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Tel: 0044 (0)208 392 1658 Fax: 0044 (0)208 392 2386 email: sarah@aegisnannies.co.uk Interview tips for Families home page childcare types salary scale external links contact us Making the right choice Choosing the right person to care for your family is one of the hardest decisions you will ever have to make. We will provide all the support and advice needed to help you make the right decision. The interview process Establishing a happy employment relationship starts at the interview, also first impressions do count both for you and for the candidate. All interviews are stressful so try to keep the approach relaxed but also structured. No matter how good a candidate looks on paper the final decision often comes down to personality. Questions to ask Before interviewing anyone make a list of your family's requirements. Look for a good knowledge and understanding of the physical, social, emotional, and other needs of families as this should have been gained by the applicant through experience, and through education in many cases. You could start by discussing why the candidate has chosen this particular vocation, and what they feel they have learnt whilst caring for other families. Interview check list Listed below are a number of important points to be covered during an interview. Please ignore any which do not apply to your particular situation. This list is by no means exhaustive, but will give you an idea of the sort of questions and areas you will need to discuss. Personality: Ask the carer to evaluate his/her good and bad points. Hours: Flexibility is very important. Nursery duties: Establish in advance what these will cover (i.e. cleaning, ironing, shopping, cooking, washing etc.) Smoking: Yes or no. Driving: Yes or no. If yes, ask about licence, experience, accidents, own car/provided car. Living arrangements: Live in/live out. Education: Colleges, courses, qualifications, specialisation's etc. Stimulation: Creative play, reading, writing, number work, swimming, walks, play centres etc. Discipline: Find out the applicants views on discipline, discuss your views, make up potential situations and ask how he/she would deal with them. First aid: Find out whether the applicant has any qualifications and, if not, whether he/she would be prepared to take classes. Question what the applicant would do in a given scenario. Interests: Both those of the applicant and your family. Travel: Would the applicant be prepared to travel with the family? Holidays: Who agrees on dates, how many days per year, bank holidays, paid/unpaid etc. Sickness: Payment during sickness, notification procedure on first day of illness, inoculations. Previous jobs: Discuss the families and children the applicant has worked with, how long he/she stayed with previous jobs and why he/she left. Length of stay in job: How long the applicant envisages staying in this job. Difficulties: Discuss how you feel they should be handled. Progress: Informal chats on any good points/worries on both sides. Personal Questions: Ask about family, boyfriends/girlfriends etc. Notice periods: Discuss the length of notice for both parties. Meeting your children: It is advisable to let your children meet the applicant before a decision is made. Contract of employment: It is advisable to agree terms and conditions, in writing, before engaging anyone. Discussion of it contents will teach you a lot about the applicant, although you may prefer to raise this after the interview. A final important question Finally, ask why the candidate feels he/she will be suited to this particular job. Please remember you will learn a lot more about the applicant if you let him/her do the majority of the talking. Aegis Nannies, Ltd. Aegis Nannies, Ltd., 12 Treen Avenue, Barnes, London, SW13 0JT Tel - 0208 3921658 Fax - 0208 3922386(London) Monday to Friday: 7:30am - 8:00pm sarah@aegisnannies.co.uk ©2000-2008, Aegis Nannies Applications - All rights reserved