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, then in my second post, I gave different options for advertising your needs. The third post was all about interviewing; holding phone interviews to narrow the list to your favourites to interview in person.

Generally, after holding interviews you’ll have a good idea of who you’d like to hire for the position. The next step is to check the nanny’s references. I strongly recommend checking the references of the individual you’d like to hire. Do not hire a nanny who is unable or unwilling to provide you with references. Try to check at least two references related to the candidate’s past experience with children.

When you call the reference, put them at ease about your motives, and try to limit the call to 6-7 minutes. Be informal and friendly, and ask them for general information about the nanny. If this is someone who has used the services of the nanny, ask them for the ages of the children they card for, how frequently she worked, and the length of a typical day worked.

If the reference hasn’t seen the nanny work with children, ask his/her opinion of how the candidate would be around children. Explain your situation by telling them the ages of your children, the frequency they’d be working for you, and any special considerations there are about your position.

For sample questions to ask references, see the resources I have available on CanadianNanny.ca. When speaking to the references, try to ask specific questions such as:

• Do your children like the nanny/sitter?
• Did the caregiver follow the house rules?
• Has there ever been an unpleasant incident?
• Has the nanny/sitter had any attendance issues?
• Is there anything else you need to know?
• Would you hire the caregiver again?

When reference checking is complete, and their criminal record check has come back clean, you can ask them to come for a trial day to observe how they interact with your children. In my next post, I’ll discuss what the trial day should look like and how to analyze the results.

In my first post, I discussed tips on determining what your child care needs are, then in my second post, I gave different options for advertising your needs. Hopefully from this, you have a few favourites you’d like to interview.

As you receive applications, you should choose your favourites, or ‘short-list’ of candidates. To shorten this list, do a phone interview with each person. Set aside a time with each person that works for both of you when there won’t be any distractions. Start by giving a brief job description, telling them the position start date, days and hours required, and a sample of duties. Confirm the candidate is interested in this, and verify her information, like phone number, availability, and if she has her First Aid and CPR training. Keep the conversation flowing, but limit each call to 10-15 minutes.

If you like the candidate from your phone conversation, set up an appointment with her to meet about a week later in person. If you aren’t interested from the phone interview, tell her you’re reviewing interested candidates and will contact her if you’re interested in a face-to-face interview.

The in-person interviews you hold can be at your home, a coffee shop, or the park. It is best that there are no distractions during the interview, like the kids being at home, and you shouldn’t expect her to provide childcare during the interview. You can ask her to come for a trial day if you’re interested in her, which will give you an idea of how she interacts with your children, and how they like her. Create a casual atmosphere so she is as relaxed as she can be, and encourage her to dress casually instead of dressing up.

During the interview, you should ask a combination of questions about her background, experience, and qualifications, as well as open-ended questions. Open-ended questions allow you to gauge her common sense and how she would likely react. For example, pose a scenario like “The children are very upset about the separation from their parents? How would you handle this situation?”, and consider her response. For a sample of what types of questions to ask during the interview, check out the resources I have available on CanadianNanny.ca.

Make sure you allow time for her to ask you questions about the job and duties required. Discuss vacation time with her, like if she has any upcoming vacations planned, and tell her about any vacation time you have planned. If you’re thinking of having her accompany you on vacations and/or trips to the cottage, discuss this with her now. Near the end of the interview, ask about any certificates she has, and if you’re considering hiring her, ask for her references and police record check. Next week, I’ll discuss the process of checking references.

Interviewing is a vital step in the process so you can get a feel for the person you’re choosing to care for your child. My best advice is to listen to your gut; if you’re getting a bad feeling about someone, it’s best to trust your instinct and move on to find the right person.

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.

Once you’ve decided that you’re going to hire in-home child care, like a nanny for your family, you have to determine what your needs are so you can find the right person to care for your child. There are certain things that should be required of the person you hire, such as Emergency First Aid and CPR training for infants. If the individual you are considering hiring doesn’t have these certifications, offer to pay for their training if they’re willing to obtain it for your position.

You’ll also need to figure out what type of person will fit into your family. Do you want someone living in your home full-time, or would you prefer the individual comes and goes each day?  Do you need someone full-time (typically 25 hours per week or more), or part-time; is it a regular schedule every week, or will it vary depending on your schedule, work or otherwise? If you’re considering hiring a live-in nanny, decide if you are willing to sponsor someone from outside of Canada under the Live-in Caregiver Program.

When you have decided your options for the type of caregiver you need, consider the timeline of when you’ll need to start looking for this type of care. It varies depending on what you’re looking for. If you choose to look for a foreign live-in nanny, you’ll need to give yourself about 6-8 months for work permit processing times. If you choose to look for a local nanny, 6-8 weeks is usually sufficient, in my experience.

An option that has grown in popularity recently is sharing a nanny. This is where two families share one nanny, either providing part-time or full-time care to both families at the same time, or part-time to both giving the nanny full-time employment. Look for families in your area with children of similar age, or post an ad online; we have a dedicated place for nanny share ads on CanadianNanny.ca available to registered families.

My last piece of advice is to remember that you are hiring an employee for your family, not looking for a new friend. It is very important to keep the relationship with your nanny as professional as possible.

Follow CanadianNanny.ca on Facebook and on Twitter.