Part Two How to avoid hiring the wrong nanny

August 13, 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.

Posted in hiring a nanny, Nanny Background Check | Tagged nannies, Nanny Background check, nanny interview, nanny services | 6 Comments

How to avoid hiring the wrong nanny

August 7, 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 a complex, difficult task and that the 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.

Posted in hiring a nanny, Nanny Safety | Tagged hire a nanny, Nanny Background check, nanny interview, Nanny Safety, nanny services | 5 Comments

Should I tattle on a nanny?

August 3, 2011

I recently came across a post on Google News called “Should I tattle on a nanny?”  The story was about a woman who ran into a friend’s daughter in Starbucks and went over to talk to the girl while the nanny texted. The nanny never even looked up to see who her charge was talking to.

I found this interesting since it wasn’t black or white, but in a gray zone, at least for the writer of the article. It didn’t involve child neglect or anything like that, just a total indifference to the nanny’s charge.

What I found interesting about this blog post was that the writer was so conflicted about telling the girl’s mom. She even went so far as to say that she was upset about seeing this and has thought about it over and over. She seems to be concerned that her friend might not take the news well East Inflatable Rentals.

Personally, if someone found my child in the same circumstances I’d want to know right away so that I could evaluate what to do. Was this nanny too engrossed in a text conversation and this only happened once, or was this a regular occurrence? In what other ways isn’t she attentive to my child? I bet the mom already has some doubts about this nanny and her friend telling her about this might cause her to take additional action. I see it as an obligation to a friend.

How do you see it?

 

Posted in Nanny Background Check | Tagged nanny, Nanny Background check | 7 Comments

Communicating with your nanny

June 13, 2011

After over 17 years in the nanny business and 13+ years as a nanny employer I’ve come to believe that communication is the most important element in a successful nanny/family relationship. The nanny I hired started when my son was born.

Over the years we have grown to trust each other completely and that trust was built on communication. Claudia is a very smart, hard-working person who loves my son. I treat her in every way as an equal (she’s my superior in some ways!) and greatly respect her. I never treat her as an “employee”, but rather as a partner.

Because of the high regard I hold her in my son respects her and values her in the same way that I do. I believe that the people I have in our lives reflects on me as a parent. Danny picks up good values that he can use throughout his life from his and my relationship with Claudia.

I don’t know how many times I’ve been in social situations and the parents complain to me about the quality of the person that works for them, 0ften insulting their intelligence, motivation and more. What message are they sending to their kids?

Posted in hiring a nanny | Tagged hire a nanny, nannies, nanny services | 7 Comments

SubscriptionSiteInsiderAward

June 8, 2011

We just released our newest press release touting our winning of the Webpage testing awards from SubscriptionSiteInsider.com. We’re very proud of these achievements and grateful for the wonderful companies we work with. http://www.prweb.com/releases/prwebnanny/online/prweb8540610.htm

Although this award doesn’t have to do directly with helping a nanny online find a job or a family find an online nanny agency, it’s just part of our overall efforts to be the best we can be in all areas of business. We like to think of it all as part of one large whole package and believe excellence spills over into all aspects of business and our personal lives.

A small example is this testimonial we received today from a nanny that warmed our hearts. “Your filtering is much more precise – when I type in live-in, that’s exactly what I get.  Oh, and I love the way that your contact the potential family is set up. Have many accounts like xxre.com, xxxxPair, xxNannies, but you’re the best! About time someone got it right! Was this site a woman’s idea? LOL” Thanks Margaret for the kind words of praise.

Posted in hiring a nanny | 4 Comments

eNannySource announces the winners of their nanny and family contest

June 2, 2011

eNannySource recently ran a contest to find the best story of hiring a nanny from us and another contest to find the best story from a nanny about her job search. The nanny and family each won a Flip Video camera.

Jessica Rose Stine of Aledo, TX won the family contest with her touching story of hiring of Nora from our site. She knew Nora was the right nanny for the job from the moment Nora held her baby in her arms and immediately fell asleep. Instant bliss!

Our nanny winner is Kailie Ware of Edmunds, WA. Kailie complimented us greatly by telling us about how easy to use we are and the number of families she had to choose from. Thanks, Kailie Custom gummibåt!

Congratulations to both winners and thanks to all the nannies and families that sent in their stories and photos. It was tough choosing the winners!

Posted in hiring a nanny | Tagged hire a nanny, nannies, nanny services, Nanny work | 4 Comments

Marcia Hall. International Nanny Association Nanny of the Year.

May 31, 2011

eNannySource is happy to announce that Marcia Hall of Milwaukee has won the International Nanny Association (INA) nanny of the year award. The award was presented at the annual INA conference held in Tampa, FL. This award is presented annually to a nanny that shows dedication and professionalism in her nanny job.

Marcia has been a professional nanny since the late 1990’s and is currently nannying for a family with an 8 year-old boy and a 4 year-old girl. Marcia and her husband, Scott have a two year-old girl. We’re sure Marcia is getting a different perspective on childcare with her own child. Click to see Marcia’s full bio and acceptance speech for Nanny of the Year.

eNannySource.com was very pleased to award Marcia a Flip video camera to take movies of those precious moments were her family. Way to go Marcia!

Posted in Uncategorized | 4 Comments

Many moms envy their nanny. Is this a surprise?

May 16, 2011

A recent survey shows that almost 70% of working parents envy their nanny during the summer. I must say, I’m not surprised about these results since envy is an issue in so many nanny-mother relationships. No doubt it’s higher in the summer than in the other season since the kids are outside and having fun with the nanny, but it’s a normal part of the relationship with the nanny. As an agency owner I saw more than once a mother fire the nanny because she was “too close” to the children. Some parents have done this multiple times. What damage is being done to the poor kids!

Fortunately, most moms are able to navigate these tricky waters with the help of a savvy nanny and come to a point where the mom accepts that the nanny can have a “mom-like” relationship with the kids, but still love the mom. We have a whole section of articles and videos by Dr. Lindsay Heller on nanny hiring that you will find helpful.

Over my years as  a nanny agency owner I much more frequently saw moms that realized that the reason they hired a nanny is to provide a loving mom-like relationship to their child in their absence. They understand that relationship will help provide the foundation for a healthy ability for their child to attach and relate throughout their life.

Posted in Uncategorized | 5 Comments

eNannySource.com wins coveted web-testing awards

May 10, 2011

We don’t generally brag about our achievements here, but eNannySource.com recently won two coveted awards from SubscriptionSiteInsider.com for best webpage testing in 2010. We won for the best homepage test of the year and best registration page test of the year. We were up against some tough competition, so we’re truly honored.

Since our inception in 2001 we’ve been dedicated to bringing the best the web has to offer to families and nannies, and as part of this effort we’ve put together a great team, the best in the business in all areas of web commerce and the nanny world. So, we’ll take our hat off to ourselves and all our dedicated team members, scattered all over the country and the world! Job well done (and we’re not done yet!).

Posted in Uncategorized | 3 Comments

How to find a Professional Nanny

April 25, 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!

Posted in hiring a nanny, Nanny Background Check | Tagged hire a nanny, nannies, Nanny Background check, nanny interview | 5 Comments ← Older posts Newer posts →