5 Common Nanny Hiring Mistakes

When you hire a nanny, you’re adding someone to your family. It may seem like a reason to keep the interview and hiring process more casual. After all, the nanny-employer relationship can be more vulnerable and emotional than traditional professional relationships. Why treat the hiring process like a regular job search?

While we agree that hiring a nanny is different than finding a new employee for a typical office role, that’s all the more reason to take hiring and interviewing seriously. It’s important that you take your time with the process and pay attention to all the little details. Let’s talk about how you can avoid the most common nanny hiring mistakes to find the perfect nanny for your family.

Doing only one interview

One interview isn’t enough to get to know a nanny. Plan to interview multiple nannies multiple times. We suggest an initial interview over the phone first to get a sense of the nanny’s personality, experience, and child care strategies. After this initial interview, you can decide if you’d like to schedule an in-person interview with you, and a separate interview with the children and the rest of the family, if you prefer. 

With this method, you don’t waste time meeting candidates in person whom you don’t want to interview further. You also have time in between interviews to check references, too, which we talk about next.

Failing to check references

It’s essential to call references and conduct a background check! Even if a candidate seems perfect, call their references and ask about their experience. Ask about their quality of childcare, how they got along with the nanny, discipline strategies, if they were on time and available in emergencies, and so on. 

You should also run a background check to look at their driving record, work history, court records, drug test results, and so on. The information you receive from a background check can vary. You’ll need to get a potential candidate’s permission to run a background check, too.

Paying under the table

Unfortunately, many families do not pay their nanny legally, and resort to “paying under the table,” as it’s called. Some nannies feel forced into that situation since legal pay may affect housing benefits, health care, or tuition assistance. And families who feel pressured into paying under the table can face a lot of problems when they or their nanny get audited.

Avoid the mess by legally paying your nanny: no exceptions. Understand the payroll and tax laws in your state. Do your research and figure out the going pay rate for your area. It takes some work, but it’s necessary to be a good employer.   

Settling for someone when you run out of time

So far, the mistakes we’ve discussed are often made when you don’t give yourself enough time to find the right nanny! Employers resort to doing only one interview, skip the background check and references, or agree to pay under the table because they need someone now. Don’t settle for a nanny that you’re not completely happy with because you’ve run out of time. 

Start looking for a nanny as soon as you know you’ll need one. For example, maybe you already employ a full-time nanny who’s planning to leave once your child starts preschool in 6 months. Begin your search for a replacement now. Prepare to read a lot of resumes and do a lot of reviews. When you start as soon as you can, you can mentally prepare yourself for the hiring process to come.

Using a trial period or working interview

In theory, a trial period or working interview lets a nanny prove her childcare skills to her potential employer. However, some parents replace multiple interviews and reference checks with only these trial periods, judging a nanny at face value rather than putting in the hiring work themselves. It’s not fair to a nanny who doesn’t have time to get to know a potential employer, nor is it fair to the family who may not get the most accurate impression of a nanny’s quality of care and personality.

A trial period can work if you’ve already run through the interview process, and you’re almost sure that you want to hire a nanny. Maybe you need a nanny to spend longer periods of time with your child to be sure they’re the right fit, or if you’re hiring a live-in nanny, everyone needs to feel comfortable with the decision. If you do decide to use a trial period, just make sure you’re not replacing any other part of the hiring process with it.

Let A Perfect Fit find your nanny instead

The nanny hiring process can be long and exhausting. Why not let an experienced nanny agency work with you to find the right professional for your family? A Perfect Fit matches each nanny according to a family’s needs to make sure both parties are happy. Learn more about what we do for Phoenix, Dallas, and Denver area families now!