Finding a nanny can be quite a stressful process. Especially if you’ve decided to have someone come live in your house. If you’re braving the nanny hiring process on your own (without help of an agency) you need to do your due diligence. Just to ensure the safety of your family. After background and reference checks, the personal interview will be your next best indication for the character of your candidates.
Asking the right questions in an interview will help you find the perfect nanny for your family. But it’s a little harder to brainstorm questions than you may think. We’ve put together this list of most important interview questions to ask a live in nanny, to help you get started.
10 most important questions to ask a live-in nanny during an interview
- Why are you interested in this job? You should normally ask this in the beginning so you are able to ‘read’ people who are just looking for easy money. Or a nice place to live, connections with VIP/ HNWI, easy travel etc.
- Are you happy to share the bathroom with the kids? (In most families, this is the case, but if not, then this question can be crossed out.)
- Are you happy to keep your room clean and tidy together with the kids’ rooms? Just have a think about the accepted level of cleanliness in her room. And discuss this with the nanny from the beginning. Make sure that she knows she has to clean her room in her own time and how often etc.
- Considering your preference as well, ask if she would like to have privacy in the evenings or she would like to spend time with you as a family and have dinner together, etc.
- Ask her if she is happy to only consume X amount of alcohol (if any) in the evenings when not in charge of the kids/ babysitting and X amount of alcohol during her days off.
- Is she ok with a curfew in the evenings when she is in charge of the kids the next day?
- Considering your preference, is she ok to have an X no of guests during her days off and only with your prior agreement and also is she allowed guests overnight?
- Considering your house rules. Discuss the level of noise that is acceptable in the house on her days off .(Think of things like listening to music, when she has guests over, etc.)
- Is she allowed to use certain areas of the house like the living room/ TV room/ games room/ pool/ garden etc while off duty?
- Is she allowed to eat the food you cook? Or does she need to cook her own food?
Other Things To Consider
This list is not an exhaustive interview questionnaire, but it should be a great start to an informative interview with your candidate. It’s best to keep the interview conversational and don’t be afraid to ask follow up questions. Remember, this is your time to find out everything you want to know about the person who will be joining your family. This isn’t the time to be shy.
Lastly, you should know pretty quickly whether you have a good connection with your potential live in nanny. Even if you hit it off right away, don’t forget to ask the important questions. And stick to the make-or-break qualities you’ve set out at the beginning of your search.
If you need some guidance and advice on how to hire a new member of staff, this UK government website might be of help.
If you have recommendations for interview questions for life in nannies, please let us know in the comment section below.
How Can Polo & Tweed Help?
We hope these 10 most important interview questions to ask a live in Nanny are helpful! But Polo & Tweed can help even more.
Polo and Tweed is a prestigious recruitment agency, that places only high end and top calibre live-in nannies. As professional recruiters, we’ve conducted countless CV reviews, background checks, reference checks, and interviews. Even after our thorough screening process we highly advise you to conduct your own full interview. And make sure the candidate suits your requirements 100%.
Whether you are working with us to recruit a live in nanny or not, you’re welcome to contact us with any questions you have. We are happy to answer your questions as we understand this is a critical part of the hiring process.