Perform a background check

The first thing you want to do when you’re hiring a nanny is to do a criminal record check for each one of the main candidates. Some of the things you should focus on are references, to see if they are legit or not. A police check is a good idea, and you also want to see if the First Aid Certificate or the Working With Children Check shows everything is legit. It’s a good idea to see if the nanny has either Australian citizenship or at least working rights. You can use the Australian National Character Check, CV Check and other similar tools for a proper background check.

Does the nanny have enough experience?

Making sure that your nanny has at least a few years of experience is very important. Unfortunately some inexperienced nannies will lie in their application. That’s why it makes sense to do a background check, just to ensure that everything the nanny states is legit.

Formal training 

Ideally, you want to work with a nanny that’s fully trained to offer the best service to your kids. Any certificate or sign that the nanny has all the necessary training can be a major selling point as you try to pick the right nanny for your kids.

Previous history with other clients

It’s a good idea to check and see how much a nanny worked for other clients. A long employment history with previous clients is usually a good sign. What you don’t want to see is a nanny that spent just a few weeks with their client’s kids before finding another job. It shows that the nanny isn’t really that dedicated and it might be hard to rely on her whenever you need her assistance.

Does he or she have any specific qualifications?

There are nannies which are specialized in education, child care, children services and so on. While this is not mandatory, hiring a nanny that has a lot of experience with kids and which is also specialized in a variety of things does help quite a lot. That’s what makes it such a great option in the first place.

We recommend doing a criminal history check or at least a general background check for any potential candidate when you want to hire a nanny. You never really know enough about a person in order to trust them with their kids. So it’s always a very good idea to do a police check and ensure that the person doesn’t have a criminal record or any history of delinquencies. At the end of the day, a background check will give you a peace of mind, and it will make it easier to find the right nanny for your kids!

References

Australian Nanny Association - https://www.australiannannyassociation.org.au/resources/minimum-standards-nanny/