Interviewing babysitters

mcgee

I placed an ad on care.com for the occasional babysitter for the kids, and I'm kind of overwhelmed at the response. We've always left the kids with people we know well, and it's been years since Mer was in daycare. Even then, we chose a daycare center and not an individual/home arrangement.

Any suggestions on interview questions??

Duckie07

1.  How many years of experience does this person have taking care of children?

2.  What age groups do they have experience with and in what settings?

3.  Are they CPR/First Aid certified?  Do they have any other child-related certifications (like a babysitting certification through the Y, etc)?

4.  I would give them different scenarios and ask how they would handle them:  sick child, misbehaving child, etc.

5.  What is their expected rate of pay?

I'm sure there are more but that's all I can think of for now.  Are you looking for someone older or a teenager?  I think that might change the types of questions you'd ask the person or, at the very least, the type of answers you should expect.

mcgee

Care.com already has them list their age, experience, education, background, whether they're CPR-certified, etc. so I know all of that.

I stated a pay range I would pay, and they have stated the same on their profiles, so obviously we'd want to narrow it down to make sure that we're on the same page as far as pay goes. 

The different scenarios is a good one. Thanks. I also plan to ask how comfortable they are preparing lunch or dinner for the kids and what sort of foods they'd want to prepare, how comfortable they are with making sure the puppy goes out to pee on a regular basis and how willing they are to clean up the occasional puppy accident, and how comfortable they are with dealing with a toddler who wants to potty train.

I declined most of the responses from teenagers who were still in high school because I need someone who can do a day baby sitting job from time to time during the school year. I also declined everyone who did not have her own transportation because I don't want to deal with having to pick up/drop off someone.  I'm fine with just about anything else age-wise, and the people I am hoping to interview range in age from 20 to 65. I also kept a list of back up people to interview if nothing works out in my first tier of potential babysitters.

Care.com also makes references and background checks available. So I guess knowing so much about these women in advance has me hesitant as to what else to ask them, beyond questions about our specific situation.

Duckie07

Wow, it sounds like this website does a lot of the work for you.  Nice!  I can see why you might be at a loss for other questions.  I like that they'll provide background checks and references as well.  I would still ask them to tell me about their experience, education, etc.  I'd like to hear from them how they would describe their experiences; plus, that might also lead to other questions from you.  Good thinking on asking them about food preparation.  I wouldn't have thought to ask about that!

Ricola

I don't know if this allowed to be asked, but how about if they have children or not? I know that a few of the applicants on care.com think it's okay to just bring their kid/s when you might not be okay with that.

I worked as an Au Pair (live-in nanny) for a year and some of the most important questions were if I or the family follow a strict religion (is praying before a meal wanted/unwanted etc.) and how I would spend a day with the kids (watch TV? Go to the park? Is it ok to leave the house with  the kids?).

I don't know if this helps at all, but I thought I'd chime in in case it does.