Questions for a Nanny to Ask at an Interview

You are off to visit a family for a nanny’s job interview, of course you will be feeling hopeful and perhaps a little nervous. You will already have a list of questions you will need to ask, and hopefully you have these written down so that if your nervousness makes you forget some, you can pull out your slip of paper to refer to.

There will be the typical questions regarding the hours of work, whether live-in or out, salary, the expectations the family has of you and the expectations you have of them – for example, if you need to pick up your own child at a certain time each day, it may mean it will be impossible to do any overtime and you must leave punctually at the appointed time.

• What are the family’s expectations regarding play dates? If their child’s friend calls up and wants to come over, or to meet in the park, is this OK? Or does the family generally need to know more details, and make decision’s case-by-case?
• What activities do your children like to do? Do they enjoy an afternoon in the park? Or do they prefer indoor activities? Is there a play gym I can take them to? Is there a food court they sometimes like to go to for lunch?
• Do your children have any special talents which I can try to cultivate? Music? Badminton? Swimming? Acting? Drawing?
  • One of our friends had a nanny who liked to organise the kids into producing a one-act play of a scene from a fairy story. They were loads of fun, and kids got really excited and enthusiastic about doing them, especially the dressing-up part!
• What primary language should I speak to them in? Would you like me to also sprinkle in some phrases from my mother tongue?
• Do any of your kids have any dietary restrictions? Are there some foods which anyone really hates to eat? Do you have rules about eating too much candy?
• What are your kid’s favourite foods? How often can they have them?
• How much television, video gaming, Internet access do you allow each day?
• Is any of your children struggling with a particular subject in school? Is there anything I can do to help?
• Do you celebrate birthdays in a special way? Can I help you plan and prepare?

Being full of questions shows that you are a professional child-carer, and you take your job seriously and are keen to do the best you can. It will also mean, of course, that you will have as much information as possible to help you make a decision about working for a particular family, or not.