it’s just that in our experiences matching 450,000 nannies and families, we haven’t found one yet.

I’m much more familiar with Disney’s Academy Award-winning film with Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke, in which Mary dances with chimney sweeps and makes her children’s toys come alive. The 1964 classic was named the #6 Greatest Movie Musical of All Time by the American Film Institute in the same tier as “Singing in the Rain” and “The Wizard of Oz.”

However, the new Broadway incarnation is bringing the world’s first supernanny to whole new audiences. Disney’s Mary Poppins is playing to sellout audiences as star Steffanie Leigh, who prepared for the role by first working as a real Manhattan nanny, flies above the crowd on a wire!

How important is a nanny's personality in your hiring decision? In this scene from Disney's "Mary Poppins" on Broadway, authoritarian nanny Miss Andrew tries to force feed medicine.

Mary’s nemesis, Miss Andrew, provides the perfect personality contrast to showcase the extremes of child discipline. In a new interview with Broadway.com, actress Ruth Gottschall muses how her character especially riles up the kiddies in the audience:

“I don’t think of Miss Andrew as being mean. She may be strict, but in her mind she’s doing what she thinks is right, and knows exactly how things should be run in the Banks household. If the audience falls in love with you, that’s terrific, but if they hate you that’s even better. Sometimes I even get booed! If I had a dollar for every time a child starts to scream or cry when I’m onstage…

At last Saturday’s matinee I finished my song and a little boy behind our conductor screamed, “Geez, someone should stab her through the chest with a pitchfork!” It helps me think, “OK, I earned my paycheck this week!”

In the Mary Poppins story, the father (Mr. Banks) and his children (Jane and Michael) have philosophical differences about how to write the job description when hiring a new nanny. Banks wants a strict disciplinarian, while the kids naturally prefer a fun, whimsical woman. Poppins, of course, manages to be a blend of the two, teaching character values and life lessons while still being the most entertaining lady on earth.

When it comes to searching for a nanny to meet your family’s unique needs, you’ll probably be grappling with similar questions. Yes, nanny background checks are extremely important. But that is only one piece of the puzzle. Finding the right personality cannot be rushed, unfortunately.

The good news is that you’re not alone. Our Nanny Success Kit has proven itself thousands of times over, taking you through each step of the search and hiring process. Determine what personality traits and qualifications are most important to you as a parent — and don’t settle for anything less.

Here are some essential Nanny Interview Questions to get you started.

Have you already found your Mary Poppins? Tell us how you found your favorite nanny — and the impact she is having on your family life. Please drop us a line at eNannyTips@gmail.com and you might be featured in a future blog!

Tags: Broadway, find a nanny, hire a nanny, Mary Poppins, Musical, nanny agency alternatives, Nanny Background check, nanny interview, nanny services, screening a nanny, search for a nanny
Posted in hiring a nanny, Pop Culture Nannies | No Comments »

Part Two How to avoid hiring the wrong nanny

Saturday, August 13th, 2011

This nanny blog post is a continuation of the prior blog post with the same name. For those that didn’t read part one, it was based on a recent incident of a nanny caught on a nanny cam dropping, kicking and hitting a baby. Fortunately the child wasn’t physically harmed, but you can imagine the emotional trauma to this baby.

In my prior post I mentioned that a well-respected full service nanny agency is your best defense against this type of horrible incident since they truly are professionals and have many built in safeguards to assure this won’t happen.

Since a high percentage of families won’t use a full-service nanny agency because of the cost and perceived idea that they don’t add value to their hiring, what can a family do to protect themselves? First of all, don’t take yourself off the hook by saying you did a nanny background check. I sincerely believe the nanny involved in the incident in NJ didn’t have a criminal record. Very, very few nannies do. By all means do a nanny background check just to be sure and not sorry, but don’t rely on that for your screening.

Remember, first of all nannies found on Craigslist, online nanny sites are not vetted in any way, in spite of what some of these sites may lead you to believe. We’re all DIY sites, so be prepared to do your homework!

What is the homework?
Use a real nanny application not just the information provided by the online site. Look for inconsistencies such as when one job began and the other ended and the reason for the job ending. Be on the lookout, many job hunters use their friends and relatives as references, but don’t say they’re related. Use a nanny reference check form so that you ask the right questions. Listen to your instincts, does the person feel like a salesperson to you? If, so it may be a phony reference.

Demand that the nanny explain gaps in employment and give you prior addresses where she lived and then compare them with the SSN address report from the background check. Get a copy of her ID, driver’s license, SS card and immigration documents if they are not native born.

I’ve saved the most important part for last. Interview her first in a neutral place and then if you like her have her come to your home. Be sure if both spouses live together that both are at the interview, if not have a friend sit in on the interview.

Once she’s passed all these tests, have her come back to your house and spend some time with your children to see how they respond to her. If you’re still comfortable with her at this point, I bet you’ve made a good decision, since you were thorough and NOT RUSHED.

Just to be on the safe side use a nanny cam and drop in on her once or twice a day at different times just to see how things are going.

Tags: nannies, Nanny Background check, nanny interview, nanny services
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How to avoid hiring the wrong nanny

Sunday, August 7th, 2011

Recently a nanny was caught hitting and kicking a baby. It’s hard to understand how someone could do something like that to a child. Thank goodness the family had a nanny cam and caught it and fired her immediately.

I’m sure that many parents are thinking after reading about this incident, “Here we go again, another nanny hurting an innocent child. We can’t trust a nanny with our children.” This event is alarming and disturbing to all of us and probably more so to those of us in the online nanny business.

Rather than going into a defense of online nanny services, I want to talk about what could be done to possibly prevent this from happening. I’m not going to address the particular circumstances of this sad event since I don’t know enough about the details to make a comment, and I certainly don’t want to say anything that could imply parents are at fault when something like this occurs, they most definitely were not.

I believe that hiring and vetting a nanny is complex, difficult tasks that whose difficulty is underestimated by many families who believe they can go by their “gut” when hiring a nanny. Of course our gut is the primary line of defense for all of us adults when making important decisions, but gut is built on experience which few families have in this arena. Are we all experts in human nature and do we all have great interviewing skills when hiring a potential caregiver to our child? Do things like time pressure to hire quickly so that mom and dad can get to work and money not impact our judgment? Of course they do. Have you have heard about Malcolm Gladwell’s rule of 10,000 hours to be an expert in an area?

It may sound strange coming from the owner of an online nanny service to say this, but the best line of defense for families hiring a nanny is using a full-service nanny agency. They have the skills and discipline to get it right. Nanny agencies have tough standards on experience and references that eliminate most candidates so families aren’t exposed to them. They know how to find phony references and they interview thousands of nannies-and as we know with experience comes expertise.

In the next installment I’ll discuss tools that families can use when hiring on their own without an agency.

Tags: hire a nanny, Nanny Background check, nanny interview, Nanny Safety, nanny services
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How to find a Professional Nanny

Monday, April 25th, 2011

Professional nannies can be a little hard to identify on an online nanny service since there are all levels of nannies available. So how does one go about locating a professional nanny on eNannySource.com? Our suggestions are to use the search criteria to narrow down the number of candidates by looking at the number of years experience. We feel that two to three or more years paid experience as a nanny is a good place to begin.

Other criteria that can help you identify professional nannies are whether they have CPR and a driving license. The number of families worked for isn’t a good criterion to look at because a nanny could have 10 years experience and only work for one family or two years experience and work for five families.

Once you’ve narrowed down the number of nanny candidates add them to your My Top Picks list and begin contacting them. A professional nanny will always get back to you promptly!

Tags: hire a nanny, nannies, Nanny Background check, nanny interview
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Should a family use a nanny cam?

Friday, February 25th, 2011

Most of us by now have read the news about a nanny being charged criminally after being viewed on a nanny cam. First, I feel the concern of families that are scared to death after reading about this. I hope that families find it comforting that this is a very rare occurrence. Most nannies are loving, caring people treating their charges with love and respect and do their jobs well every day.

We feel that by following proper nanny screening steps and really doing your homework in the vetting process that families will find a great nanny. Unfortunately this type of media article creates a lot of understandable anxiety. A nanny cam can help reduce this anxiety and we encourage families to use one whenever they feel the need. Just be sure to follow the appropriate laws of your state.

Tags: hire a nanny, nanny interview, Nanny Safety, nanny work agreement
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Hiring and screening nannies for newborns and infants

Wednesday, February 16th, 2011

Every parent has great concern and anxiety over screening nannies for their newborn or infant. Having owned a brick and mortar nanny agency for many years I was able to see the qualities that help parents feel comfortable making this big decision.

It’s particularly important to follow safe nanny hiring steps for this age group. This can be time consuming, so for some families where money isn’t the main issue using a nanny referral service can be well worth the extra money. Good nanny agencies are experts at nanny screening and understand very well the parent’s anxiety and can help make you feel more comfortable.

For those that want to use an online nanny referral service here are the steps that have been used for years and work very well.

Only interview candidates with prior experience with infants and newborns.
Do a careful phone interview first. Have the nanny’s complete resume or nanny job application (available in our Hiring Pro Toolkit) on hand prior to the interview, if possible.
In the phone interview use a good interview form (available in our Hiring Pro Toolkit) and take notes.
Look at her resume/application (available in our Hiring Pro Toolkit) for prior jobs with this age group and ask her questions about why she liked working with those children. Listen for genuine enthusiasm and care for her charges. Can you feel her warmth?
If the phone interview is satisfactory set up an in-person interview. My preference is with the child present so that you can see her reaction to your baby and the baby’s reaction to her.
Ask her numerous questions about those nanny jobs with very young children.
Check references using a reference check form (available in our Hiring Pro Toolkit).
Reference checking is the “secret weapon” in the nanny hiring process. It’s usually mom-to-mom and very personal. That mom will empathize with you and try to help you with information about the nanny.
Did the reference checking confirm your feelings about the nanny or did the references raise issues?
It sounds trite, but trust your instincts.
If it’s all positive and you want to hire her do a nanny background check for your peace of mind.
Use a family and nanny hiring agreement to put in writing all the points. Our Hiring Pro Toolkit has a free International Nanny Association agreement included.

Tags: hire a nanny, nannies, nanny interview, nanny services, Nanny work
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How do families go about screening online nannies?

Thursday, November 18th, 2010

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!

Tags: hire a nanny, nannies, nanny, nanny interview
Posted in hiring a nanny, Nanny Safety | No Comments »

Should I have my children present at the nanny interview?

Monday, September 27th, 2010

Dr. Lindsay Heller, The Nanny Doctor

This question is a very common question that I get from new moms. There are many layers to the nanny interview process and many layers of screening candidates that needs to take place. Your children really don’t need to be present until the very end of the process. Exposing your children needlessly to nannies who may or may not be their next nanny can leave them feeling anxious and uneasy. At first, you may choose to screen nanny candidates out via e-mail. Then you may choose to interview potential nannies over the phone where you continue to narrow your search. After that step, you may choose to Skype with them or meet them at a local coffee shop to see how you feel about them in person. Once you are pretty sure this candidate is “the one” you can invite them to your house for an in-person interview where they can meet the kids. When you have this meeting, take care not to tell the children this may be their next nanny. Children may either attach themselves immediately or push this potential nanny candidate away if they know that this person may be their next nanny. Instead, have the nanny have a try-out day and tell the kids “Susan” is helping us out today. Watch how the children interact with her and see if it’s a good fit!

Tags: hire a nanny, nannies, nanny, nanny interview, nanny services, Nanny work
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How do I pick nannies to interview?

Thursday, September 23rd, 2010

Dr. Lindsay Heller, The Nanny Doctor

Selecting nanny candidates to interview can be a tricky task that requires some skill! Fortunately enannysource.com provides you with what you need to know in to focus your nanny search and select only the cream of the crop to interview! The most important step is making sure that you have a clear idea of what you want and what you need in a nanny. After you have determined exactly what you are looking for, it is time to see who fits the bill! Here are some tips for determining who is in and who is out.

1) Make a list of qualities you can’t live without in a nanny! This is different for every family so it is important that you determine what your list is. Do you want someone with multiples experience? Someone who has been a live-in nanny? Someone who has a degree in child development? Someone that has nanny newborn experience?

2) Make a list of qualities that are absolute deal breakers! Does your nanny need to know how to swim? Do they need to be comfortable around dogs? Does she need to have cared for newborns?

3) Start the nanny screening process early. Don’t wait for the in-person interview to ask all of the questions. Start screening candidates via e-mail, then over the phone, or Skype and then in in-person. Only a select few of the potential nanny candidates should make it to the in-person interview.

4) Select only candidates who put their best foot forward! Individuals with strong portfolios, including their resume, cover letter and letters of reference are usually pretty together people themselves. This also goes for e-mail correspondence. If they are great at communicating via e-mail and professional, that will carry through to their day to day nanny work with your family!

Tags: hire a nanny, nannies, nanny interview, nanny services
Posted in hiring a nanny, Newborn Nanny Care | 1 Comment »

To use a nanny cam or not to use a nanny cam…that is the question!

Monday, August 9th, 2010

By, Dr. Lindsay Heller The Nanny Doctor

So, you are thinking about using a nanny cam…you probably have a lot of questions and concerns. Let’s talk about how to handle and manage these fears. This is a delicate and sensitive issue. There are not only legal issues to consider but also how it may impact the relationship you have with your nanny.

If you are thinking about using a nanny cam, you probably have a lot of fears related to leaving your child with a nanny. Some of these fears are natural, while others may be common but irrational. You may have heard about nannies abusing children in the news and now that you have your own little one, you are deathly afraid. First of all, you need to know that nannies rarely abuse children. Secondly, you need to know that it is natural to be a little afraid and cautious, however, your fear shouldn’t paralyze you, it should lead you to make good choices about who cares for your child and listening to your gut. Knowledge builds confidence, so please vet your nanny carefully using the eNannySource Nanny Success Kit and Nanny Background Check before hiring a nanny and using a nanny cam.

First Things First
When it comes to using a nanny cam, I recommend that you let the nanny know in the interview that you are planning to use one. Now, for some this may seem contradictory, however, it is not! I’d rather that an incident is completely prevented rather than “caught” and being up front about your use of a nanny cam can raise awareness for the nanny and help to prevent any issues.

Trust
In addition to the laws, you may want to think about how this may affect your relationship with your nanny. Trust is very important in this unique relationship and needs to be nurtured. If you are to go with a nanny cam, you should discuss this with your interview candidates prior to hiring (in the interview) and once hired, have the nanny sign a document stating that they are aware of the “hidden camera.” This way you are hiring someone who you know is comfortable with this practice. A nanny who finds out after some time working for your family that there is a nanny cam may feel insulted and any trust you may have built will be ruined.

Is it legal?
The short answer is it is legal to use a hidden camera in all 50 states, however it is illegal to record someone’s speech in 15 states without their consent. California Video recording of “confidential communications” is prohibited without consent.  The laws of 13 states expressly prohibit the unauthorized installation or use of cameras in private places. In some states, installation or use of any device for photographing, observing or overhearing events or sounds in a private place without the permission of the people photographed or observed is against the law. A private place is one where a person may reasonably expect to be safe from unauthorized surveillance.  Consider that studies and polls show that many care providers are not necessarily against video taping of child-provider interaction, it’s just that they want to know about it. It seems to be a matter of trust and feeling of deception. Some parents handle the situation by telling a potential care provider upfront that a nanny cam will be used so that they can feel comfortable and confident about their child’s care. It’s then up to the nanny to accept or decline the position with a family who uses a nanny cam.

A final note
If you feel so concerned about someone caring for your children, you shuld listen to that gut instinct and not hire them to care for your children. If you think you are feeling a little anxious as a new parent and need the nanny cam toget through

By, Dr. Lindsay Heller The Nanny Doctor

Tags: hire a nanny, nannies, Nanny Background check, nanny interview
Posted in hiring a nanny, Nanny Background Check, Newborn Nanny Care | 2 Comments »