Babysitter Interview Questions

It happens many times that we hire babysitters who are unable to handle behavior of the kids and children are uncomfortable with them. To avoid such problems that may spring in the future, we need to ensure that the babysitters are interviewed for assessing their skills in handling kids.

Most Common Questions to Ask in a Babysitter Interview

These are some of the very common questions to ask in babysitter interviews.

• Why do you love babysitting? What motivates you for this work?
• What do you expect for in an employer or the family you are going to work with?
• What are the babysitting rates and your concerns about the job?
• How comfortable are you if you have to work some extra hours due to some urgent situations?
• Do you have your own conveyance facility or do you expect us to drive you back at home?
• Tell us something about your work experience and educational qualifications?

What to Ask Teenage Babysitters

Teenagers work as babysitters as their part-time jobs to earn some extra cash. However, before hiring teenagers you have to ensure that they are smart enough to handle the children with patience. If you have received applicants that are teenagers then you have to do some research and get details like address, phone number, email id, age, educational qualification and most importantly at least two references who are related to the teenager. Besides that, you can also ask some babysitter interview questions to the teenagers that are as follows:

• Tell us something about your life and family?
• Have you ever worked as a babysitter? If yes, then how many kids have you babysit earlier?
• How old were the kids and for how long did you babysit for them?
• Have you done any certificate courses or programs in babysitter trainings, first aid and other courses?
• What are you hobbies and how do you use your spare time?
• Do you smoke? If yes, then how frequent?
• Are your parents happy about your decision to work as babysitter?
• Won't the babysitting job affect your studies? How will you handle both?
• Give some information about your school and the grades you score? What are your favorite subjects
• What types of children activities do you love to play with children?
• Tell us something about your most difficult situation in handling a child?
• How much do you charge for the babysitting per hour? Are you open for pay negotiations?

What to Ask Adult/Matured Babysitters?

If you are interviewing matured babysitters who have suitable work experience, then you have to raise the level of questions as these people have worked with children and they are aware of the intricacies of the job.

• Describe about your childcare experiences? Are you married? Do you have kids?
• Tell something about your previous and existing clients?
• What is you approach in handling children?
• What are your personal goals for this year?
• How patient you are in babysitting?
• What is/are the earliest time(s) of the day you can be called for?
• What additional services you provide besides babysitting? Cooking, gardening, laundry etc.??
• What is your social security number and some personal details about you so that we can about you in a more refined way?

Babysitter Interview Questions to Ask References

It may happen that the applicant you are selecting as the babysitter has been referred to by some experienced babysitter or by some of your friends. Although you may have the benefit that the babysitter is known by some of your acquaintances, it's not a bad idea to ask some questions to the references so that your child goes in the safe hands.

• Since how long have you known the applicant?
• Is the babysitter working elsewhere and how does he/she takes care of the child?
• Does the babysitter look after your children?
• What are you recommending the babysitter? What was good about the babysitter?
• Was the child comfortable with the babysitter?
• Was the babysitter responsible and attending phone calls on time?
• How did the babysitter handle emergencies?
• How good a caregiver can be this babysitter? If you are recommending him/her, then can you give some more places where the babysitter has worked previously?
• How frequently did the babysitter takes leaves?
• Is the babysitter reliable and trustworthy?

Some More Questions for Babysitter Interview

There are various other questions that you may ask the babysitter.

• How comfortable are you with pets? Do have any phobia with pets?
• What would you do if the child doesn't go to sleep or annoys you?
• Can you handle the babysitting for newborns?
• Are you aware about childproof rooms?
• Are you aware of child diseases and infections that they can suffer due to poor hygiene?
• Do you keep the emergency contact numbers in your phone book? How vigilant are you in avoiding emergencies?
• Can you drive the children in car?
• Do you own a driving license? Can we please see a copy of it?
• Can you travel with the family in case we have to travel for some picnics and other destinations, though for a short period of time?
• Do you know swimming? First aid methods?
• How early will you inform us before leaving the job?
• Can you bathe and dress children?
• Can you change a diaper and handle kids patiently without getting annoyed?

Once you have selected a certain candidate for working as a babysitter, you need to introduce the babysitter to the kid(s). You can invite the babysitter for a cup of coffee or dinner so that your family can get introduced to the babysitter and it will also act as an ice breaker for the kid and the babysitter. These were some of the many possible babysitter interview questions and I hope that these may help you in choosing the best babysitter for your kid(s). Do make efforts to choose the most appropriate babysitter as they are entrusted with the job of caring and safeguarding your kids.