Hiring a Nanny: The Family Interaction Test

There are many concerns to consider when you are involved in hiring a nanny or other household employee, as well as many legalities to abide by to ensure equitable and fair employment opportunities. By taking the hiring process one step at a time, you can proceed with well-planned and well-researched employment offers.

After you have conducted phone and/or in-person interviews, and you have finally decided in your own mind which are the best candidates, make sure you let them meet the family members they will be looking after. If this is a nanny, you can tell a lot from how she interacts with your child. You should be there to watch and to facilitate the interaction, but you should also move to another room and eavesdrop on the conversation and actions of the nanny and the child. You want there to be warmth between the caregiver and the child, you want them to have fun, you want the candidate to be polite, caring, and professional. The child should feel safe and happy in their care. If you are comfortable with the idea, you can also arrange another interview time to give a trial run of the nanny on their own and then gently ask the child their opinion and whether they enjoyed being with the nanny and liked her.

The same process can apply to hiring a senior care worker. Observe how the candidate and the senior get along, see if they carry on friendly conversations, and determine, as with a nanny, if they are caring, professional, and sincere. Ask your elderly loved one later how comfortable they felt with the caregiver, and see if they would enjoy spending time with him/her.

You could choose not to pay for this as part of the interview process, but you need to make sure the caregiver is aware that this is unpaid interview time before you make arrangements. Or you could choose to pay the candidate for this time as a goodwill gesture to keep them interested and to set up an employment relationship of trust from the beginning.

Listen to your instincts and back that up with your background checks. This will be well worth the effort in your overall work to hire an employee that makes everyone in your household feel comfortable and safe—and happy. You are hiring a nanny or senior care worker to help you not worry about what is going on at home. Take time now to check out the person you are bringing into your home and who you are entrusting with your loved ones, your property, and your memories.

For more information about how GTM helps families with household employment issues like this, contact us at (888) 432-7972.