Weeding out nanny applicants is easier than I expected....

JillRock96

Just have to vent a bit.  Don't people realize the impression that they are leaving when they apply for a job?  Yikes.

I posted an ad on sittercity.com.  It was very specific (ages of the girls, times and days of the week we would need someone, salary, duties, etc.).  I received 27 responses.  Of them,

5 just cut and pasted their resume into an e-mail -- one huge, run-on paragraph with no punctuation or line breaks.

7 aren't available for the days/hours we listed.

5 used horrible grammar, major misspellings, run-on sentences, and "text-speak" in their replies (e.g., "look forward 2 meetting u").

1 has two kids of her own and is looking to have 2 more come to her house (ok, what would we do with the third?).

3 are too young and have very little experience (having a lot of younger siblings does not make you an experienced nanny).

That leaves 6 people that DH and I both liked.  I sent them all e-mails letting them know we are interested in meeting them.  So far, two have responded asking how many children we have, what days/times we need, what the duties are, etc.  Um, YOU APPLIED FOR OUR JOB!

I feel like Bill Engvall -- "Here's your sign."

BizEB

I can totally relate.  We tried sittercity and care.com, even CraigsList and it was so much crap for very few decent candidates.  We got alot of "I can't do the day you want, but I can do this day."  Um, no.  And I wanted someone over 25 and got tons of 18 year olds telling me they were "mature."  So annoying.  We finally just sucked it up and went through an agency.

Hope you have better luck than we did-- the girls look so cute, BTW.  

JustaKidAtHeart

got to love stupid people

tigerlily5

that is really annoying. hopefully one of the ones you liked will work out.  but really i am responding to say that your girls are so incredibly adorable!!!!

jmkatz

We are looking for a new nanny as well, and I am noticing the same thing.  We put an ad on care.com and have gotten LOTS of responses, but it is easy to weed through.  I hope that you find the perfect nanny for your sweet girls!

DavezWife

I use to place ads, interview and hire caregivers for dementia residents, and the couple of tips I can give:

I made them jump thru hoops just in their application - asked for them to declare their desired salary, (I won't hire someone who doesn't know what they are "worth" - we may not agree, but that's business. ) WHY they thought they would be a good fit for the job, and why I should hire them and not someone else. I raised the bar really high, and flat out said they would NOT be considered if these conditions were not met. that cut my apps down in half, even more. I explained that this was not a job for slackers, our expectations as a company, and the perks and rewards of working for us and not someone else.

I knew before they walked in the door if they were going to be hired. I was rarely wrong ;-) 

 

JillRock96

Aww, thanks, ladies! 

dusk42

DavezWife:

I use to place ads, interview and hire caregivers for dementia residents, and the couple of tips I can give:

I made them jump thru hoops just in their application - asked for them to declare their desired salary, (I won't hire someone who doesn't know what they are "worth" - we may not agree, but that's business. ) WHY they thought they would be a good fit for the job, and why I should hire them and not someone else. I raised the bar really high, and flat out said they would NOT be considered if these conditions were not met. that cut my apps down in half, even more. I explained that this was not a job for slackers, our expectations as a company, and the perks and rewards of working for us and not someone else.

I knew before they walked in the door if they were going to be hired. I was rarely wrong ;-) 

 

My ad was so specific that I got about 6 apps on care.com and 1 on CL.  I said that I wanted someone for specific time slots and that they had to have professional childcare experience (not babysitting or church nursery) with three references, current CPR/first aid certification, and provide proof of a clean driving record or I would not even consider their application.  I also asked for their salary requirements.  I interviewed three on the phone and one in person and hired her.