For many nannies, interviews with families can feel nerve-wracking. What if you say the wrong thing? Will the family see you for who you really are? How can you be fully prepared?
The truth is that calming those interview “nerves” comes down to being confident in your abilities and walking in prepared. Below, we share our top tips to help you confidently interview with families every time.
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Nannies, calming your interview nerves is about being confident in your abilities and being prepared.
Here are our tips to confidently interview with families every time.
Before your interview, review the job description
As a bonus, we recommend printing out a copy of the job description and writing down any questions you can think of pertaining to that job description.
We also recommend printing out a copy of your resume and bringing that along in case the family doesn’t have a printed copy handy.
During the interview, families will be impressed that you thought ahead to bring a copy of your resume and that you offered it to them, even if they don’t need it.
Make sure to confirm the timing and the address with the family the morning of
Before leaving, make sure also to check the drive times in case there is any inclement weather or bad traffic that may make that commute take a little bit longer.
Make sure to give yourself plenty of time; you do not want that anxiety of being late to the job interview.
You want to make a good first impression by being either a little bit early or on time.
Remember to breathe and just be yourself
Families are looking for nannies who are warm and personable.
Yes, you should certainly be putting your best foot forward, but you don’t need to put on a show. Be your authentic and genuine self.
Make sure you come prepared with several questions you can ask about the family or the child
Examples of such questions could include:
How does the family like to spend time together?
What is the family’s parenting style?
What are the interests of the child?
What is the child’s schedule?
How long does the family envision needing nanny care?
How do they best communicate, etc.?
Be prepared to discuss your childcare philosophy at the interview
We recommend putting some thought into this ahead of time and potentially even jotting down the highlights on that copy of the job description that you brought along.
Make sure that you interact with the child/children
One of the biggest reasons families share for passing on a nanny after the in-person interview is that they didn’t feel that the nanny interacted with their child at all or enough.
Interacting with a child is a great way to display your talents to the family and help them envision what the day-to-day nanny care from you might be like.
And here are two bonus tips to nail those interviews
Tip #1: You can really knock a family’s socks off by bringing a copy of a completed background check that you’ve ordered on yourself.
This shows the family that you’re very proactive and that you’re serious about your job search.
It also puts you ahead of the pack of other potential nanny candidates that they are considering working with.
Not to mention, it will save the family a step if they decide to hire you. If you’re not sure how to order a background check on yourself, you can easily do so on our website by clicking here.
Tip #2: Make sure to email the family as a follow-up after the interview.
This email could be short and sweet.
It could include something like, ‘Hi family, I really enjoyed meeting you today. Thank you so much for showing me your home or thank you so much for your time.’
You could also use this opportunity to pass along additional things you would like them to consider, such as your CPR/First Aid certification or any letters of recommendation, and references if they have requested references from you.
Alright, nannies, those are our tips to interview confidently with families every time.