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| On his one month birthday |
I had to close my online ad for a nanny when the number of applicants got to 77. Yes, 77. (As if we needed further proof that the economy really sucks right now!) I first went through and eliminated everyone who had bad online resumes; by bad I mean either they took no time with it, or they had no real experience as a nanny. Then I went through and picked out the ones I really liked based on their experience and what they had to say. That left me with 8 I really liked, and about 20 that seemed ok, but not fabulous. I've set up phone interviews with the first 8, and am reviewing their background checks today. A few of them already have audio interviews with their references online, so I'll listen to those, too. I'm hoping I'll be able to eliminate a few of them based on their phone interviews alone, and then of those I like, I'll call their references. From there, I hope to interview 4 or 5 in person, and then I'll be faced with the tough decision of choosing one person to take care of Finn when I go back to work in 6 weeks.
I have a list of questions for the phone interviews but could use some more - any suggestions for great screening interview questions?
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Good boy Finn and Mommy! Wow, he has 5 pounds on Foxie. No wonder you are tired. Don't have any suggestions to help you out with interview. 8 sounds like. Much more manageable number.
ReplyDeleteHappy one month birthday, Finn!
ReplyDelete(He really is too cute for words.)
I've never interviewed for a Nanny, but I use to hire employees at a video store all the time. I use to ask questions that would reveal past behavior. People always seem to come up with the "right" answer when given hypotheticals, but if you ask them to give an example of how they had handled a situation in the past. Again not sure of specific questions for Nannies, but for sales people I would ask to share a time when they had to deal with a difficult customer, what where they upset about, how did they fix it, did the customer leave happy? Or to discribe a time they disagreed with a supervisor how did they handle that situation, what did they do? I'm sure you can think of some for a child care situation. Past behavior will indicate future behavior.
ReplyDeleteGood Luck!
Just ask them how they plan to spend the day with Finn. Of course, they will do the basics of changing his diaper, feed, put him to sleep.. that just common sense stuff. So, you really want to know how they will spend the day interacting with Finn. Will they give him tummy time-- essential to improve muscle tone... will they interact face-to-face with Finn to stimulate his social/language development. You just want to make sure that this person is a trusted person who is an extension of you, someone who will play and interact with Finn, and not just do the basics (feeding, putting his to sleep). Basically, someone who has the energy and smart to keep up with an infant.
ReplyDeleteLeave the question open-ended so you can see if they have the experience and creativity.
I'm 15 weeks now!
I can't believe your precious boy is 1 month old!!! And I can't blame him for crying at his Hep B shot... Happy 1 month birthday Finn!!!
ReplyDelete"Why do you want this job?" (some people will actually answer things about needing income, not about liking kids)
ReplyDeleteAnd I like scenarios, too. Like Surly Mama, I like "give an example of a time when you..."-type questions.
Happy 1-month birthday Finn!
Happy 1 month birthday, Finn! And kudos to you Shannon on such a happy and healthy boy-- love those feet :)
ReplyDeleteGood luck with the nanny search!
Maybe you could ask "Tell me about a family that you really enjoyed working for? What did you like about them? What did you wish you could change?"
ReplyDeleteI can't believe how big he is! He already looks like a baby, and not a newborn!
Way to go on the high octane breastmilk! It seems that some breastfed babies gain really quickly to start... not to worry, it will slow down later!
What a cutie. I can't believe he's already a month old.
ReplyDeleteI would ask scenario based questions. What would you do if he swallowed a penny? What would you do if you had a personal emergency while you were with baby? What would you do if mom was really late getting home and you couldn't contact her? What would you do if Finn won't eat anything but crackers?
You may get a sense of how they will handle spontaneous situations and if they would do things that you would do in the same situation.
During the interview, get interviewees to feed Finn the bottle and see how he reacts.
Good luck.
I can't believe it is one month already!! Finn looks great.
ReplyDeleteI have no advice on nannies. My mom will be my nanny at first and then Elsie will be off to daycare.
Maybe you should have a "Who's Your Nanny!?" party to help you pick the nanny. When it's broke, don't fix it! haha
ReplyDeleteSounds like you will have some good options for a nanny - which will be reassuring. And just remember, even if you have Super Nanny, it's going to be hard to leave Finnwith anyone. I thnk we're (rightly so) evolutionarily hardwired to object to letting our babies out of our sight. Finn is such a cutie and sounds like things are settling down for you - so glad to hear!
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ReplyDeleteOMG. Six weeks?!?! That's so soon!
ReplyDeleteAwww, Finn, happy one-month birthday!
ReplyDeleteWow, 77 resumes. Hopefully, you'll find the perfect nanny in all of that.