How Do You Interview Nannies in Dubai & Abu Dhabi?
Finding the right nanny for your kids and home could be a stressful moment – unlike many things this is something you can’t get wrong.
The article will guide you step by step in this journey – including the important questions you should ask when interviewing.
1 – Accept to spend time on the search
If you are here, you don’t need to be convinced that finding the right nanny is something you’re taking seriously. Specially if it’s the first time, you might have a lot apprehension and you want to be diligent in the process.
One common mistake that we have observed is to push to much the “let’s test and see” :accepting too easily to start a trial with a nanny. Experience has shown that trials phases are most exhausting than life before nanny… IT DOES TAKE TIME AND ENERGY TO ONBOARD A NEW PERSON IN YOUR DAILY LIFE, so don’t make savings on the search time.
2 – Meet at least 10 candidates
Consequently, you want to screen on the phone and then meet the profiles for whom you have a good feeling. As a rule of thumb, you want to invite at home (or video conference) for an interview at least 10 candidates. You might obviously be lucky find your dream nanny from the first shot – but this is indicative of how long the process can be
Screening profiles in the nannies’ section of Peekaboo nanny website and doing a first filtering based on salary, nationality and experience allows you to build this desired list.
3 – Ask the right questions
You’re probably reading this article for that: what are the questions I should ask (and that are not strange to ask :D) the candidate nanny.
Of course, there is no one size fits all questionnaire, we all have different things that are important to us (or that worry us) – so we wanted to provide a wide range of questions for you to pick and choose your relevant ones.
The questionaire suggested below is assuming you already have all the information from the Peekaboo nanny profile (age, nationality, experience, ability to provide a recommendation, …)
You want to organize your interview around 3 important dimensions:
A – Personal
You want to know:
Who is the person? Will I get along easily with her? Do we share the same values and principles?
Suggested questions:
- Tell us about you [starting with an open question helps avoid the ”police questionning” athmosphere]
- What are the activities you most like to do with the children?
- Why do you work as a nanny?
- What is the most interesting part of working as a nanny? What is the least?
- Are you comfortable with dogs and cats?
- What are your plans for the future? College, marriage, children?
- Do you smoke? Do you drink?
- Are you religious? Do you go to church?
- Would you mind doing small household chores while the baby sleeps? Which do you not accept?
- Do you have any health problems?
- Did you received other calls from Peekaboo Nannies website? Did you reject any offer? Is so, why?
B- Skills and Experience
You want to know:
What can she (really) do? Does she have the skills (or ability to learn) what I need her for?
Suggested questions:
- How long have you been taking care of children? Reason for leaving previous jobs.
- Can you share the recommendation you mentionned in Peekaboo nannies website?
- Which age group do you have the most experience and with which do you feel best to work?
- Have you ever worked with other things?
- Do you have first aid?
- How many children can you look after/care for at the same time?
- What to do if the baby is choking?
- If my child is running a fever or is ill and you are alone at home what do you do? And what if we don’t answer on the phone?
- At what age should the baby start eating?
C- Attitude
You want to know:
Will she be respectful and trustworthy? Will she be flexible to our constraints?
Suggested questions:
- What are you looking for in a new job?
- What part of your job you like?
- How would you react if I give you too much feedback on how you handle the baby/kid ?
- Do you usually take notes from the rules and skills you learn ? [This question shows quite well, the nanny’s openness to listen and learn]
- If the child is sad, how will you cheer him up?
- Something that parents, children do that makes you angry?
- What rules of other houses that you’ve worked with have been difficult for you to follow?
- Stress test question : Are you ok if I ask you to stay up all night with the baby after a day of homecare and childcare ? [Of course you won’t do it, but the answer shows quite well the nanny’s attitude – experience has shown answers ranging from “Yes, of course” to “mm.. depends how much you pay me…” ]
We hope you’ll find your rare gem, when that will be the case, you can find support and answers to your questions in the next sections of Peekaboo Nannies resources: How to hire and sponsor?How to train your nanny?
