Family tools.
How to recruit the right person - suggestions for families and single parents.

Suggestions provided on these website are for informational purposes only. They are general guidelines provided to assist families and single parents in understanding some of the steps they may take in recruitment process. The suggestions are not all-inclusive and should not be considered nor interpreted as legal, accounting, or financial advice. We recommend that you consult your attorney, accountant or other adviser for specific advice, guidance, or recommendations concerning this topic. You understand that we are not responsible for consequences of any of your decision which was based, solely or partly, on our information or suggestions. Please read our full Disclaimer/ User's Agreement before continuing.

Nanny or Babysitter, or Au Pair?

Phone Interview

Final Interview

Choosing the Right One

Live-in or live-out?

Work Permit and Legal Issues

Background Check

Nanny or Babysitter, or Au Pair?
There are some differences between the terms Nanny, Babysitter and Au Pair. Nanny is someone who takes care of your children on a regular basis. Full Time or Part Time. She/he may live in your house (Live In) or come for a certain number of hours only (Live Out). You usually expect Nanny to have some previous experience (from other families, or her own family/ siblings etc.), in your country, or abroad. In most of the countries it is OK to ask Nanny to do some housekeeping task (kids laundry, meal preparation etc.), however if housekeeping duties are to be substantial part of her/his time sheet (25%-35% or more), please choose Nanny/ Housekeeper instead of Nanny. Babysitter is usually someone you are in touch with, who, when the need arises, will stay at your home and take care of your children (non-regular basis). It can also be someone helping you on a regular basis, but with limited number of hours (usually 20 or less a week). Although it is good to expect strong qualifications from Babysitter, most Families accept inexperienced ones too.There are not much chances that Babysitter will do any housekeeping job, unless for an extra money. It is almost always a Live Out position. The term Au Pair usually refers to a student from foreign country, who enrolled on a special Au Pair Program. You do not need pay Au Pair much, but you have to provide her/him with food and shelter, make sure she/he does not work more than 20 hours a week (depends on the country). You have to give her plenty of time off. Do not expect experience, as very often this is her/his first job in life. Do not expect very good English and driver's license. You must not give her more household duties than other members of your family have. Joining Au Pair program usually requires 1 year commitment.

Phone Interview
Some candidates will call you on the phone number you provided in your ad. So, why not to interview them right away? There are some unquestionable advantages of phone interview. First, you will assess immediately whether you are comfortable with candidate's level of spoken English. Second, the way candidate answers the questions (straight, concise, without unnecessary pauses, etc.) will reinforce you intuitive feeling about the candidate - good or bad. Third, ask candidate about each of the following qualities. Listen to answers, make notes and evaluate him/her on a 0 to 10 scale:
- skills
- experience
- education
- spoken English level
- attitude to work in general and to working for your family in particular
- your personal impression
- references; remember to verify them right if you liked the candidate, but ask him/her for permission
- flexibility; ask "are you flexible?" and request an an example
- responsibility; ask "do you think you are responsible person?", and ask for an example, especially in children related environment")
- enthusiasm
- optimism; is she/ he an up-beat person? do not let anybody spoil your day! never!
- allergies and diseases
- ask to spell you her/his name and take phone number
- add all the points above and write the final score down
- write a final 1 sentence note about the candidate, make it a "recommendation for recruiter"; yes, I know, you are the recruiter, but after 10 phone calls you will not remember a thing.
To avoid answering the same questions all over again, include as much information as possible in your online ad. Remember, you can edit your ad anytime - just click here.


Final Interview
For a Final Interview, possibly in your apartment/house, invite only the very best candidates.
The fewer final candidates you have, the better. If, due to the long distance, meeting in person is not possible, at least talk to the candidate through Skype or other video-phone.
What questions to ask?
Basically, ask the same questions as you did over the phone and let the candidate talk!
You have notes from Phone Interview, correct? So now observe if the answers are consistent.
Make sure your children are present. Let them ask questions!

Ask candidate to ask you questions and write them down while she/he is formulating them. These questions will tell you a lot about her/his experience, skills, personality etc. If a candidate starts with "can I call my boyfriend from your phone number twice a day" this will tell quite a lot, so will "do you have Emergency Phones List in your house, and where do you keep it?" or "do your children have any allergies?".
The visual impression the candidate makes on you and your family is as important as her voice impression was during the Phone Interview.


Choosing the Right One
Nobody will do the recruitment better than you. Trust your knowledge of human character, your instinct, common sense and life experience, and ... save your money!
Before taking the final decision, do not forget to ask your children and your spouse what they think about the candidate.


Live-in OR Live-out?
You have to consider several factors when deciding whether to choose between live-in or live-out solution. Here are some of them:
1. Is my house big enough to accommodate another person?
2. Will I feel comfortable with another person in my house?
3. Will I be able to fully respect another person's privacy and individuality?
4. Will I be able to make another person feel comfortable in my house?
5. In what way will a live-in Nanny situation affect my family?
6. What is my family gaining by hiring a live-in Nanny.
7. In what ways our family has to adapt to the new situation?

Furthermore, you need to know what the advantages of live-in situation:
1. Someone is always available to help me. I can be much more flexible when planning my time.
2. There is always someone to watch over my children. I feel safer.
3. My family is bigger and stronger. I am stronger.
4. I do not have to worry if my nanny is on time today. I am not late for work, school, etc.

There are advantages of the live-out situation, too:
1. I do not need to compromise on my privacy. I am a private person.
2. There is a clear per-hour salary schedule. I like clear financial arrangements.


Work Visa and Legal Issues
Please remember that we are a global website and we do not verify candidate's eligibility to work for you. Please consult your lawyer to check if the candidate you like is eligible to work in your country. If candidate does not have a work visa right now, you might be able to sponsor her/ him - many countries, including US, have domestic help sponsorship programs. In any case - we recommend that you seek a legal professional advice with regards to the eligibility of your favorite candidate to work in your country and available sponsorship programs.


Background Check
It is always a good idea to check candidate's background, but you must remember that background checks are imperfect and they may not include important information. Even if you use two or more companies, you should never fully rely on the result of the background checks alone.

Whether you decide to do a background check or not, you must always do your own homework:

Ask your future nanny for an ID and check if you are talking to the right person.
Verify references from previous employment.
Verify education.
When you are presented with written references, verify them by calling the person who signed them.
To verify education, ask for a university diploma (a physical document), as well as former or current student ID.
You can go even further and verify education through specialized service.

For your convenience, here are some links to background check services. Please note that we did not verify these services and we do not endorse them.

Important note: In USA, Canada, UK, EU and many other countries, family is required to obtain written authorization from candidate to perform background or credit check on him/her. Please respect the law and candidate's privacy!
sentryweb.com
honestyonline.com
nationalbackgrounddata.com
integrascan.com
sentrylink.com
usinformationsearch.com/US/Solutions/Nanny
criminalwatchdog.com