By the time kids are closer to one, us mommies are getting ready to get back to work, and we start looking for alternative cares for our precious little munchkins. I was fortunate enough the grand parents were always there for me when I needed the help, but this ends when we planned to move outside the city for work convenience. This began my nervous journey of hiring a foreign live-in nanny, as this person will be sharing our living space with us and looking after the kids while we are at work.
As everything comes down to price, we worked out the approximate cost of sending both kids and a dog to daycare is about $2100 to $2700+. The cost of having a live-in nanny is about $2100 who looks after your kids, dog, cleans the house and cooks for you. The answer was pretty easy after this! The process was quick and easy with agencies. I contacted a few of them and discussed what we are looking for in a nanny. The next day, the agencies started sending nanny resumes over for me to look at. I ended up interviewing a dozen of them over Skype.
People often ask me – how would you know by interviewing them over Skype? Honestly you don’t, but with the right questions I was able to weed out the ones that’s not a right fit.
Before we started the interview process, I briefly describe my family and what the position entails, then follow by questions for the candidates.
1. What do you enjoy most about being a nanny
2. What do you enjoy least about being a nanny
3. What is your typical days at the previous positions?
4. What are your favorite activities with children?
5. How would you occupy our children during the day?
6. What would you do with a child that threw a tantrum in the middle of a shop?
7. How do you introduce good manner to children?
8. How do you feel about children watching television?
9. What would you do when emergency situation occurs?
10. How many kids are you able to look after at one time?
As little as ten questions, the interview can last about 20 – 30 minutes per person. Most of the time, I was able to get a hunch whether this nanny is right for me ten minutes in, this may be based on first impression, how they response, or simply level of English speaking ability. At the end, it comes down to our final three candidates and the nanny we chose is the only person who cared to ask us questions about our parenting style – we figured if she cares to ask, it means she cares about whether we are a right fit for her as well.
Hiring a live-in nanny is a big decision, you are basically sharing your living space with a total stranger. This person is pretty much your twins except they get paid to do it. We are definitely grateful to have her here and share our burdens with us.
What’s your experience on hiring a live-in nanny?
Monica shared her experience of hiring her dayhome lady here.
