10 Red Flags on a Nanny’s Resume


Posted on March 29, 2012 by admin | in Background Check

As soon as you post a listing on a nanny agency board or on a job board stating that you’re looking for a nanny you’re sure to get a slew of potential prospects vying to watch over your little one. Sifting through resumes is time-consuming and stressful, and after a while each resume ends up blending into the next as you look them over with bleary eyes.  Add in the fact that resumes can be slightly misleading when it comes to having correct judgment about an interviewee, and you might be ready to scrap the whole process and just hire the next resume you read on the spot. However before you make any rash hiring decisions you should look for some telltale warning signs on your potential caretaker’s resume:

  1. Large gap in employment
    It could mean nothing more than the fact that the person was unable to find a new job. Or it could mean that after their previous nanny experience no employer wanted to hire the prospective candidate. While this shouldn’t immediately disqualify someone for the position, it should raise some eyebrows as to why the gap in their employment was so drawn out.
  2. No references
    If your possible nanny has plenty of jobs listed on their resume but no references to back up those jobs, it should set off a little bell in the back of your mind. Maybe they’re lying about their past employment and maybe no one is willing to give them a glowing reference. Then again, maybe they just didn’t include them… Either way it is worth checking out.
  3. Fired from last job
    Why were they fired from their last job? Was it because they were always late or had questionable childcare tactics? Or were they simply let go because the family no longer needed them or could no longer afford them? Being let go for reasons out of their control is one thing, but being fired raises a whole new set of questions…
  4. Bad driving record
    While it doesn’t tell the whole story about a person, a person’s driving record does tell you some of their characteristics. If they’re going to be driving your children around from one activity to the next then you want to make sure that they’re safe drivers with (mostly) clean records. While the occasional speeding ticket is understandable, having multiple speeding tickets or being charged with reckless driving is not.
  5. Hesitant to have you perform a background check
    Any nanny should be more than willing to let you conduct a background check on them and should be entirely forthcoming about any transgressions on their record. Mistakes happen to everyone and they should be willing to be open and honest about that, but hiding past indiscretions means that they probably won’t be entirely communicative and truthful during their employment.
  6. No past childcare experience
    Even young, aspiring nannies should have at the very least some previous babysitting or childcare experience. Taking care of a child is a very demanding job, and people that aren’t accustomed to the stresses that come with that are more likely to quit on a whim than those that are, which an important factor that you’ll need to consider when looking at someone with no prior experience.
  7. No certifications
    While this may not be imperative, it is nice to find someone that has their first aid and CPR certifications, or if they don’t already have them is at least willing to get them before starting their employment. These are valuable skills to have when taking care of children, and by having these certifications already in place it shows that they are serious about their position as a nanny and that they are committed to doing the best job possible.
  8. Differing discipline views
    Your nanny is your right-hand-(wo)man while you’re gone during the days or nights, and that makes it of the utmost importance for you both to be on the same page when it comes to disciplining your children. If their views don’t line up with yours it’s bound to cause problems later on down the road.
  9. A lot of short term jobs
    Having plenty of experience is a great thing, unless it’s all short term experience. When someone has a lot of jobs that have all lasted less than six months it shows an unstable job history and should make you a little wary to bring this person into your home. You want someone who is going to be in for the long haul, not someone who is going to quit soon after taking the job and leave you scrambling to find someone all over again (unless of course you just need someone short term, in which case that could be a good thing).
  10. Faulty information
    If you’ve found the perfect nanny on paper but have to jump through hoops to get ahold of them then you probably want to keep on looking. They should have provided the most up to date contact information with everything from phone numbers to email so that they are easily contacted in reference to a job. Any unreliable contact information is negligent on their part and should raise some concerns.

While perusing resumes is no one’s idea of a fun time, it is a worthwhile task that needs to be done with a fine tooth comb. And even though none of these on their own may completely exclude a candidate, if more than one of them are present you probably want to keep on looking.

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