Questions to Ask in a Nanny Interview to the Parents
Twenty questions to put to the parents in a nanny interview, covering hours, guaranteed pay, payroll, overtime, time off, contracts, trial days and why the last nanny left. Written for nannies who want the terms clear before accepting a position.
The questions
Open any question for the note
What made this position open up?
Why ask it
The reason a job is available is the most informative fact on offer at an interview. A nanny who moved cities is a very different signal from two nannies who left inside a year, and most parents answer this honestly when it is asked plainly and early.
How long was your last nanny with you, and where did they go next?
Why ask it
Tenure is checkable against the reference you will ask for later. A run of short placements is not automatically the family's fault, but it does mean asking what changed each time and listening for the same complaint twice.
What hours do you need, and how firm are they at each end of the day?
Why ask it
Advertised hours and real hours differ, and the gap almost always appears at the end of the day. Ask what happens when a parent is stuck in traffic, and how often that happened last month rather than in principle.
Are the hours guaranteed if you travel or the children are away?
Why ask it
Guaranteed hours are the difference between a salary and a variable wage. Families who travel often, or work shifts, may expect a nanny to absorb the gaps unpaid, and this is the point at which to establish otherwise.
What is the rate, and is that gross or net?
Why ask it
Gross and net can be a long way apart, and a figure agreed casually is usually assumed by the family to be gross. Settle which one you are discussing before you compare this job with another offer.
Would I be on payroll with taxes withheld?
Why ask it
Cash under the table leaves you without documented income for a lease or a loan and without a record if the job ends abruptly. A family who has already set up payroll is treating this as employment rather than a favor.
How does overtime work, and what counts as overtime?
Why ask it
Overtime needs a definition and not just a rate: past the agreed finish, past forty hours in a week, evenings, overnights, weekends. Without that, the extra half hour becomes normal and unpaid within a month.
How much paid time off is there, and who chooses the dates?
Why ask it
The amount and the choosing are separate questions. Some families offer generous leave and then use all of it for their own vacations, which leaves you with no dates of your own for a wedding or a family visit.
What happens if I am sick, and what happens if a child is sick?
Why ask it
Two different policies, and many households have neither. Ask whether your sick days are paid, and whether you would be expected to care for a contagious child, which some nannies decline and most families have not thought about.
Is there a written contract, and could I see it before I decide?
Why ask it
Asking to read the contract before accepting is ordinary and shows how organized the household is. A family unwilling to write anything down will also be unwilling to remember what was agreed in month six.
Is there a trial period, and what happens at the end of it?
Why ask it
A trial cuts both ways and is worth having, but the terms need saying out loud: how long, paid at what rate, and what conversation happens at the end. Undefined trials tend to finish without any conversation at all.
How many children would I have at once, and is that number changing?
Why ask it
Numbers move. A second baby, a nephew who arrives after school, a child going from full days to half days: all of it is more work at the same pay unless it is priced now.
How do the two of you divide decisions, and who should I ask?
Why ask it
Two parents rarely hold identical rules, and a nanny obeying one is disobeying the other. Ask who decides in the moment, and how they want to be told when their instructions to you conflict.
What would you want me to do differently from your last nanny?
Why ask it
Answered honestly, this gives you the standard you will be held to and the specific irritation that ended the previous arrangement. If they insist nothing needs changing, ask what they would want kept instead.
What would I be expected to pay for myself, and how do I get it back?
Why ask it
Nannies routinely front money for snacks, gas, entry fees and craft supplies, and reimbursement is often slow and awkward. Ask for a card, a cash float or a weekly settle-up, and get the answer before the first outing.
Is there travel with the family, and how is that paid?
Why ask it
Family trips sound like a perk and are usually work: long days, shared rooms, no evenings off. Ask about hours, extra pay, and whether any part of the trip is genuinely yours.
How often would we sit down and review how it is going?
Why ask it
Scheduled reviews are how small problems get named before they become the reason you are let go. If the answer is that they would only talk if there were a problem, expect silence until something is already wrong.
What would make you end the arrangement, and how much notice would I get?
Why ask it
Uncomfortable and worth asking. You learn the notice terms and how they think about endings, including whether it has occurred to them that a nanny leaving suddenly also affects the children.
What is the hardest part of this job that I would not guess from the advert?
Why ask it
Most parents name something real: a brutal drop-off, a child who takes weeks to accept anyone new, a grandparent who undoes the rules every Sunday. What they pick tells you how clearly they see the work.
Could I do a paid trial day with the children before either of us decides?
Why ask it
A working day answers more than an hour of conversation. Watch whether they hover the whole time, whether the children match the description you were given, and whether they offer to pay without being prompted.
Running your side of a nanny interview
Practical guidance for the conversation itself
How the process usually goes
Expect three stages: a short call about hours and rate, an interview at the house with the children in and out of the room, and a trial day. Ask the money questions in the first call. It feels forward and it saves both sides two hours if the number is impossible. Bring your own written notes of what you need, because families ask fast questions and it is easy to leave having agreed to something vague.
What to bring and have ready
- Two or three references with dates, and the phone numbers, so the family can check without chasing you.
- Certificates you actually hold: first aid, CPR, driving record, any background check already completed.
- Your own one-page summary of the hours you can work and the rate you need, so the answer is the same in every conversation.
- Two or three specific stories: a difficult transition you managed, a day something went wrong, a routine you set up. Parents remember examples and forget adjectives.
Talking about money without flinching
- Name a rate rather than asking what they have in mind. Give one number, not a range, because families hear the bottom of a range.
- Ask whether the figure is gross. If they do not know, they have not budgeted for the employer's side of it.
- Price the extras rather than absorbing them: driving, housework, a third child, overnights.
- Ask for a review date instead of pushing for a higher rate now if the family is at their limit and the rest of the job suits you.
- Get everything agreed in one message or email afterwards, even if there is a contract coming. Memories differ by month three.
Where nannies get caught out
Only asking about the children
It is the comfortable half of the interview and it makes a good impression, but nobody has ever left a nanny job because they misjudged a four year old's temperament. They leave over hours, pay and being asked to do work nobody mentioned.
Accepting on the day
Ask for twenty-four hours. Families expect it, and the questions you forgot always arrive in the evening. If a family pushes for an answer on the spot, that pressure is a preview of how other decisions will be made.
Letting the role expand quietly
Watch for the duties that appear during the interview: the dog, the laundry, the older child's homework, the grocery run. Each one is fine if it is priced. The problem is the ones added after you accept.
Skipping the reference the other way
You are allowed to ask to speak to their previous nanny. Most families with nothing to hide will pass on a number, and the ones who refuse have answered the question anyway.