The Younger Nanny Doesn't Appreciate Her Job

A recent experience inspired this entry. The tone of this post is not to put anyone down, or bash something, but to express my feelings. How I am feeling right now is rather disappointed and lacking self confidence. Actually, the later is something I have been feeling in my career, but only in specific situations: the nanny interview.

One year ago around this time I was out of work and seeking a job. I found a few families online who were seeking full time nannies, and was chatting with one particular family located on the far, far west side, past the mall. An interview was set up for a Saturday morning, and the evening before, I got an email from the mother stating the interview was cancelled, due to the distance I live and my commute time. " 'We have been burned in the past by nannies who have terrible attendance. Both of us have demanding positions and we need someone to be here on time' ".....she wrote. " 'We will be cancelling the interview because of your commute' ". Ummm....ok. Considering my commute was maybe 30-40 minutes. Not the easiest drive considering Beltline traffic, yet I could make it work, because it is a job, and I would make it work because it is a job. I understood their concern, yet also believed the reasoning was trivial. My guess is they hired a young, inexperienced nanny with poor professional skills and lack of maturity. Did they not know who I was? Did they not know that I put everything into my work and that I am older (over 40) candidate and thus more mature and reliable?

I ended up taking a job in a childcare center that I really like, yet I find myself overwhelmed with the workload of running a classroom (it's more than people think it is) and not having time to get anything done. Plus I have worked in the same environment for twenty years (the classroom) so I am exploring nanny options. Recently, I had a great phone and in-person interview with a terrific family in need of a full time nanny. They described their current situation with their current nanny as a headache and undue stress due to her lack of initiative, maturity, experience and more. And the calling in. The fact that she calls in a lot and has the worst excuses. They were excited to meet me, and described me as "phenomenal" and a "breath of fresh air". Offering me the position verbally, they said they would get back to me with numbers, salary and a work agreement. I was looking forward to working with this family, given their sweet laid back nature and personalities. 

Finally hearing from them, they indicated they were not interested in having another nanny, due to the bad taste this nanny left in their mouths. Stunned, I responded back to them and apologized for their nanny's actions, because I feel as though she makes myself and other hardworking nannies look bad. Being a nanny is a tough job that is not for everyone, and it takes a special person to be a nanny. One has to know child development and milestones, a love of children and experience with children. There is more that goes into this, but those are the basics. " 'We need certainty' ", the parent wrote in email. " 'Please don't think this has anything to do with your skills and abilities, because you are amazing' "...." 'If something changes, we will be in touch' ".  

So their current nanny screwed them and they are taking it out on me. The sad thing is, they are so motivated by fear they won't hire me.

And I have their current nanny to thank for this. Because of her, the nanny profession looks horrible, they have a bad experience with a nanny, and I am denied a job. 

This is what happens when families hire nineteen year olds or young people to be a nanny. There is a lack of maturity, work ethic, professionalism, and knowledge of child development. I feel as though some families rush through the interview process and many of them see what they want to see, don't listen, or are too focused on hosting the interview they don't see the big picture. It's like they hear what I am saying, but don't get it. Like they see me as crow's feet, aged and experienced, they act distracted during the interview, and all I am is coffee or a person across the table. They don't see the maturity level, professionalism, easy going nature, passion for my job, and knowledge in child development plus the hard work I have put into my career and education. They live in a fear of experience, and see me as expensive, which in reality I'm not. 

They just don't know and don't want to know. But they will know a young person, half my age with half of my education and experience. I can walk into a childcare center and get a job, but can't meet a family for coffee and get a nanny job. I lack confidence in myself that a family will hire me, and no matter how interested I am in a position or how much I smile and how little I say during interviews, I am not interesting to a family. The sad thing is, I have worked twice as long and harder then my younger counterparts, who I feel don't take their job as a nanny seriously, largely because they don't believe it's a job. 

Well it is. And the sad part is that when this nanny is terminated from her current position, she'll apply for a new nanny position, possibly one that I am applying for too. I won't get hired, but she will because she's half my age and lacks any sort of work ethic. I feel like her actions screwed this family, and she screwed me out of an opportunity. Herself and nannies like her shouldn't be nannies, because they have no respect for the family they work with or the profession. 

I'm curious to know if the families who passed on hiring me hired someone half my age, and how that's working out for them. If I interested a family, I would be hired, not lacking confidence and dealing with being denied jobs because someone isn't mature enough to handle her job in the first place.