If you happen to be a working mother, hiring a nanny could be your foremost necessity before resuming work post motherhood. It is difficult to let go of your little one and possibly even more difficult to entrust faith in an absolute stranger for taking up such a delicate task. If you evaluate options from a mother’s point of view, finding someone who can replace you suitably could be a challenging and often impossible task to successfully complete.
Hiring Nannies—Useful Guiding Tips
It is easier if you approach the issue with a sense of detachment and try to stick to the some parenting guidelines while hiring a nanny.
- Always keep in mind that the hiring process should necessarily be a lengthy and detailed one for ensuring the best choice. Don’t keep this for the last minute.
- Ideally, you should have a clear picture in mind of the candidate you wish to recruit. For example, there should be clarity on the qualities you are looking for, the personal traits preferred, the years of experience, the physical appearance, the age and many other such factors. These will help in narrowing down your options. Trying to find the ideal nanny from a crowd of too many of them can be extremely difficult. It is not possible to land a good choice if there are too many options to evaluate.
- Once you have a vague picture in mind, engage a professional agency for the purpose. You might have to shell out an additional service charge for the same, but this is indeed the most suitable option. Once you provide the inputs to the agency, they will send you certain options for evaluation. You can shortlist some and start with telephonic interviews with the first list of selected options. Ask them about their salary expectations, whether they have private conveyance, about their years of experience, limitations if any, among other things.
- Once the telephonic round is over, meet the short listed candidates in person. You need to conduct the interviews with extreme precision. Check on the overall personality of the nanny and attempt to judge whether she would be getting along with your child. Checking on other aspects such as professionalism and punctuality are also important. Analyse if the prospective candidate has adequate knowledge about and experience of handling children who are approximately your child’s age.
- The final step is to seek references and establish an employment contract with the nanny of your choice. You can seek the assistance of the agency in question for successful completion of these steps.
These simple five tips for hiring a nanny can truly help. Stick to a methodical approach for suitable selection.
