Hiring a nanny is unlike any other hire a family makes. The person will be in your home, with your children, often alone, and the fit has to work for the whole household rather than a single manager. Families who get it right tend to do the same few things in the same order. This is that order.
Decide what the role is before you look at a single resume
Most difficult searches begin with a vague role. Write down the schedule you actually need, including the early mornings, the late evenings and the travel. Decide whether the position is live-in or live-out, whether driving is part of it, and whether you expect light housekeeping, meal preparation or homework support. A candidate who is wonderful with toddlers may not want to run a school-age household, and neither of you benefits from finding that out in month two.
Be honest about compensation at this stage. Experienced nannies in Central Florida are professionals with options, and a rate that is below the market will quietly narrow your pool to candidates who are between better positions. Our household placements start at $25 per hour, and roles with newborn care, multiple children or significant driving sit above that.
Look for the right experience, not the most experience
Years in the field matter less than years in a role like yours. A nanny who has spent six years with one family through two newborns has shown exactly the steadiness a family with a baby on the way should want. A nanny who has worked in a busy household with three school-age children and a travel schedule has a different and equally valuable record.
- Longevity: previous positions of two years or more, with a clear reason each ended.
- Relevant ages: direct experience with children the age of yours, and the next stage up.
- Specific skills: newborn care, special needs, a second language, swimming, driving, cooking.
- Professional posture: punctuality in the process itself, clear written communication, and references offered without being asked twice.
Interview for judgment, not for charm
Warmth is easy to see in an interview and it matters. Judgment is harder to see and matters more. Ask about real situations: a child who refuses to nap, a fever on a day you are unreachable, a disagreement with a parent about screen time. Listen for how the candidate thinks, whether she asks what you would want, and how she talks about the families she has worked for. Discretion about previous employers is a good sign; stories that make them look small are not.
Involve both parents, and let the candidate meet the children at the second conversation rather than the first. You learn a great deal from watching someone walk into a room with a child who is not interested in meeting them.
Do the screening in full, every time
Reference checks mean conversations, not emails. Call every previous family, ask open questions, and ask the one that matters: would you hire her again, and why or why not. Verify the dates. Then run a comprehensive background check and a driving record review if the role involves driving, and confirm work authorization. None of this is optional, and none of it should be done casually because the candidate seemed lovely in person. The families who skip steps are usually the ones who felt sure.
Pay for a trial day
A paid trial day in your home, on a normal weekday, with you present for part of it and absent for part of it, is the single most useful step in the process. You see how the candidate handles the morning routine, how she speaks to your children when she thinks no one is listening, and how your children behave with her at four in the afternoon. We build a paid trial into most household placements for exactly this reason.
Put the agreement in writing
A written work agreement protects both sides. It should cover schedule, pay and overtime, paid time off, sick days, holidays, duties, house rules, confidentiality, and how either side gives notice. A nanny is a household employee, and families should plan for payroll taxes and workers' compensation from the first day rather than sorting them out later; a household payroll service makes this straightforward.
What an agency changes
A family can do all of this alone, and some do. What an agency changes is the pool and the time. We meet candidates before a family ever does, verify references and screening before the first interview, and present a short list of people who are both qualified and genuinely interested in the role as written. The family keeps every decision and gets its evenings back. If that sounds like the search you want, we would be glad to talk.