This page once advertised a true/false personality assessment promising to predict "more than 40 traits associated with being a successful nanny." Formal assessments still exist, and some families find them useful — but two decades of placements taught a simpler lesson: structured interviews, scenario questions, a paid working interview, and disciplined reference calls predict success better than any questionnaire. This guide gives you all four.
Stage 1: The 15-minute phone screen
Before inviting anyone into your home, confirm the basics by phone: availability for your actual schedule, pay expectations against your range, transportation, smoking, swimming ability if you have a pool, comfort with pets, and legal work eligibility. Half your list will fall out here — which is the point. Be ready to answer questions too; good candidates screen families just as carefully (see what makes a great nanny for what the strong ones bring).
Stage 2: The structured interview
Ask every finalist the same core questions, in the same order, and take notes. Consistency is what makes answers comparable. A proven core set:
Experience and motivation
- Walk me through each childcare position you've held — ages, duties, and why it ended.
- What do you love about this work? What part of it wears you down?
- What age group do you know best? Which do you find hardest?
Judgment scenarios — the heart of the interview
- The baby is crying and the toddler just fell off a chair. Walk me through your first sixty seconds.
- Our four-year-old hits you during a tantrum. What do you do in the moment, and what do you tell us at pickup?
- You suspect the children's grandmother gave them a food on our allergy list. What happens next?
- It's raining, both kids are bored and screen time is used up. What does the next hour look like?
- You disagree with how we handle bedtime. How do you raise it?
You are listening for calm sequencing (assess, secure, comfort, communicate), honesty about hard moments, and answers that mention telling the parents unprompted. Polished generalities are a warning sign; specific stories from real days with real children are gold.
Health and safety
- Is your CPR/First Aid certification current? (Verify the card — the Red Cross and American Heart Association both certify; cards expire every two years.)
- What would you do if a child had a febrile seizure? An allergic reaction?
- Describe your approach to car safety. (Compare against NHTSA car-seat guidance.)
- For infant positions: where and how should a baby sleep? (The answer should match the AAP safe-sleep guidelines — alone, on their back, in a bare crib.)
Stage 3: The paid working interview
Never make a final offer without watching the candidate work — a paid half-day or full day with your children, you nearby but not hovering. Watch for: does she get down on the floor? Does she narrate and talk with the children rather than over them? Does she follow your routines as briefed, and ask when unsure? How does she handle the inevitable small conflict or scraped knee? One working interview routinely overturns the rankings the formal interviews produced — in both directions.
Stage 4: References — the calls that actually predict
Call at least two previous childcare employers. A script that works:
- Confirm dates, ages of children, and duties (cross-check the résumé).
- "What was she best at? What did you have to manage around?" (Everyone has both; vague perfection means a thin reference.)
- "Tell me about a time something went wrong — an injury, a missed pickup. How did she handle it?"
- "Why did the arrangement end?"
- The closer: "Would you hire her again tomorrow?" — anything short of an immediate yes is information.
Pair the calls with the background screening described in the family hiring guide: criminal and sex-offender registry checks with written consent, a driving record if she will drive, and employment verification.
Scoring it all
After each stage, score candidates 1–5 on five axes: safety judgment, warmth with your children, reliability signals, communication, and fit with your parenting style. The discipline of writing numbers down counters the halo effect of a charming interview — the same bias the old personality test was sold to correct. If two candidates tie on paper, the working interview and your children's reaction break the tie. Then make the offer properly: in writing, with everything in our work agreement guide.