More and more families are now looking for specific skilled nannies. The most sought after are foreign language speaking nannies (Spanish, French, German, Chinese or Arabic), nannies who play a musical instrument (normally piano), nannies who have trained at a nanny college (either Norland or Chiltern) and nannies with skills such as swimming or driving.
Whatever type of specific skilled nanny you are looking to hire, it’s important to ask the right nanny interview questions.
The 10 Most Important Specific Skilled Nanny Interview Questions to Ask
General Qualifications & Background Check
- When conducting a Specific Skilled Nanny interview, you want to double-check that she definitely has the skills that you require and they are at the highest level. For example, if you need her to speak a foreign language. Check that they are proficient and not just a beginner. If you need them to drive. Then make sure they are a good driver. And not just recently passed their test.
- First Aid – Has the nanny done a 12h Paediatric First Aid course? You will find a lot of companies who offer Paediatric First Aid courses. However, not all of them offer a comprehensive course. So if your nanny needs another First Aid course, this is the provider to use.
- DBS – Is theirs valid? Should your nanny need to apply for a new DBS, they can do that here.
- Public Liability Insurance. Insurance is important in case anything happens to a child while in the nanny’s care. They should pick their insurance provider carefully. A good list to review can be found here.
- Can I have contact details for your referees so I can speak to them? The Agency would have checked at least two of the nanny’s references. However, it’s always advisable that you do your own checks as part of the recruitment process. So make sure to ask this in the nanny interview.
Personality & Skills
- What activities will you be doing with my children? As they are a special skilled nanny. They must know a lot of activities to do with the children. So do check on her creativity. Especially for the area you are hiring them for (foreign languages, piano, maths etc).
- Health and safety in the house. This is a critical issue to discuss in the nanny interview. As the nanny will not be used to your home. From day one they need to be shown all the rooms in the house. As well as potential dangers like windows and stairs. Plus shown fire and home alarms. With all the codes and passwords that are needed.
- Are you willing to travel with us as a family during our holidays? This is a very important aspect to discuss. Especially if you travel a lot. And you need the nanny to accompany you.
- What is your philosophy regarding raising happy and well-behaved children? Again, another important nanny interview question. Bcause you want to make sure that you are on the same page when it comes to raising children.
- If our roles were reversed, what would you look for in hiring a nanny? You subtly want to find out from the potential nanny what positives and negatives she would be looking to find in a nanny.
So, apart from the general and well-known questions. These are the 10 most important questions to ask in a specific skilled nanny interview. Of course, you can add many more. Depending on your situation, lifestyle and children.
How Can Polo & Tweed Help?
At Polo and Tweed, we believe in working very hard for our clients. To make them and their children are happy! So if you are in need of a specific skilled nanny, please do not hesitate to contact us. We have thousands of fully background screened, top nannies (and other domestic staff) ready for a new job, in your area. So do not hesitate to contact us today and get the search started.