(no subject)

[rivka]

I finally stopped ignoring the fact that someday I will return to work, and posted an ad for a babysitter on Craigslist. In the 24 hours the ad has been up, we've gotten six responses. Two of them are from my imagined target market - students looking for a part-time job compatible with classes. (One of them will be attending the Maryland Institute College of Art, right up the street from us, which would certainly be convenient.) Two of them are from people who seem to be looking for summer employment only. One just finished her doctoral fellowship in psychology, for God's sake, and why she's interested in a babysitting job is beyond me. And the last is a Chinese university professor whose husband works at Hopkins. Why she's interested in a babysitting job is a little more explicable, but it still seems like a bit of a mismatch.

I plan to set up interviews for next week. I don't have a very clear idea of what I ought to ask, though, so I am turning to my handy friends' list for help. How would you hire a babysitter?

Questions I've thought of so far:

- What's your past experience with infants? What were the infants you took care of like, and what things did you like and dislike about caring for them? (Partly I'm curious about whether they'll seem to be good observers of infants, able to speak about their temperament and so forth.)

- What do you think are the most important things that a baby Alex's age needs?

- What would your approach be to a crying baby? Are there times you think a baby should be left to "cry it out"?

- What do you do when you get frustrated with a child?

- Have you taken infant CPR? First aid? Developmental psychology or child development courses?

- What's your schedule like for the summer? For the fall? If we hire you, how long a time period can you commit to? Are there any times you won't be available - for example, university breaks?

What else should I ask? What should I be looking for?

Comments

[abbylee]

I have to say, if I was applying for a job and a parent asked me about prescription medications, I would *never* take the job.

However, I'd probably think a reasonable question could be "do you have any health concerns we should be aware of?" To me, that would be an opening for me to mention that I have problems around smoke (including scented candles and incense) and I have back problems that rarely interfere with my daily routines (ie, when I work with kids, I have no problems picking up the 8 year olds as I know how to balance) except for the rare very bad day (ie, a few times a year I can't carry a glass of water). However, the medication I'm on to regulate my sleeping patterns is not my employer's business, nor is whether or not I'm on birth control.

I also like the idea of asking under what circumstances they'd call you.

[minnehaha.livejournal.com]

Yes, getting to the reasonable phrasing of the question is what I wanted; thanks.

In the end, anyone can and will lie about anything, natch. But I was hoping for some way to ask about debilitating conditions of any kind, physical or emotional. I can hardly think of any that would rule someone out as a baby-sitter candidate, but as the hiring person I'd want to know about them, in part to be able to accommodate unimportant limitations in an otherwise ideal candidate, and in part to not be taken by surprise.

Also, Rivka, the last time I hired anyone through a craiglist ad, I didn't find an ideal candidate at all. I hope your search goes better than that.

K.