For Nannies: Part 2 / Prepping for a Parent Interview

This interview is a two-way street and will likely not include meeting the children during the first round interview. The parents would like to see if you’re a good fit for their children and lifestyle, and likewise, you’ll want to come prepared with your own questions to see if it’s a good match for you.

Ahead of time, you’ll want to mentally prepare succinct answers for some common questions that they may ask. Being able to answer their questions concisely with some interesting anecdotes will make you a memorable candidate. You can be assured you’ll likely be asked some variation of the following:

• What you like about being a nanny and why you are in this role?
• Descriptions of the past few families and children you’ve worked with. A brief overview of how long you were with each and major duties is valuable info you should be able to discuss with ease.
• What was a typical day like for you with the children? What do you enjoy or not enjoy doing with children?
• What are you looking for with the family you are working for in terms of overall hours, time off and benefits?
• How would you handle a difficult situation (and they may give you an example scenario such as an accident, fever or issue with another child)?

Being prepared with questions written down that you’d like to ask shows that you’ve proactively given a lot of thought to your next professional placement. Give some thought to querying:

• What kinds of hours can I reasonably expect to work? Are there different times of the year that you may expect more or less of my time?
• Can you provide a clear picture of what my daily duties will look like?
• Are there additional items you expect from me in terms of housework, care for pets, carpools or driving the children? If the duties are outside of your comfort zone, now is the time to let the family know what you are open to negotiating, or not.
• Tell me about family vacations. Do you expect your nanny to potentially travel with you?
• How do you discipline your child? What will be my role with this, if any?
• How do you prefer a nanny communicate with you?
• Do your children have any allergies or special needs?