Ten Reasons You CAN’T Find A Nanny (And What To Do About It)!

Hi everyone! Laura from Nanny Parent Connection back with my next video.

Are you struggling to find the right nanny for your family? There are many reasons why the search may be taking longer than normal.

Check out my latest video where I go over the top ten reasons you can’t find a nanny and what steps to take to turbocharge your nanny search!

To check out the “12 Tips To Be The Best Nanny Employer” video, click here. 

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A transcript of the video can be found below: 

Hi everyone, Laura from Nanny Parent Connection here.

These are the top 10 reasons you can’t find a nanny and what to do about it.

Reason #1: You’re not looking in the right places

Perhaps you’ve posted your care need to only one platform (such as care.com or CraigsList). If you have lots of time for your search, that’s probably not a terrible strategy. However, it’s best to cast a wide net.

If you are in the Puget Sound region, make sure one of your platforms you’re posting to is Nanny Parent Connection. You can learn more about how our community works by clicking here.

Our community of over 20,000 members is the largest of its kind in the region. By posting in many different places, you will cast that wide net, and it’s likely that you will garner interest from more nannies.

If you’re not located in the Puget Sound region, check out your area and see what options are available for you.

Make sure you consider your social media options (i.e. Facebook groups, Twitter, Instagram, etc.) as well.

Reason #2: No compensation is listed in your job post

Nannies have shared that if there is no compensation information listed in the job posting, they are just going to move on.

Nannies want to be efficient with their time, and they believe that employers who are the most serious about their search will be transparent about compensation information right from the job description.

And here’s a pro tip families: Don’t just offer a single pay rate. Make sure you offer a range so that can speak to a variety of experience levels, and it may potentially attract more experienced nannies. Instead of offering $24/hour…consider offering $22-$26/hour.

Reason #3: Compensation is too low

It’s going to be really hard to drum up interest in your nanny position if the pay rate is way off of area norms.

If you’re not sure what pay rate to offer, ask around with friends and neighbors. You can also use our handy Pay Rate Worksheet to help determine a rate. Find that by clicking here. If you are located in the Puget Sound region, check out the results of our most recent Pay Rate Survey by clicking here.

Reason #4: You have a unique care need

If there are any unique requirements about your care need, you may have trouble drumming up interest in the role.

Split shifts are notoriously hard to fill. That’s where the nanny comes for a few hours in the morning to provide before school care, and then comes again in the afternoon to provide after school care.

But there’s that large chunk of time in between those two shifts that the nanny is not getting paid for, and that might also interfere with activities the nanny could otherwise do in their day.

Some families want a slow start where they ramp up hours eventually to being full-time.

In this scenario, a nanny who has that full-time availability probably needs to be working full-time. So that’s another example of a really unique care need to fill.

One trend I’ve been seeing lately is where families want to work with a nanny but then they don’t need the nanny for the summer, and they’re not offering guaranteed hours, they want to give the nanny the summertime off but then have the nanny rejoin them in the fall.

Other families may require a high level of experience, a specific second language, or they may have requirements for special needs experience.

Just understand that if you have any of these unique care need requirements, you will likely need to allot more time for your nanny search and be somewhat flexible on your expectations.

In the case of the split shift, perhaps you’re flexible on offering the morning hours to one care provider and the afternoon hours to a different care provider.

If you need that slow start that rolls into full-time, consider offering more guaranteed hours at the beginning of the position to retain that great nanny and to make it financially feasible for them to work fewer hours now but then ramp up to more hours later.

The name of the game here is to consider being a little bit flexible in order to fill your unique care need.

Reason #5: The job description is not detailed enough

I’ve seen some families put up job posts that consist of three to five sentences.

That’s simply not enough information for a nanny to want to reach out. Most of the time, if there’s a very short job description, the nannies will just skip these by.

Nannies want a good snapshot of the position before they reach out.

Make sure your job description includes critical information such as the start date, the ideal schedule, the commitment length, the nanny duties, the job requirements, and compensation information.

It’s also helpful whether you have a profile on a search platform such as Nanny Parent Connection or a Facebook post for example.

Make sure you include a photo because profiles and job posts with photos are much more likely to get clicks than those without.

Reason #6: You’re offering too few hours

I often see families struggling to fill roles that are 15 hours per week or less.

This is simply because there are fewer people who are seeking out these job opportunities.

Those who are are typically in school or they have another position that they’re working at, and so they need those specific hour times and dates to fit within their existing schedules.

If you do need 15 or fewer hours per week, consider offering a higher pay rate to help offset the fewer hours.

You may also be able to increase the number of hours per week offered by adding a date night or additional household assisting duties, such as grocery shopping, meal prep, family laundry, or dog walking.

Another option could be to reach out to friends or neighbors to see if they have any part-time childcare needs as well, so that you could almost round out to a three-quarter time or even a full-time position for one nanny between two families.

Reason #7: A nanny sees safety issues

Nannies are concerned about the safety in their work environment.

So, if they come for an in-person interview and they see safety issues, that could be one reason why you’re just not able to fill the role.

Common safety concerns that I hear about from nannies are that there is a lack of baby or toddler proofing around the home or that house upkeep somehow creates a safety concern.

Families, make sure that your work environment is one that supports the safety of your nanny and your child, so that you don’t lose out on potential nannies.

Reason #8: Not having realistic expectations about the nanny

The most common expectation that I see that makes a position difficult to fill is when families have a very high number of years of experience that they desire in a nanny.

Keep in mind that when your required experience level of candidates increases, the pool of available nanny candidates is going to get smaller.

It also can be difficult to find a career nanny to fill a part-time role unless you’re paying at the absolute top of the market.

So make sure you have a good handle on going pay rates in the area and a good understanding that your more experienced nannies are likely going to require full-time hours as well as top-of-the-market pay.

Being flexible on that exact number of years of experience could lend to you filling your nanny role more easily.

Reason #9: Not having realistic expectations about the job

Many nannies have felt taken advantage of by their employer at some point in their career.

As a result, there has been a unified conversation amongst nannies about what industry standards are.

A nanny-only position, for example, includes childcare and anything surrounding the care of the child, but it does not include family meal prep or family laundry,for example.

If you’re interested in having a nanny perform any additional family-assisting duties, of course, you’ll want to discuss that with your nanny and have everyone be in agreement on what duties will be handled.

Include a pay rate increase, which usually is around $3-$5 or more per hour. Make sure you have a good understanding of which job duties go along with each role title by checking out the video “Are You a Nanny or a Household Manager?”.

In addition to having a good understanding of what job duties go with each position title, also make sure that nanny breaks, pet care, and guaranteed hours are on your radar when it comes to having realistic expectations about the job.

Reason #10: Location

If you are farther out from an urban area, that could be a reason why you’re having a harder time filling your nanny role. It’s simply because there are fewer candidates to choose from.

This can be especially problematic if you are located outside of an urban area and you require a high level of experience.

Most nannies know that they can get higher-paying jobs in bigger cities, and that there are more of these jobs available in cities.

If your location is a little further out and farther away from a big city, you may need to be more flexible with your requirements. You could also consider bumping up your pay rate in order to attract more nannies.

Alright, everyone, those are the top 10 reasons you can’t find a nanny and what to do about it.

I hope you found this video helpful. If you like this video, please click the like button, subscribe, or ring the bell so that you can be notified when more of these videos come out in the future.

And if you haven’t seen it already, make sure you don’t miss this video on how to be the best nanny employer.

Thanks, everyone! Bye!