Suggestions for teen looking for Nanny job?

[1pageatatime]

Our (older) teen dd was going to find a nanny position on care dot com or sitter city, but then read pretty bad reviews about both companies. It seems there are safeguards put in place for the families, but not potential nanny or sitter.

 

She's already tried spreading the news, also asking people to keep their ears open for her.

 

I am so out of the loop with this topic, so any suggestion is appreciated.

 

TIA! 

[plansrme]

Having hired a lot of nannies and long-term sitters over the years, I have a lot to say on this subject:

 

1.  Put notices up on church bulletin boards, with tear-off tabs with her phone number.  Also, anywhere else that has bulletin boards and not-crazy people can be good--schools, dance studio, gym, your or your husband's place of employment, neighborhood clubhouse, etc.  If your neighborhood has a Facebook page or email list, definitely have her put it out there that she is available.

 

2.  I have used care.com and sittercity.com both with horrendous results--the girls/women do not return messages or show up for interviews.  That is incredibly frustrating when you are paying for the privilege of searching on their databases of losers.  

 

3.  When she interviews, she needs to not act like a giggly teenager.  Act like this is a real job.  Show up with a copy of her references; heck, just show up!  If she's asked a question such as, "How would you handle X situation," have a plan, but then say, "Of course, I say this without knowing your children and would appreciate your input and abide by your guidance on how you handle similar situations."

 

4.  SHE needs to run this process, not you.  It definitely sounds like that is happening, but I have never hired anyone whose mom was running the show.  

 

5.  She needs to think about what she is comfortable doing--driving kids, for example, in her car or their car (keeping in mind that if she can drive, she is going to be eminently more employable during the summer); keeping kids while the parents are in the house; or working with kids with some sort of special need.  

 

6.  My biggest pet peeve about interviews, even preliminary contacts:  do NOT lead with, "This is why your job if perfect FOR ME."  The employer wants to know why YOU are perfect for HER, not the other way around.

 

7.  Keep in mind that if she is looking for a full-time job for 10 or 12 weeks, she needs to not be gone for three of those weeks.  That is a big chunk out of the summer and could (should) get her nixed from consideration.  She needs to be available for the entire summer if she wants the steady work.

 

8.  When she gets a job, barring some sort of agreement to the contrary, she needs to leave the premises not worse off than she found them.  She does not have to clean the mess that is there when she shows up for the day, but geez--the mom does not want to come home and clean up after the nanny.

 

Those are my biggies.  Best of luck to her!  

 

[Cera]

I found the absolute best nanny on care.com. I actually found three really good ones. In addition to the one I hired I found two others that weren't able to fill the days/times I needed but have been great for backup and date nights. I have quite a few friends who have had similar results.

I would give it a shot but screen any family she considers working for well. You can run a background check on them, google, look up the parents on linked in, etc. Set an initial meeting for a public place and ask a lot of questions.

If you don't want to do that and have a college nearby (or community college) stop by and look on their job posting boards or bulletin boards in their dept of education hallways. I was in our local college today and there are at least 20 nanny wanted flyers.

[bluemongoose]

I was a nanny many years ago...

 

Some things I learned.  Get it all in writing. How much she will get paid, her hours, her responsibilities.  Does she get extra pay for parents being late to come home (this was a huge problem), when will her vacation time be, does she get reimbursed for gas and spending money to take the kids out and about.

 

I had to learn to wise up after a couple of nanny jobs that totally took advantage of me.  It is a slippery slope kind of situation...you are there, it is easy for them to simply ask you to do more and more or be there longer and longer and not get compensated for it.  It is harder to ask for what you have earned because you are "part of the family" you "feel like they are practically your kids".  It is very hard to spend that much time taking care of someones kids and not be invested in them.

 

Here are some examples of what I mean:

 

My duties were to pick up after the meals I made for the children, to do the childrens laundry, and to help pick up after their daily messes (for the days where I was on duty).

Ways this was taken advantage of....

 

The parents didnt clean up messes from the dinner (and sometimes dinner parties) the night or even for the whole weekend before and suddenly it was my job to clean all this up.

 

I suddenly had the job of the parents laundry as well.

 

The kids never cleaned up over the weekend or on evenings with their parents (and made huge messes) that I had to clean up when I came in.

 

I ended up becoming more and more of the housekeeper when the maid was late or they didnt want to pay for her that week.

 

They often decided to stop at the grocery store (or coffee, the bar...you get the idea) after work and would come home an hour (or 2 or 3) late.

 

More and more errands for the parents that had nothing to do with the children became my job.

 

Now all of this would not be a huge problem if I was compensated accordingly for the increase of my duties...but as we didnt have my responsibilities spelled out in writing, it was easy for them to say that it has always been my job and that they owed me nothing. They even tried to say that we agreed to salary not hourly so they didnt have to pay me for all the extra hours when I showed them the total they owed me.

 

Now, I loved being a nanny.  It was a lot of fun, but it would have been better all around if I had been smarter.  I just thought they were so nice (and they were) but nice and good business dont always go together.  They can talk nice and use you as a doormat (either on purpose or without thinking). When I finally got incredibly frustrated and quit, we all parted with hurt feelings. My older and wiser self regrets my share in the way it was handled and I miss seeing those kids because they do become like a member of your family.

[Excelsior! Academy]

I was a nanny many years ago...

 

Some things I learned.  Get it all in writing. How much she will get paid, her hours, her responsibilities.  Does she get extra pay for parents being late to come home (this was a huge problem), when will her vacation time be, does she get reimbursed for gas and spending money to take the kids out and about.

 

I had to learn to wise up after a couple of nanny jobs that totally took advantage of me.  It is a slippery slope kind of situation...you are there, it is easy for them to simply ask you to do more and more or be there longer and longer and not get compensated for it.  It is harder to ask for what you have earned because you are "part of the family" you "feel like they are practically your kids".  It is very hard to spend that much time taking care of someones kids and not be invested in them.

 

Here are some examples of what I mean:

 

My duties were to pick up after the meals I made for the children, to do the childrens laundry, and to help pick up after their daily messes (for the days where I was on duty).

Ways this was taken advantage of....

 

The parents didnt clean up messes from the dinner (and sometimes dinner parties) the night or even for the whole weekend before and suddenly it was my job to clean all this up.

 

I suddenly had the job of the parents laundry as well.

 

The kids never cleaned up over the weekend or on evenings with their parents (and made huge messes) that I had to clean up when I came in.

 

I ended up becoming more and more of the housekeeper when the maid was late or they didnt want to pay for her that week.

 

They often decided to stop at the grocery store (or coffee, the bar...you get the idea) after work and would come home an hour (or 2 or 3) late.

 

More and more errands for the parents that had nothing to do with the children became my job.

 

Now all of this would not be a huge problem if I was compensated accordingly for the increase of my duties...but as we didnt have my responsibilities spelled out in writing, it was easy for them to say that it has always been my job and that they owed me nothing. They even tried to say that we agreed to salary not hourly so they didnt have to pay me for all the extra hours when I showed them the total they owed me.

 

Now, I loved being a nanny.  It was a lot of fun, but it would have been better all around if I had been smarter.  I just thought they were so nice (and they were) but nice and good business dont always go together.  They can talk nice and use you as a doormat (either on purpose or without thinking). When I finally got incredibly frustrated and quit, we all parted with hurt feelings. My older and wiser self regrets my share in the way it was handled and I miss seeing those kids because they do become like a member of your family.

 

Excellent advice!  It looks like you learned a pretty tough lesson.

[Cera]

A contract is very good advice.  I don't have one with my nanny but her sole responsibility is to keep my kids alive until I get home, anything else is extra :-).

 

I did a lot of babysitting when I was younger and one other thing to think about is her contracted working hours.  For example, my nanny comes from 4-8:30 every Wednesday.  I often get home before 8:30 yet she is still paid for the full 4.5 hours.  She blocked those hours out of her day and decided the job was worth taking based on them.  When I was babysitting I would often have parents come home early and want to only pay me for the hours I was there rather than the hours I had been hired for (and many times I wouldn't have taken the job if I had known it would be so short, or had given up something else to be there and then was sent home).  Have your dd decide what her policy will be on this and include it in her contract.

[Chris in VA]

I babysat (as an adult) for a dear 1-2yo a couple of years ago. Little tips--

 

Something that impressed the parents was keeping a written log about the day. I'd jot down nearly everything we did so the parents would know how we spent the day. We kept a pad together--the parents would leave me a note with what to fix for lunch (just suggestions) and perhaps any info about the sleep the night before or any boo-boos I might see, etc, and I'd reply about the day right under that. It was a great way to communicate, but also I could look back at our time and see if any patterns showed up (like if a food seemed to cause behaviour or whatever). It actually became a keepsake/record for the little one, too. 

 

Go to the interview with ideas of activities that might be fun, as sometimes parents want to keep the TV off and want to know what you will be doing. Art, sensory bins, puzzles, books, walks (make something from it), playdough, dancing with scarves, kicking a yoga ball around--Of course, you will emphasize that you tailor care to the child, but it's good to let them know you have ideas in your tool kit!

 

That first day, when they come home? Be in the middle of something nice--clean up the house and the bulk of the toys/activites before they come, but be doing something, not watching TV (unless there's a show on at that time that the kids usually watch). Nice to have a project to show off, too. The first day the little one's parents came home, baby and I were on the porch, sitting on a towel in the shade, playing in a bin of water and having a lovely time. I offered to clean up before leaving, but they were fine with continuing the play themselves--I don't think they really ever thought of doing that with their 13mo. Offering new ideas to new parents is esp rewarding, to both of you! 

 

Ask permission before you take any pictures, and don't post anything on FB or Instagram (or anywhere). If you do get permission, it's fun to send them a text of their kiddo having a grand time in the middle of the day from time to time. 

 

Have fun!

 

 

[AmyontheFarm]

Talk with employees about emergency plans.

 

If the sitter and kids are evacuated by police suddenly, where should she go?  Think gas main break, crazy shooter, etc.  These things never happen to us but they do happen, so what's the game plan.

 

Does the sitter have back up location with all the phone numbers written down, not just in a cell phone that could die if the battery fails.

 

Does the sitter have permission to call an ambulance at her descresion.  One family was livid they got the ambulance bill and handed it to the sitter because they felt she over reacted.

 

Make sure the sitter has the names, addresses and phone numbers to reach the parents and their places of employment if something were to happen. 

 

 

[shawthorne44]

My boss used to be a nanny.  One thing she used in negotiating her pay.  She would ask them what they paid their housekeeper per hour.  She then expected them at least that much.  Because after all, "Did they really want to pay the person taking care of their kids less than they paid the person that cleaned their house?"  She was a full-time, year-round nanny though.  

[Kerileanne99]

When I am looking for part-time nanny help I am always looking for someone with something just a little bit different...I hired our first nanny because she was highly recommended, but she also knew ASL and could communicate with my hearing dd that way.
We do use Sitter.city, but it probably works well for us because we are located next to a major university and the majority of candidates are university students. This means they often have a range of interesting and unique 'extras' that I look for. Even rudimentary Spanish can be a great selling point for parents of youn kids, so if she has any skills like that definitely use it as a selling point.
Also, maybe this sounds really basic, but the first nanny caught my eye with something very basic. In the profiles (mostly of college girls) they used sort of glam photos or really professional pictures of themselves...the young lady I chose to consider an ultimately loved used a photo o herself with a child making funny faces at each other. Very basic, but it screamed 'I will have your child as my focus' not myself:)
We did put everything in writing, and I was very clear in laying out what I expected...she was not CPR certified and I was willing to pay for the course for her, which was a bonus for both of us. If you can make sure your dd has even a day course in CPR/safety it will also make her stand out.

One thing: we have tried using a younger HS student occasionally, but because she attends public school the hours she is available are very inconvenient. So if your dd is homeschooled, I would definitely list this as potential employers may be thinking a High School student will not work for them...when in fact her more flexible schedule may actually work in their favor!

[mom@shiloh]

Make sure your dd knows if she is being treated as an employee (employer needs to give a W-2 and pay SS tax) or if she is being treated as an independent contractor/self-employed.  If she is being treated as self-employed, she ends up paying much more in taxes.

[Chris in VA]

Make sure your dd knows if she is being treated as an employee (employer needs to give a W-2 and pay SS tax) or if she is being treated as an independent contractor/self-employed.  If she is being treated as self-employed, she ends up paying much more in taxes.

ITA!

I don't think this is self-determined, though. I think there are laws to follow WRT taxes.

 

And if you are deemed a nanny by the law, and the family has to pay 1/2 or whatever of your taxes, then you WANT a family that follows that law. DO NOT work for someone who pays in cash and says it's a perk for you, and that they can pay you "more that way." It means they are skirting the law, and you don't want to work for someone like that. And they shouldn't be looking for someone who would ask them to, either. IMNSHO, of course. 

[mom@shiloh]

Disclaimer:  I am not a tax expert, but I've had adult children who did this both ways.  It's not against the law for a family to hire a nanny as an independent contractor aka self-employed.  In fact, it's probably the most common way to do it.  It would be a hassle for a family to have to take out SS taxes and go through all the paperwork involved for just one employee.  However, the taxes still need to be paid, and if you are self-employed you will be paying all of it.  Wages should be adequately increased to reflect that.  If you don't know this upfront, you will end up with a very unexpected tax bill.