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.
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