Host: What are the benefits and drawbacks of doing an independent search?
Jaclyn Gobuluk: With the independent nanny search, you will find that there are drawbacks and benefits. The number one drawback is going to be that it is very difficult for families to confirm the nanny is legal to work in United States, has the references and requirements that a childcare provider should have in order to care for children in your home. It is also difficult to reach references and to verify that those are accurate and real references. It can be very difficult to find backup childcare if you find yourself that your nanny is not going to be there for a week. She has taken her week of vacation. Is that a time that you are going to take time off from work to care for your child? What is your backup plan for that? If you are doing an independent search, you do not have a network of nannies to call on that can cover you in the event that your nanny is not going to be there for a few days.
Some of the other drawbacks are background checks. You are going to find it very difficult to run a background check on a nanny. There are limited services for individual people looking for background checks on other individuals, it is very limited. So, without going to an agency, you are going find that being certain that the nanny is capable of caring for your children by providing references, background checks, prior childcare experience, it is kind of up in the air, it is pretty limited.
One of the benefits of doing an independent search is cost. It is much less expensive to do your own search. The cost that you will probably incur would be writing an ad in a local paper. Also, if you wanted to do an internet search, you usually have to pay for that as well. Word of mouth can be very difficult and it is time consuming. It is very time consuming and you want to make sure that you find the right childcare provider to care for your family since they are your children that we are talking about. So, it is not something that you should take lightly and by using independent searches, are you really sure that you are going to be getting the candidate that has the most experience. It can take anywhere from a week to three months to find that particular candidate. Of the candidates you are going to screen, many of them are going to speak English, many of them are going be illegal to work in United States, and most of them are not going have the criteria which include the experience and the references able to provide for you. So, you will have to screen several candidates in order to get to a few of the good ones that are out there.
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