Diana posted on December 10, 2009 06:57
NO TIME TO NANNY AROUND
How to find your dream nanny.
Finding reliable childcare can be an absolute nightmare and can be very time consuming and expensive. Here are some tips to help you on your search.
More and more parents are taking control and cutting back costs by recruiting childcare directly according to recent figures from Gumtree.com which reports a 24 per cent increase in the number of classified adverts looking for professional nanny care.
With an average of 20 applications per advert, it seems there is no role for the middle man, which saves money and gives a sense of peace of mind. To help make your nanny search child’s play, Gumtree highlights the following advice:
Finding the right person can take time – allow twelve weeks before you need your nanny to begin to start the search
Write out exactly what you need the nanny to do – the hours of work, is it just childcare or would you like them to help with housework? Do they need to like pets/drive/own a car?
- How will you pay them and how will you reimburse them for money spent on the children while in their care?
- When writing an advert, Gumtree recommends to detail the hours, duties, ages of the children (but not the names) and the area that you live.
- Ask respondents to send details of their age, experience, qualifications and employment history as well as a covering letter of why they want to apply to your ad
- Do a background check.This can be anything from criminal records to drugs testing. Check if they are registered with the voluntary part of the Ofsted Childcare Register (vOCR).
- Any member of this needs to have undergone an enhanced Criminal Records Bureau check and met other requirements such as first aid training.
- Once satisfied, invite them to meet your child/children at home and see how they get on
- Gumtree is the UK's biggest website for local community classifieds including flat share, flat rentals and jobs.
- Don’t be afraid to suggest a trial period before arranging a long term contract Suchi Mukerjee, Managing Director of Gumtree.com and mother of one, comments, “We’ve seen a significant leap in the number of childcare ads on Gumtree.com over the last year, suggesting that parents want to take the search on themselves as it gives a sense of reassurance as it is on your own terms. “Most parents are too busy to hang around waiting for their very own Mary Poppins to come along so it makes sense that many are turning to Gumtree.com as our site allows people to be proactive, connect with a community of people who live locally and get fast results.