Care.com users

jf198400 · July 2012

I just posted a job for a regular part time babysitter. For those who have used it before, I was just curious about how many applicants you got, how many you phone interviewed, and how many you interviewed in person? Any tips on specific things you looked for when choosing someone?

loneybaloney · July 2012

I had about 50 applicants, phone interviewed about 8, and in-person interviewed 2.

I'll tell you this not to scare you, but so you do what I should have done sooner. We had the first in-person interviewee to the house, and thought she was fantastic. After she left, DH and I were sort of giddy with excitement at all she would do with DS, how she seemed to be in-line with our parenting style, etc. I called her references, and they weren't great. I got online and Googled her name (she had a very unique name), and found an obituary for her. I immediately took all of the info to the state police, and come to find out, it was some sort of religious thing where she was "reborn" of sorts. The whole thing scared the sh!t out of me. After re-reading my email correspondence with her, I saw that I actually gave HER a lot of the info she said in the interview. It was so bizarre. So my advice? Check references and do some digging BEFORE you invite a potential sitter into your home. I was paranoid for weeks that she was going to come and steal DS in the middle of the night.

I was also amazed to find that even for our current nanny, NOT ONE of her previous employers did a CORI check on her. Do one...it's important.

honeybee111 · July 2012

We got maybe 30 applicants, phone interviewed 12, did in person interview with 4, and did a paid trial run with DD for 2. We looked for someone with experience, not too young, but we didn't want someone too old either. Also, the trial run with DD was definitely the deciding factor. Both candidates looked great in terms of references, experience, etc. However, one candidate was very hesitant around DD, which might have been because she was nervous, but she came off not very confident. The other one was very "take charge", got right down on the floor with her, had no problem comforting DD when she fussed, etc.

CariBriel · July 2012

I don't usually post on this board but I just recently hired our nanny through Care.com. We had about 60 people apply for the job, I phone interviewed around 8 and in person interviewed 2. We looked for someone that geniunely wanted to nanny and wasn't just using us as a "filler" job. A lot of the people that applied for us were recent college graduates, which at the time I thought would be great, but after talking to a few of them I realized they just wanted to use us as a way to gain experience and pass the time until they found their "real" job. I wanted someone that planned to stick around for awhile because I didn't want my girls to get attached to someone and then have them just up and leave.

I am also going to disagree with a PP about filtering out the younger ones. The girl we ultimately ended up hiring is only 20, but she is awesome. I talked to some girls older than her, but found the 20 year old to be more mature than some of the applicants that were older. She also has a lot of energy to keep up with both of my girls.