Interviewing Your Prospective Nanny
Hiring a nanny can be an anxious process for parents. Trusting a stranger with the care of your little ones can be stressful and sometimes overwhelming. The welfare of your children is paramount, so you want to get it right.
Here’s a guide to successfully interviewing your chosen candidates and asking the essential questions before hiring them.
Be Prepared
Make sure you prepare plenty of notes and have a list of questions ready to ask. Ideally, the interview should be face-to-face.
At the beginning of the interview you need to define the nanny’s role and your expectations so that their job position is clear.
If your nanny is coming from another country, establish that they are legally permitted to work in the UK.
Questions
Ask open-ended questions and give the candidate time to reflect and answer. This will also give you the opportunity to gauge their reaction. Be honest and open, there’s no point in trying to catch them out with trick questions. Use the following as examples:
- Why do you want to work with children?
- What activities do you enjoy with the children?
- How do you deal with tantrums and disagreements?
- What first aid training do you have?
- How would you deal with parental disagreements?
- What would you expect from a prospective nanny?
- Introduce the candidate to the rest of the family and observe their interaction with the children. Are both sides relaxed and comfortable in each other’s company?
Background Checks
Check with ex-employers:
- How old were the children?
- How did you get on with the candidate?
- How did you deal with conflicts?
- Were they dependable?
- What were their reasons for leaving?
You may also want to carry out a criminal background check. Ultimately trust your own instincts. Insight Investigations offer a thorough background check service for your peace of mind.
Should You Invest in Nanny Watch?
Letting a stranger into your home is a big step. Firstly, you’re leaving them with your children and secondly they have access to your valuables while you’re out of the house. While agencies run police and background checks on nannies, parents often want greater assurances.
What is Nanny Watch?
For many parents, hiring a nanny isn’t a luxury – it’s a necessity so they can go back to work and afford to pay the bills. But to give them ultimate peace of mind, many hire a private detective to watch the nanny or install a nanny cam.
A nanny cam is an surveillance camera, designed to watch people in your home when you’re away. It’s typically installed in an everyday item, such as a teddy bear or microwave.
Surveillance cameras can be controversial due to privacy concerns, so it’s important to understand the pro’s and con’s before taking this option.
The Benefits of Nanny Watch
The main benefit of installing a nanny cam is knowing your children are safe. Most nannies are model professionals, but there’s always an exception. Installing a nanny cam is a form of home security system – you might trust your neighbours, but with high-value goods in your home it’s always good to have confirmation that they’re safe.
Even if your children aren’t in danger, nanny cam gives you the means to monitor how your nanny behaves – whether he or she is watching violent movies in front of your children or playing on Facebook all day long.
The other benefit is that you can watch your children while you’re at work – so you won’t be missing those precious ‘first time’ moments.
If you feel uncomfortable about spying on your nanny, you have the choice to advise them you have cameras installed – some nannies welcome this for their benefit, and so you can see the great care they’re giving your children.
To find out more about nanny watch, contact Insight Investigations today.
Can You Trust Your Nanny?
Your children are your pride and joy, and finding someone to care for them on a daily basis is a daunting task. What if you get it wrong? When you hire a private investigator, the decision becomes much easier, and you can sleep safe in the knowledge that your children are being well cared for.
Here are three ways a private investigator can find out whether you can trust your nanny:
Thorough Background Checks
If you’ve found your nanny through an agency, it’s likely they have already had a background check, but how do you know you can trust the results? Often, agency background checks leave a lot to be desired, and fail to uncover information that could prove vital to the security of your children.
When you hire a private investigator, the background check will uncover any secrets your nanny didn’t want you to know, as well as verifying any details and references they’ve provided to you.
Covert Surveillance
If you have doubts about your current nanny, or would like to observe a new nanny when they start working for you, there are a number of options available. If the nanny will be taking care of the children inside your property, covert cameras can be installed and monitored; tracking the nanny’s every move, and ensuring your children receive the highest level of care and attention.
This service can also be extended to include out of hours surveillance, tracking the nanny outside your home, whilst taking care of your children, or even when they’re off duty.
Lie Detection Test
If an incident has already occurred, it’s not too late to get help. Do you suspect your nanny has been stealing? Have the children accused the nanny of something but you have no proof? Lie Detection testing is an effective way to verify your suspicions, you can’t insist they take a test, but if they refuse and you have good grounds for reason, this can help strengthen your case.
24/7 Help & Advice