Monday

To Low Salary Sets off Warning Bells for NYC Mom

I had the weirdest experience with a nanny interview I thought I would share because it was peculiar. I advertised in the paper and pre screened by phone. I set up interviews at a public location with just myself and the nanny. My ad listed the pay as DOE.

The first nanny I interviewed was, well a bit off. She was homely and kind of simple sounding, but when I asked her about childcare philosophies and work experience, her answers were on point. I indulged her a full interview because she seemed nice, if a bit fragile. When I brought up salary, I said, "We usually pay dependent on experience, and upon verifying that experience". She sat up and said, "Oh yes, they will all give me good references." I took the paper from her where she had listed two babysitting jobs and two nanny jobs.

I paused. She said, "Because of my experience and education, I can't take less than $8.00 an hour".

I interviewed the remaining candidates. Again we discussed salary at the end. The other rates for my job from people of similar age and experience were $16/hr, $18/hr and $22/hr. One woman suggested that she would work the prescribed hours (43) for $900 per week.

I went with the candidate that seemed like the best fit for my family, the $18/hr candidate. I remain curious, why was this American nanny in New York offering to work for as little as $8.00 an hour? I live in the Chelsea NYC area. I'm really curious about this.

Curious about something? Email isynblog@gmail.com.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Probably desperate to get a job

Stephanie said...

Desperate for a job, unaware of going rates, hoping the low rate would off set some real or presumed defect in her resume or skill set. Who knows? Good thing you went with the best candidate for your family