Interview Tips

1. Use a reputable source for seeking child care. Sources may include:

    a. A local nanny placement service in your town

    b. Care.com

    c. Sittercity.com

    d. Nannies4hire.com

    e. Referrals from friends can be a great source as well

    f.  Local child care associations

Looking for a home child care provider? Please start here:

http://www.colorado.gov/apps/cdhs/childcare/lookup/index.jsf

2. Try to prospect at least two or three providers

    a. Do they have the qualifications and experience you desire?

    b. Do they have references you can contact personally?

3. Conduct an initial phone interview

    a. Conduct a phone interview with each provider individually.

    b. Ask questions about availability and experience.

    c. Ask if they are willing to take the Home Daycare Profile or Nanny Style Profile.

4. Contact the references

Ask about interaction, dependability, communication abilities, strengths, weakness, and why he/she's no longer providing services for them.Have they ever had any problems with him/her?

5. Use the free Home Daycare Profile or Nanny Style Profile available from this site 

6. Have an agency perform criminal background checks or use a reputable online service

Use the information your potential child care professional provided. (Note: if your candidate hesitated or refused a background check, take this as a warning sign.)

Online background checks can be as comprehensive as you wish. They typically start at $10.00 for criminal background checks. We recommend conducting the most comprehensive background check you can afford using local and national databases including county court records.

Check out eFindOutTheTruth.com  (http://www.efindoutthetruth.com/) for more information.

You can also perform online background checks using Intellius. Contact them at: https://www.intelius.com/employment-screening.html

Don’t solely rely on a free background check provided by an online placement service or your prospective child care professional. The background check may be outdated. Be sure to check the date of the background check if this is offered to you and please use discretion.

To conduct an online background check, you will need the following from your potential child care professional:

• First and Last Name

• Social Security Number

• Address, City, State and Zip

• Date of Birth

7. If you are considering a nanny, have the finalist(s) come one at a time for a working interview.

a. Have your Nanny Style Profile on hand as a reference with any notes you have taken.

b. See how they interact with your child during a working interview.

Note: Be available to answer any questions. You may also want to treat the working interview like an orientation and note how well your nanny adapts to your environment.

Note: It is your responsibility as a care seeker to respect privacy when collecting personally identifiable information from a care giver you hire or will potentially hire. For example,  you may want to request the care giver’s social security number or other personal information in order to:

• Report tax information

• Perform background checks

Please safeguard all personal information about your potential nanny and discard/destroy any information you are not using responsibly to prevent unauthorized access and to prevent fraud.

8.  A traditional job application format often doesn’t work for nannies!

Why? Because they are often confusing to look at. This is often due to the fact that many nannies may hold several jobs concurrently. For example, a nanny, who is also a college student, may work part-time as a house sitter, pet sitter and nanny all at the same time. If you ask a nanny why she left her last position, you might get the question back, “which one?”.  Conversely, a traditional application format may only be useful if the nanny has held a single job for any duration of time.

Note that the Nanny Style Profile^TM asks specific questions regarding if the nanny has ever been fired and what happened during that time.

For Nannies - Avoiding Scams:

1. Nannies should be extra cautious if they receive messages or some other form of communication offering a job with advance payment by check without an interview with the family.

2. Never give out your social security number to a care seeker unless it is part of the hiring process where your employer may request your SSN in order to run a background check or for tax purposes.

3. Never give out your credit card or bank account information to a care seeker.

4. Never accept payment by check for an amount which is greater that what you agreed upon.

5. Never wire money back to someone who pays you by check.

6. If an offer sounds too good to be true, it usually is.

We hope these tips are helpful. If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact us using our contact page.