Nanny&Me

I have been providing some over-the-phone support by request to families who have questions regarding the process of hiring a nanny. Recently I had a conversation with a lovely woman who had found a wonderful live-out nanny for her kids. Her main concern was that after reading my blog (specifically a post on the 110 applicants that I screened), she wasn't sure she had done due diligence as she had received this candidates name (and one other one) by referral, had interviewed them both and had chosen this candidate. She hadn't conducted reference checks as of yet, but had been extremely impressed with how this individual conducted themselves and how they treated her children.

Well it's a good question I think, "can it really be THIS easy"? Here is my answer: YES! I have come across this question many times in life. Here are a couple of short stories to this effect:

My wedding dress:
When I got engaged, I saw my dream dress in a magazine (it was a Casa Blanca gown...Fall 2009, gown #1971 to be exact). When I laid eyes on that dress, I knew it was MY dress. Everything about it screamed me. My family was quite persistent that I should try on a few others (at least for the fun of it), so off we went. I tried on dresses at a few different stores. Then I heard about a Casa Blanca Bridal trunk show at a store called Jealous Bridesmaids in Toronto and I just knew that it was the universe smiling at me. When I got to the store, I told them that I was in search of dress #1971 and when the woman pulled it off the rack, my heart sang, but could it be THAT easy? I figured not, perhaps I'd try it on and it wouldn't be the right cut for me (even though I was pretty sure that it was). As I slipped into this dress, everything felt perfect, I knew that it was THE dress. I kept smiling saying "can you believe that it's the very first dress I laid my eyes on?!...and in a magazine no less!". It really was THAT easy. The first dress was the right dress.

Our current house:
We had been living in our first house for about three years (all the while knowing that it would be a "starter home") and we began to ponder whether or not we could afford to move. We were living in a semi-detached house that we adored, but it was on a busy street, and we were hoping to make our way onto a quiet residential street. It was a Friday night when we begged the question "I wonder if we could afford to move soon?", assuming that the answer would in fact be that we couldn't for at least another 3-5 years. Well I ran the numbers and Saturday morning we called my mother to notify her (she's our real estate buddy) that we would be going "hunting" (and not the kind that involves animals because I'm a vegan who LOVES animals). A few days past and on Wednesday I had hurt my back and was home from work. My mom said that it would be a good idea to get moving a bit, so we went for a little drive. We drove down a street that we had never seen before and saw an "Open House" sign on the lawn. The open house was intended for realtors, but we waltzed right in. We looked, we liked, and that was that. I called my husband to come see the place, he went after work, we both smiled and nodded, got the paper work drawn up and bought the house that night. But can it be THAT easy to find a house?...Of course it can! Why not?

When we assume that everything in life will be gruelling and terrible, there's a possibility that it will. I am a firm believer in optimism. This doesn't mean that bad things don't happen in my life; they certainly do, but for the most part, I see things in a positive light, things tend to work out for me, and I see the bad times through with the good.


When it comes to nanny applicants, how do you know what to expect? Well I can tell you for starters that the only reason we had over 100 applicants is because we were willing to sponsor from overseas. Canada is a wonderful country that we are lucky to live in, and lots and lots of people from other countries want to come here. Now ask me how many of those applications were from applicants already in Canada (citizens, permanent residents, or nannies with an open work permit), and the answer would be less than a handful, and of those, how many were viable applicants?...none (they either didn't respond to my email follow up, or had no experience). This is not to scare you if you are hiring in Canada though. I think because we were willing to hire from overseas, our post went quite viral to many candidates hoping to come from other countries. There certainly is hope for finding qualified applicants from the pool of nannies with open work permits, or those who are permanent residents, however these candidates are often more interested in live-out positions. If you are looking for a live-in nanny in Canada, often times your best bet is to try and find a family from whom you can take over the sponsorship (lots of families love their nannies, but get pregnant again, or have other life situations change and can no longer employ them).

From my experience talking with other moms who have hired nannies, and from forum research, here is what I would provide as a guideline. If you are interested in hiring a live-in nanny and are willing to sponsor from overseas, you can expect to receive 100-200+ applications and maybe find 20-30 viable applicants within the pool (viable meaning that they have ample experience, are qualified, and have references). If you are looking for a live-in nanny who is already in Canada, you can expect 2-3 viable applications. If you are seeking a live-out nanny (in Canada), you can expect 10-15 viable applications.

So if you are like the mom whom I spoke with, and you receive two applicants, and one seems great, go with your gut! Life really can be that easy! Sometimes the greatest gifts in life are right there in front of you, so certainly do your due diligence with interviewing them, checking their references, and conducting a police check (Vulnerable Sector Check), but if everything checks out, and you get a great feeling, then the lesson here, is go for it and don't worry if you only picked from a pool of two because it only takes one!