CrunchTime Posted January 9, 2013 Share Posted January 9, 2013 Hi there, We move to Melbourne at the start of February and I need to find a nanny for our 8 month old as we both have full-time jobs organised. I've posted an advert on findababysitter.co.au last night and this morning I already have 8 or so applications. We've never had a nanny before so I don't really know where to start. Has anyone been through anything similar that can advise me on the sort of things I should be looking for and asking them etc? Thanks so much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest The Pom Queen Posted January 9, 2013 Share Posted January 9, 2013 The main thing is checking that they have a working with children card and a first aid certificate. See if this helps http://www.babycenter.com/0_nanny-interview-sheet_1450905.bc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrunchTime Posted January 10, 2013 Author Share Posted January 10, 2013 The main thing is checking that they have a working with children card and a first aid certificate. See if this helps http://www.babycenter.com/0_nanny-interview-sheet_1450905.bc That's really helpful. Thank you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Playghirl Posted January 12, 2013 Share Posted January 12, 2013 Look I don't want to disagree with M2M, as theoretically she is right, but I have probably had 5 nannies what with moving countries and changes in circumstances over the past 4 years. Gut feeling....really important, but have a couple of meetings with the nanny. Are you all comfortable?. My very first nanny was a SLovakia n nanny and she sat on the floor with me and we passed my 10 month old between the two us and chatted and chatted. He accepted I wanted a book to be filled in with nappy details, food eaten blah blah blah, I knew she was the one, with 3 months the book was dispensed I trusted her implicitly . He also was one of those nannies who would say to you gosh I think baby is ready to walk rather than Omg your baby took first steps today. Do check references. Also write out a few questions before hand I case you forget, be clear about how you want the day to be followed. pm me if you want to to chat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wellers and Whitehead Posted January 12, 2013 Share Posted January 12, 2013 Something to think about, and it does depend how comfortable you are with this, is asking if they have any child related charges/convictions. The wwc will not tell you this, only that the person is currently assessed as not a risk to children. I would def get references and preferably speak to that person/s. :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ali Posted January 12, 2013 Share Posted January 12, 2013 What experience do they have working with children, have they looked after babies before, do they have any childcare qualifications - is it a live in position - have your terms and conditions ready. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kelandbri Posted January 15, 2013 Share Posted January 15, 2013 Hi there, We move to Melbourne at the start of February and I need to find a nanny for our 8 month old as we both have full-time jobs organised. I've posted an advert on findababysitter.co.au last night and this morning I already have 8 or so applications. We've never had a nanny before so I don't really know where to start. Has anyone been through anything similar that can advise me on the sort of things I should be looking for and asking them etc? Thanks so much. Hello I am arriving in melbourne in march and am a childcare worker. I currently work in a childrens centre and have done for the last 10 years. I am in the process of getting my certs switched over to Australian certificates and have a police check here. I need to complete a working with children check in oz and can only do that when I arrive. I wondered if you had a link to to your advert please. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kelandbri Posted January 15, 2013 Share Posted January 15, 2013 Hi there, We move to Melbourne at the start of February and I need to find a nanny for our 8 month old as we both have full-time jobs organised. I've posted an advert on findababysitter.co.au last night and this morning I already have 8 or so applications. We've never had a nanny before so I don't really know where to start. Has anyone been through anything similar that can advise me on the sort of things I should be looking for and asking them etc? Thanks so much. Hello I am arriving in melbourne in march and am a childcare worker. I currently work in a childrens centre and have done for the last 10 years. I am in the process of getting my certs switched over to Australian certificates and have a police check here. I need to complete a working with children check in oz and can only do that when I arrive. I wondered if you had a link to to your advert please. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FIGO Posted January 15, 2013 Share Posted January 15, 2013 Hi Kelandbri I too will be arriving in Melbourne around May/June time, and i am also a childcare worker in a nursery centre. My husband has a job to go to and although my main priority is getting the family settled, after a good while i will be looking for work too. Been too busy looking into areas, schools and pet quarantine etc, but when I seen your thread was wondering how you went about switching your certificates over as its something I never even thought about. Good luck with the job hunt! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 15, 2013 Share Posted January 15, 2013 What others have said. It really is a gut instinct thing I think, but of course references, quals and so on should be factored in. Non smoker and a swimmer would be big pluses for me (although I don't expect a nanny to take children swimming or teach them to swim, but its nice if they are able to swim should they ever need to or to be ok to take child to beach or some such). Driver also with a clean licence (a fine for a minor speeding offence would be ok by me but a lost licence for 6 months for drink driving a no for example). Plus a few other things I think worth mentioning Car - Are you going to supply them one and have them drive it with your child in or are you wanting them to use their own. If their own, check insurance covers it and also work out how to pay fuel costs etc. Duties - All nursery duties are what I would expect. So, keeping childrens rooms and play areas etc clean and tidy (this will involve cleaning obviously), childrens laundry, preparing all their meals (and shopping for them), keeping a diary of their day with the children, a record of any medication given (inc things like doses of paracetamol etc when poorly), that they are prepared to take children on play dates, to play groups, parks etc (and you are ok with this), to take them to attend Doctors appointments, dentist and so on if you are unable to. Flexibility/hours/holiday - If you have set hours in mind, lay them out and stick with them. So, 8am-6pm daily or whatever time you need to leave by and will be home by allowing for a 10 minute handover each way can be handy. If you can't cover holidays quite often what parents do in the contracts is state that annual leave is not to be taken during school holidays by the nanny apart from when the family takes their holidays. In the UK this is often standard practice but Aus may not happen so much. Maternity leave/pay - Are you responsible for it if the nanny becomes pregnant while in your employment. Research it fully. Same with how to pay their tax etc. If you want a nanny to do your (the adults) housework, laundry and cooking also then you need to make this clear and state it in the ad and contract. And look at it more as a mix between nanny and housekeeping so the focus may not always be on the child(ren). Many families do this sort of thing and often the nanny will take it on without it being asked but won't like being taken for granted and having too much dumped on them if they are only supposed to have nursery duties. Ensure you have a contract and its decent. Consider paying a reputable nanny agency to do your legwork for you. Basically they will have interviewed, checked references etc already, will write a CV themselves quite often and advertise your position to the nannies on their books etc. Nannies will then reply to the agency and they will send on the applicants info etc and you can choose who to interview etc. Often done away from the home and then if you like them, back for a second interview in home to meet everyone else. And if you decide to hire or not, the agency informs the applicant's, so its not on you to have to call everyone or anything. You can also verify any references and check them yourself and also ask for more at any time etc. Agency should also have a decent standard contract you can use but can also amend and add to or delete out of it its not relavent. Feel free to drop me a PM if you want to chat more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kelandbri Posted January 15, 2013 Share Posted January 15, 2013 Hi KelandbriI too will be arriving in Melbourne around May/June time, and i am also a childcare worker in a nursery centre. My husband has a job to go to and although my main priority is getting the family settled, after a good while i will be looking for work too. Been too busy looking into areas, schools and pet quarantine etc, but when I seen your thread was wondering how you went about switching your certificates over as its something I never even thought about. Good luck with the job hunt! If you go onto this website you can find the details or I emailed this address her name is Susan. You can do it from the uk and it costs $100, but worth doing from here as I think it may take a few weeks. Hope this helps, where are you coming from? Gets a bit scary when you look at how much stuff there is to sort out only so much you can do from the laptop! Anyway good luck with your move x Email: SSmart@earlychildhood.org.au Web: www.earlychildhoodvictoria.org.au Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FIGO Posted January 15, 2013 Share Posted January 15, 2013 Hi Kelandbri! Thanks for the websites, will look into them. We are from the North Lanarkshire area, and I know how you must feel, my head is spinning with everything. Where are you from? Have you decided where you are going to settle? I am just new to the PIO site but have found it very helpful as I'm sure you will too. Thanks again Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kelandbri Posted January 15, 2013 Share Posted January 15, 2013 Hi Kelandbri!Thanks for the websites, will look into them. We are from the North Lanarkshire area, and I know how you must feel, my head is spinning with everything. Where are you from? Have you decided where you are going to settle? I am just new to the PIO site but have found it very helpful as I'm sure you will too. Thanks again We are from London. Yes finding it all very useful on here, just found a good shipping company cheapest one I have found from on a forum on here. Not sure where heading for yet as so hard to tell from looking on websites! Need to spend some time going around areas. Also need to get a working with children check done which you cannot do until you get there so that delays getting work I think. Anyway it will work out I am sure! Good luck with the move Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrunchTime Posted January 15, 2013 Author Share Posted January 15, 2013 Hello everyone, Thanks for all your posts. For some reason I haven't been getting the email alerts, so I had no clue people had responded! So far I've placed an ad on findababysitter and I must have had well over 40 responses. I've written back to everyone and asked for their CVs and we'll go from there in terms of shortlisting. I did look into using an agency but the fees are so high. I thought that I'd try myself in the first instance and then perhaps use one if I struggled. So, in terms of a criminal record check- how would I go about asking for this? Is there an equivalent to the CRB check that we have here in the UK? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kelandbri Posted January 15, 2013 Share Posted January 15, 2013 Hello everyone, Thanks for all your posts. For some reason I haven't been getting the email alerts, so I had no clue people had responded! So far I've placed an ad on findababysitter and I must have had well over 40 responses. I've written back to everyone and asked for their CVs and we'll go from there in terms of shortlisting. I did look into using an agency but the fees are so high. I thought that I'd try myself in the first instance and then perhaps use one if I struggled. So, in terms of a criminal record check- how would I go about asking for this? Is there an equivalent to the CRB check that we have here in the UK? Hello I have only looked into it in the last couple of days but it seems the nanny can go into a post office and pay to have the check done so it would be their responsibility to have it done. I think you get issued a card so I guess you would just ask to see it? As I said I dont know too much will know more I guess when I get to Melbourne! I think the police check is a seperate thing that can be done but unsure how that is done. Just ask for them both as most jobs I have been looking at ask for both so people should have them. Hope this helps and If you are still looking for a nanny in March let me know although I think by the reply to your ad you will find someone for sure. Where are you coming from? Good luck with the move. :smile: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kelandbri Posted January 16, 2013 Share Posted January 16, 2013 If you go onto this website you can find the details or I emailed this address her name is Susan. You can do it from the uk and it costs $100, but worth doing from here as I think it may take a few weeks. Hope this helps, where are you coming from? Gets a bit scary when you look at how much stuff there is to sort out only so much you can do from the laptop! Anyway good luck with your move x Email: SSmart@earlychildhood.org.au Web: www.earlychildhoodvictoria.org.au Just been emailed about this website. It seems the same as what I had said before except does not say anything about payment! Will let you know how I get on as the previous info was sent to me a few months ago. http://acecqa.gov.au/qualifications/assessment-of-equivalent-early-childhood-educator-qualificat/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kelandbri Posted February 3, 2013 Share Posted February 3, 2013 Just been emailed about this website. It seems the same as what I had said before except does not say anything about payment! Will let you know how I get on as the previous info was sent to me a few months ago. http://acecqa.gov.au/qualifications/assessment-of-equivalent-early-childhood-educator-qualificat/ Did you find your nanny crunchtime? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest charle1980 Posted February 10, 2013 Share Posted February 10, 2013 Hi there Does anyone know the going rate of pay for a nanny in Melbourne? I am trying to do my living costs comparison and have been unable to find this information. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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