Hiring a Nanny for Infants: Part 2 – Advertising your Position
For a family with a young child, making the decision to hire child care can be difficult. Once that decision has been made, the real work begins. To help you through this process, I’m giving you my tips, learned from years of experience in child care.
In my first post, I discussed tips on determining what your child care needs are. After you’ve made that crucial first step, you have to get the word out, since the perfect nanny won’t come floating into your front yard, like Mary Poppins.
Consider all of your options for advertising a nanny position, and use them all. Ask people you know for recommendations, use community bulletin boards, post ads online, or consider using a nanny agency.
Ask your friends and family if they know of anyone available to provide child care work, and ask them to keep their ears open and spread the word for you. Talk to other parents at the playground or library to see if they have any recommendations. You should interview the candidates you find and check their references, as the person who recommended them to you may not know this person in a child care setting.
Many community centres and similar venues have community bulletin boards where you can post what you’re looking for. Include the main details of the position, full-time/part-time, live-in/live-out, ages of children, days/hours required, and your contact information. Again, be sure to meet with them in person and check their references to make sure they’re a fit for your family.
Posting ads online or in the local newspaper can give you a lot of opportunities to get the word out. With the rise of internet access, traditional newspapers have become less popular, but it can still be effective in smaller communities. Otherwise, try an online classified site or try a nanny job posting service. With CanadianNanny.ca you can see if there are nannies available in your area before registering. Always meet with potential nannies in person, check references, and ask for a criminal record check.
If you don’t have the time to search yourself and would like to have someone do the work for you, a nanny agency may be the choice for your family. Nanny agencies are particularly helpful if you’re interested in sponsoring a live-in nanny from outside of Canada. The full fee for an agency can range from $1,500-$3,000. When choosing an agency, pick based on reputation, not cost, and be sure they offer a guarantee on the placement.
Use any resources you have to get the largest pool to choose from possible. Some people look good on paper, but don’t click with your family, whereas others may not seem like the right fit at first, but shine when they’re with your baby. Leave yourself enough time for the search, about 6-8 weeks in my experience, and know that the right person will come up for your position.
