Finding and hiring a much needed babysitter is not easy. In fact, finding potential candidates and weeding them down to a select few can be a truly tedious process that can involve massive amounts of your time.
Now that you have narrowed down your list of babysitter candidates to a select few, it’s now time to meet them in-person for a face-to-face interview. Having a face-to-face interview with a potential sitter is your chance to determine whether the person would be a right fit for the job and for your family.
Since the safety and overall well-being of your precious child and the security of your home are top-of-mind priorities, it makes it all the more important for you to ask the right questions. Not having a well thought out interview checklist can be a formula for disaster cause you certainly might find yourself unknowingly hiring that dreaded babysitter from hell.
To enhance your chances of finding that perfect sitter to watch over your little one, make sure that you have questions that cover six critical topics with the babysitter candidate.
Here are the critical interview topics that you need to cover to help you avoid hiring that dreaded babysitter from hell.
6. Find Out Why The Sitter Is Into Babysitting.
This is the get to know stage so try to get an overall impression of the candidate.
Example questions:
What is it that you like about caring for children?
What do you look for in an employer/family?
5. Learn More About Background and Experience.
Find out more about the sitter’s experience and knowledge in caring for a child.
Example questions:
How many years have you been working with children?
How many families have you cared for and how old were the children?
4. Find Out More About the Sitter’s Circumstance.
Knowing the babysitter’s circumstance pertaining to school, allergies, interests, or religious affiliations can help you know the sitter more as a person.
Example questions:
What is your course of study in school or what is your full time job?
Do you have any allergies to cats, dogs or other pets?
3. Check On Sitter’s Emergency and Safety Knowledge.
Make sure to ask the candidate whether she or he knows First Aid, CPR, and other questions related to handling emergencies.
Example questions:
Do you know First Aid?
Do you know CPR?
2. Gather Some Behavioral Information.
Surely you would like to know how the sitter would react to certain kinds of situations. Find out what she or he would do if a certain situation happens.
Example questions:
What do you do when a child refuses to go to sleep?
What do you think is the best way to handle tantrums?
1. Ask About Additional Responsibilities and Tasks.
If you have other responsibilities or tasks in mind beyond the scope of babysitting, make sure to ask the candidate.
Example questions:
How do you feel about play dates for my kids? Can you help arrange these?
Can you care for more kids if we have a play date in the house?
If you want to save yourself all the trouble of putting together a list of questions covering the above topics, check out the comprehensive list of babysitter interview questions that the fine folks of Sittercity have put together. The babysitter interview checklist is really a great resource to have in your search for qualified, trustworthy, and dependable sitters for your family.
Hope this helps you from mistakenly hiring a sitter from hell.
Did you find this critical list of babysitter interview topics useful?
