When applying for your first job as a nanny, whether you’re a student, a graduate or if you’re moving from another field of work, it’s guaranteed that you won’t be the only one submitting an application.
What makes you stand out from the hundreds of other nanny applicants trying to get the same position?
We’ve put together this quick article to show you how volunteering can help you stand out from the crowd.
Continue reading “Why Nannies Should Include Volunteer Work on Their Resume”
It’s only natural for a parent to ask a nanny for their past references and recommendations. They are, after all, entrusting the happiness, health and safety of their children to a complete stranger.
Why then, shouldn’t this also apply to nannies? Nannies, particularly live-in nannies, put their own livelihood and safety into the hands of the family they are becoming a part of and so common sense would suggest that a nanny should also obtain references from the parent(s) so that they are fully aware of the professional and personal nature of their new employer(s).
That’s why we’ve put together our top tips to help ensure that you only work with trustworthy, reliable employers:
Continue reading “Why Nannies Should Ask Parents for References”
There might be moments in your career when self-doubt starts to creep in and you find yourself wondering if you’re doing your job well enough. What you need to remember is that nobody is perfect and that every nanny, au-pair, childminder or babysitter will do things differently.
There is no one-method-suits-all when it comes to childcare, because no two children are the same and so we’ve put together a list of the most important skills and qualities that you need to be a good nanny.
Towards the end of the year a lot of nannies get calls from OFSTED informing them that it’s time for an inspection. Around 10% of nannies on the voluntary register are inspected every year, and most pass with flying colours, however it can be a nerve-wracking experience particularly if you’ve worked in a nursery.
Purpose: Unlike school and early years settings (nurseries, childminders, etc), OFSTED inspections for nannies are not to judge your skills as a childcarer or evaluate the way you implement the EYFS. It is purely to see whether you meet the requirements of the register as they apply to you. Your inspector should send you a document which lays out the requirements for both parts of the childcare register. You are only concerned with ‘both’ or ‘voluntary’ AND where it mentions ‘home childcarer’ (which is what OFSTED call nannies).
Do you want to improve your CV and get ahead in your career? Courses can be a fantastic way to do this or simply to explore new subjects but there’s a bewildering array out there. Here’s how to narrow it down.
What do you want the course to do?
If you’re hoping that it will lead to a new career you need to make sure that the course is recognised by potential employers. If you just want a bit more information then accreditation and recognition is less important but you still want to be confident that the course content is accurate. Deals through sites like Wowcher and Groupon may look great but they don’t lead to recognised qualifications and you may end up paying money, and putting time in, for nothing.
Sometimes office workers have it easy. Dressing for an interview is a matter of which suit to wear. Dressing for a nanny interview is a whole different ball game. What you wear says a lot about your personality, and personality is one of the thing you’re being assessed on when you to meet the parents of your (hopefully) future charges.
There are some simple rules:
– keep it modest: limit the amount of leg and cleavage on show and don’t wear a skin tight catsuit
– keep it practical: no heels you can’t run in
– keep it natural: go for fresh-faced and leave the false eyelashes at home
Colour psychology
When we first heard of this it seemed a bit ‘woo’. Does what colour you wear really affect how people see you? Psychology says yes. You can encourage certain feelings by wearing an associated colour. Blue encourages people to trust you, as does white, but orange, brown and red are not seen as trustworthy colours. Blue is also associate with high quality, as is black, and green encourages people to spend money.
To jeans or not to jeans?
Some people don’t like jeans at interview, even if you’re going to be wearing them every day to work. Others say that smart jeans (so no holes!) are fine. If you’re going for a high profile job, or an interview with a formal family, it might be best to avoid them and opt for black trousers instead.
I have an interview straight from work. Help!
Sometimes future employers just have to take you as you come. It’s worth telling them that you’ll be coming directly from your day job so they won’t be too shocked if you’re a little dishevelled or have a stain on your knee. Pack a spare top in case your current charges decide to sabotage you by flinging tomato sauce down your front and remember that at least your interviewers will be seeing how you’ll be turning up to work with them.
Above all be yourself, and good luck!
A lot rides on a nanny job interview so it’s worth taking the time to prepare it well. Here are ten tips to help you ace that all-important meeting before you even step in the door.
1. Plan your route – as soon as you have a place and a time work out how long it will take you to get there and the most reliable route. You don’t want to get lost on the big day so if it’s an area you don’t know it might be worth doing a dry run.
2. Prep your portfolio – make sure you have all the certificates and references you need in one place, as well as any example routines or activities you want to show the parents. Most parents will also ask to see proof of identity and address so have those handy too.
3. Scout out the area – if you don’t know the area then have a look on the internet for local activities and amenities. This will also give you a feel for whether you want to work there or not.
4. List your questions for them – our twenty questions to ask at interview are a good start but if there’s anything particular about the position you want to know be sure to write it down so you remember to ask.
5. Refresh your knowledge – it’s always a good idea to read up on the next developmental stages for your future charges before interview, especially if you haven’t worked with that age group for a while. If it’s an interview with a baby familiarise yourself with the latest weaning guidelines and for a toddler remind yourself about different behaviour management strategies and potty training.
6. Pick your outfit – what to wear for a nanny interview could be a whole separate blog post but your keywords should be comfortable yet smart. You want to create a good impression but still be able to get down on the floor and play if you meet the children.
7. Leave early -it’s better to arrive 20 minutes early and wait in the car or have a coffee than be in a big rush or, worse, late.
8. Go over the details – it creates a good impression if you have the information you’ve been given at your fingertips so you’re able to greet your future boss by names as they open the door and are prepared
9. Scrub up – just before you ring the bell check yourself in the mirror and get rid of any smudges, stains or stray hairs. Its worth keeping a pack of baby wipes in your bag to deal with any last minute emergencies.
10. Shake hands and smile – when the door is opened be smiling and friendly, shake hands confidently and step inside!
Standard holiday entitlement in the UK is 5.6 weeks, which include all Bank Holiday, pro rata for part time workers. But what does this mean? When does it start? What if you work part time or varying days or reduced hours for part of the year or term time only?
If you work full time you will get 4 weeks holiday and the 8 ordinary Bank Holidays (New Year’s Day or the following Monday, Good Friday, Easter Monday, the early May Bank Holiday, the Spring Bank Holiday, the August Bank Holiday, Christmas Day or the following Monday and Boxing Day or the following Monday or Tuesday). This give you a total of 28 days holiday.
To calculate your holiday entitlement for part time work, where you work the same days and hours each week you simply divide those 28 days by 5 to get a figure for 1 day per week and multiply by the number of days you work – so for 3 days it would be (28 days / 5 x 3 days)
1 day = 5.6 days or 1.12 weeks
2 days = 11.2 days or 2.24 weeks
3 days = 16.8 or 3.36 weeks
4 days = 22.4 or 4.48 weeks
Holdiay can be rounded up, but not down.
If you work term time only then you can use a similar calculation substituting weeks for days. In this example we’ll assume that there are 39 school weeks, so you get 4.2 weeks holiday (5.6 weeks / 52 x 39 weeks). If you have to take your holiday outside of term time then you may have an arrangement that you are paid in lieu of holiday. Alternatively you may be employed for 44 weeks of the year to allow for the holiday to be taken during your period of employment.
If you work different hours on different days but still work a fixed number of days per week you may find it more useful to calculate your holiday in terms of hours. For example Monday and Tuesday are 10 hour days but Wednesday, Thursday and Friday are 5 hour days. Taking 5 Mondays off would give double the amount of time not worked but still use the same amount of holiday. To calculate holiday in hours just add up the number of hours over a week, in this case 35, and multiply that by the number of weeks holiday entitlement, in this case 5.6, giving 196 hours (35 x 5.6).
The same principle applies if you work part-time in term time and full time in school holidays. In this case you need to calculate the number of hours worked over a year, for example 4 hours per day, 5 days per week for 39 weeks per year ( 4 x 5 x 39,) which is 780 hours, and 10 hours per day, 5 days per week for 13 weeks per year (10 x 5 x 13), which is 650 hours, giving a total of 1430 hours per year. This is then divided ny 52 to get the average weekly hours (1430 / 52) which is 27.5 hours and mulitplied by the weekly allowance for a full week, 5.6, to give 154 hours holiday a year. That means 15.4 days if taken in school holidays or 38.5 days if taken in term time – quite a difference!
If you work varying hours and can’ establish a weekly average then it may be best to calculate holiday using the accrual method, so for every hour you work you earn 12.07% of an hour as holiday.
Holiday is distributed according to a leave year. This is usually specified in the contract, and many run from 1st January to 31st December, with a pro rata allowance for the first and final years. That means if you leave a job after working 10 weeks you will get 1.1 weeks holiday (5.6 weeks / 52 x 10 weeks).
We hope this helps you to make sense of your holiday entitlement, and remember you can always post on our messageboards to get advice from other nannies specific to you.
Buying a pram is a huge decision for parents. In fact it’s probably the baby buy that they spend the most time on and among the most expensive items. Parents to be consider their comfort, what they will use the pram for and whether it will fit in their car….. but understandably they haven’t thought about their nanny.
Telling parents that you don’t like their pram is one of the most awkward things to do. You might be worried that you come across as petty or picky but a pram is an essential piece of equipment that you are likely to use every day and if you can’t push it comfortably, fold and unfold it, or fit it in your car then you need to tell them sooner rather than later. In a way it can feel like you’re questioning their parenting choices, because a pram is after all not just a mode of baby transport. It’s a very obvious signal to the rest of the world of the image that they want to project and their ideas may not mesh with what you know is comfortable for you. So how do you go about it?
In this case honestly is the best policy and make it clear that these are your personal feelings about an inanimate object, so rather than saying ‘your pram is really heavy’ try saying ‘I find the pram really heavy’. Offer workable solutions: ask them to teach you how to put it up and down, suggest that you take the bus instead of using your car or that they get a ‘car buggy’ for days out and you can use their pram when walking. If the handles are too high you can approach it in a joky manner, but don’t underestimate how serious a problem it is for you in the long term.
If you know of any affordable replacements then if they offer to get a new pram you can be ready with suggestions that will suit everyone. One of the biggest issues is height difference so if you’ve done some research don’t make the same mistake and forget about your very tall DadBoss!
If you’re in the UK right now you won’t have been able to escape the weather forescats and the news reports of severe flooding, high winds and power outages, but how many nannies have an emergency plan agreed with the parents in case of disaster?
Imagine this:
Your workplace is on a flood plain and you start to notice water coming up through the drains. The river has flooded nearby fields and the road outside has started to flood. You start to worry that if you stay put you won’t be able to get your car out and will be trapped by the water. What do you do?
Or maybe you’ve been out for the day and as you return to your bosses’s house you find that the road is so flooded you can’t get by. Where do you go?
Obviously remaining in your charge’s home, where you employers expect you to be isn’t an option in either of those scenarios, but in the thick of an emergency situation it may be difficult to keep parents informed every step of the way. This is why a pre-agreed emergency plan that both nanny and parents are aware of is so important. Even if you don’t live on a flood plain you never know what might happen!
1. Agree a safe place, or two safe places in case one is also affected
If parents return home to find you gone and can’t get in touch with you they will know where to look. This might be your own home, your charge’s grandparents or a nanny friend’s. The idea is that you have somewhere to go away from the disaster, so the next street over probably won’t cut it. Make sure you know several alternative routes to get there too, and take natural obstacles like rivers into account.
2. Make a list of what to take with you
When you evacuate a house you need to assume that you won’t be back for a while. Some things, like a change of clothes and any special cuddly toys, you’ll take automatically, but your employer might want you to also take important documents with you too. Ask them if they have a file they would like you to grab on the way out, and if they don’t suggest they put one together.
3. Know how to secure the house before you leave
Obviously you and your charges are a priority but knowing how to switch the gas/electricity/water off (especially if it’s a gas leak or a plumbing disaster) could save time later.
4. Set an emergency contact
If you can’t check in with your employers for some reason, or they can’t reach you, designate a third party contact. That way if you have to leave your charge’s house and go to your agreed safe place you can leave a message with your employers and another person.
5. Have a waterproof emergency kit
Nannies nowadays usually have contact numbers on their mobile phone, and that’s fine until the network gets overloaded or your phone slips out of your pocket into the rising floodwaters. First item in your waterproof kit is laminated contact details for the parents and emergency contact. You should also laminate all your emergency information: your safe place, your ‘to-take’ list and instructions on how to secure the house. You should also have food and water, including baby milk if necessary (you can buy pre-sterilised, pre-made bottles), a first aid kit, and a torch and batteries.
It might seem extreme, and we hope you’ll never need to use it, but when it comes to you and your charge’s safety better safe than sorry!
