Hiring a babysitter or nanny to look after your kids should be approached as one of the most important jobs in the world. 

These key tips will take the stress out of recruitment and help ensure you screen, interview and select the best possible carer for your family.

CVs and Shortlist

• Before you start, be clear on your must haves and nice to haves.  For example, a non-smoker might be a must have whereas a nanny with their own car might be nice, but not necessarily a deal breaker.
• A CV is a summary of the carer's education, skills and experience. So, make sure you read it!
• To shortlist, the first cut should weed out the deal breakers (anyone who does not have the must haves). The second cut should prioritise the carers in order of most desirable on paper through to least. 

Telephone Screening

• This will help you shortlist further and will save you a lot of time in the long run. Use telephone screening to verify the must haves, discuss commencement date, required days/hours, specific duties and hourly rate of pay. Get a feel for the carer's personality – what attracted them to your job; what do they like most about their work?
• If you like them, arrange a face-to-face interview. If something doesn't feel right, trust your judgement and don't proceed. 
• Ask the carer to bring relevant paperwork to the interview (written references; qualifications; drivers licence; Working with Children/police check; first-aid certification).

Face-to-face interviews

• Are crucial! You need to meet them to verify whether this is THE person you want looking after your kids.
• Ask open-ended questions to get more than a 'yes/no' answer. Listen carefully to the answers and watch the carer's body language. Cover general personal/ experience related questions: Tell me about
  yourself;  Do you drive; Have you studied? … as well as specific child care related questions: what ages have you cared for; what do kids like best about you?
• Look for both the basics and the details: is the carer on time, nicely dressed, prepared with copies of references and relevant certificates?  Has the carer thought about the interview? Do they have
  questions for you?
• Check their paperwork – site their drivers licence, WWC, first aid certificate
• ALWAYS have the carer meet your kids before you make a recruitment decision. If they can't handle your kids when you are there, they have no chance when you are not! Watch everyone's body language and let your kids ask questions to see how the carer interacts with them.

After Interview – Observations and Impressions

• Take five minutes immediately after the interview to record your thoughts - was the carer on time? Nicely dressed? Articulate? How did they interact with your children? Highlights, Concerns…

Reference Checking

• Regardless of how great a carer seems, you should reference check before you offer them a job with your family.
• Preferably speak with a current or former employer, rather than a personal referee (and definitely not a referee who is a relative!). 
• When you contact the referee, introduce yourself and tell them why you are calling. Advise them that the carer has referred you. If the referee does not want to talk to you this is obviously not a good sign! 
• Ask questions to ensure the carer is trustworthy, reliable, caring and competent. Why did the employment relationship end? Would the referee hire the carer again?

At every step of the way trust your intuition. If something doesn't feel right then it probably isn't, and frankly it's just not worth taking the risk. Hopefully you are now ready to make an offer! Good luck!!

This article was supplied by Kate Christie
Kate Christie and Tanya McVicar are co-owners of Babysitters and More (BaM!)

Babysitters and More (BaM!) is a one-stop shop where you can find all your home help needs in an affordable, simple, efficient, trustworthy and stress-free way! Find the perfect nannies, babysitters, cleaners, senior carers and companions, dog walkers and more, as well as all the tools you need to make the recruitment process simple.