Once you’ve whittled down your babysitter options, you’ll be ready to meet each candidate in person. Because you’ve already made sure they meet your “Must Have’s” during the phone interview, the remaining applicants should already be well-suited for the gig. But to make sure you find the best one out of the bunch, you’ll need to prep for your in-person interview.
Plan Ahead
After your phone interview, ask the “finalists” to schedule a time to meet in-person in a public place (like a coffee shop). You can choose to bring your kids or just yourself, but it can be easier to get a feel for a person when you’re not worried about where your kids are.
Try to interview only 2-3 candidates a day so you don’t get them confused. Schedule each interview for an hour apart, but plan to spend 30-45 minutes with each candidate. This buffer helps if someone is running late or if you need to take a break.
Bring All Your Gear
When you get ready for an in-person interview, plan to bring printed information about each candidate (or a mobile device you can use to access the information). Also bring a pen or notebook in case you want to take notes while you interview the candidates.
You can also print off a checklist of interview questions to make sure you don’t forget anything!
Also make sure you ask each candidate to bring:
- A photo ID
- Work visa or Social Security Card (for tax purposes)
- CPR Certification card (if applicable)
- Printed resumes or reference information (if you want to have them on file)
- Any questions she’d like to ask you
Also let her know that you have 30-45 minutes set aside to talk to her so she can plan the rest of her day. Now let’s fast-forward to the day of the interview. It’s time to start asking questions to get a solid feel for how well you and the sitter(s) will work together. But what should you ask your babysitter interviewees?
Question Time
Worried you’ll forget to ask something important during your interview? Not sure which questions you should ask? Here are a few ideas:
For teenage sitters, you can ask about their interests in and out of school. Ask questions like:
- Do you play any sports/belong to any clubs?
- What do you enjoy doing outside the classroom?
- Are your parents supportive of your babysitting?
This gives you a feel for how committed they’d be to babysit for you, as well as how busy they might be. You can also adapt this list to a sitter of any age to get a feel for their personality.
For any sitter, make sure you ask details about their experience and/or comfort with children. Try asking:
- How many children have you cared for in the past?
- What sort of babysitting have you done? (Weekend, evening, part-time, etc.)?
- Are you comfortable with bathing children and bedtime routines?
- What is your comfort level with cooking and preparing meals for kids?
- Do you have infant and child CPR certification? Would you be willing to receive such training?
Once you’ve established that she’s still “in the running,” you can ask for more in-depth information. This could mean asking her questions like:
- Have you ever had to handle a child emergency? What did you do and what was the outcome?
- What would you do if my child were to choke/get injured/(insert any scenario)?
- How do you comfort and discipline children? How have you handled crying children or temper tantrums in the past?
- Have you had problems in the past following directives like discipline, development, and daily routines?
- What have been the most challenging and rewarding parts about being a babysitter?
- What was your scariest or most difficult babysitting moment? How did you handle the situation?
Of course, your own set of questions may be more specific if your child has special needs, if you’re especially concerned about schedules, or if you want to make sure she’s qualified. Keep in mind that you CANNOT ask questions about her:
- Age
- Race/ethnic background
- Religious views
- Sexual orientation
- Marital status/plans on becoming pregnant
- Disability
- Arrest record
Once you’ve asked all your questions, you can introduce her to the children.
Meeting the Kids
If the kids didn’t come with you for the in-person interview, schedule a time to have her meet them at your home. Try to keep it to one sitter a day; your kids will be confused if you have a lot of people coming to the house and you may not keep the candidates straight in your head.
When a candidate meets the kids, make sure to listen to your gut. If she seems awkward or uncomfortable with the kids, or if they don’t seem to warm up to her, you might want to continue your search. You can also have “trial dates,” where a sitter watches the kids while you’re still at home (or very close by). This way, she can get familiar with your kids and you can ease your concerns.
