Holiday nannies are nannies who will do short term/ temporary roles during your children’s holidays such as half terms, Christmas, Easter or summer holidays. The major attribute of holiday nannies is their varied skill set. You can find a highly qualified nanny to assist you on any vacation: a winter ski trip, summer beach vacation, or just during your time off in the city. You can also select from nannies that are tutors/governesses to make sure your children stay sharp while out of school.
Holiday nannies should be super fun and they should have a lot of tricks in their bags to keep children busy all day long while off school, but at the same time, they should be kind but firm. So the children still follow some kind of routine (even if on holiday). A great holiday nanny makes all the difference, but you need to make sure you hire the right one.
So what are the 10 most important interview questions to ask – and why should you ask them?
The 10 Most Important Interview Questions to Ask a Holiday Nanny
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Availability
Discuss from the beginning the exact dates that you need them for. And make sure they are available for the whole period. It would not be fun to start looking for a new holiday nanny 2 weeks down the line.
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Special skills
If you are going on a ski/ seaside holiday make sure that the nanny is a confident skiers/swimmers. It will be extremely disappointing to get to your holiday destination and find out that the nanny cannot ski/ swim etc. Same goes for driving. If you need them to drive in the UK/ abroad, make sure they have a clean driving license and they are confident drivers.
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Valid and clean DBS check
ALWAYS, absolutely always, ask for a DBS check, even if the person is only babysitting your kids for 2 hours. You don’t know who you are letting in your house to look after the most precious people to you. So a DBS is very, very important.
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References
Try and check at least 2 recent long term references. Sometimes nannies can be all honey at the interview but you’ll be surprised the things you can find out when calling previous employers. You want to make sure that the person you are hiring for such a short period will do a great job and nothing will spoil your holiday/your children’s holiday.
- First Aid
Especially on holiday, first aid is a very important certificate for nannies to have. A lot of accidents can happen during a holiday so you need to have that peace of mind that whatever the emergency she is prepared and trained to deal with it. - Activities
The children will spend at least 8-10h with the nanny. So make sure the nanny has varied types of activities to keep them occupied for the whole day. A simple discussion here will give you insight into how experienced they are. And whether or not they would be planning ahead. - Medical issues
As the holiday nanny will be with you just for a short period of time, it’s even more important that you tell her from the beginning of any medical issues children have. This could be things such as any allergies, food intolerances, etc. Make sure the nanny is comfortable with any special educational needs. - Discipline and routines
Every family has its own discipline requirements and routines. And they don’t always align with those of your nanny. Make sure you discuss specifics with your candidates. So they are clear on how you want things to be done. - Where is the holiday?
If the holiday is abroad, make sure you discuss things that you cover and you don’t cover for. (It is normal that you will cover for the accommodation, flights, meals. But you will not cover for personal phone calls costs, etc.) - Hours and babysitting
Discuss this from the beginning and make sure you are clear on how many hours per day she is looking after the children, be it 8/10/12 or 24/7. Depending on this, discuss the number of babysitting days per week you need and her time off.
About Polo & Tweed
Polo and Tweed is an elite domestic staff recruitment agency. We believe in working very hard for our clients to make them and their children happy, so if you are in need for a holiday nanny, please do not hesitate to contact us. Holidays should be a time to relax, enjoy your family and create happy memories, that is why we will do the legwork for you and find you the perfect holiday nanny. We have thousands of fully background screened, top nannies (and other domestic staff) waiting to be placed with your family, so we’d love to hear from you.