Screening the Screener

by Janinne Gardner
ADCAN vice president

During our first 2010 meeting we were privileged to have the co-owners of Nanny 365, Marcia K. Thompson, J.D. and Dr. Kim Barnett PhD, LPC as speakers. Nanny 365 is one of ADCAN’s wonderful supporting agencies. They discussed how we can use public source information to conduct research on the people & neighborhoods where we are considering working. During the session, we learned professional interviewing techniques to screen the employer and make sure they are a right fit for us. The goal of the session was to empower us to have the confidence that we need to select the right family.

Ms. Thompson, an attorney and public source researcher, has many years of experience serving as a child legal advocate in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Dr. Barnett, a licensed professional counselor and a Professor of Children's Studies at Bowie State University came loaded with a sheets and a power point presentation that captivated us from the get go.

Unlike the book The Nanny Diaries by Emma McLaughlin & Nicola Kraus, we do not get a job by being in the right place at the right time; it takes a lot of patience and energy to find the perfect position. As we all know just filling out the agency application “book” takes thought and consideration and a lot of time. However, it is all worth it if we do manage to find that perfect fit.
We started the discussion with preparation for the interview. Ask questions on the phone, decided if this is a job you are interested in pursuing. If you are looking for a live-in, is the job live-in? Are you looking for set hours, does the family want more flexible hours then you prefer? What are the ages of the children? Are you comfortable with a newborn and a school age child? Get as much information upfront as possible before you set up a meeting with the parents.

While on the face to face interview they suggest using these effective communication skills: listening, tone, content vs. process, body language and open questions.
Listening: try to figure out what they are not saying.
Tone: is the interview relaxed and are they focused on you? Do you feel like they have other stuff they would rather do? Did both parents attend the meeting? Where are the children? How do the parents interact with the children during the interview?
Content vs. Process this is about what you say (content) and how you say it (process). If the two are not congruent the message can get lost.
Body Language: Watch the parents and see how they react to your questions. Does their body tense up when they talk about going back to work, maybe they relax and they become very focused and excited while taking about work?
Open ended questions: Try not to ask too many questions that can be answered with a yes or a no, make the parents think about the answer. Some good open ended questions may be: What will my day look like? How will you feel about having a new baby & a nanny in the house all the time? What attracted you to have an in-home provider rather then a daycare center? How do you see the nanny fitting into your family? What other support system do you have besides your nanny? Have you ever had a houseguest or household staff who did something that bothered you, what did you do about it? What did you like and dislike about your last nanny? Can you tell me about the last time you had to discipline your child and what you did about it? In your mind what is the best way to keep open and consistent communication?

They also suggest the website www.searchsystem.net. This directs you to other websites that give public information on people and businesses. Some of the information you can get on it is: criminal background check, background check, public records, people search, criminal records, business licenses, & property search. They also suggest going to the bar association to check out any lawsuits on lawyers or to get information about a DWI in the criminal report of public records.