Check out
this nanny listing that my husband found on Craigslist! Holy crap! I would be quite fearful to work for these people. If you had all of those qualifications, really, why be a nanny for them? I'm surprised they don't require you to donate an essential organ.
"I don't think we will find anyone as good as her in Madison to care for our children" So, why should anyone bother to apply? It's like a guy on a date that talks about how great his ex-girlfriend is.
ReplyDelete"am not the type of employer to micromanage" I beg to differ.
"Do you have any children? If yes, please note you may not bring them along." So I have to put my kids in daycare to go to my nanny job? WTF?
'Why would we hire you?" Didn't question 1-8 answer that?
"10. Do you think you meet our expectations?" Does anyone?
"If you can't follow simple directions like these, would you be able to follow simple instructions with our children, especially a newborn?" Good point. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to get back to drooling all over myself.
They are requiring work of 11 hours a day, four days a week and they are talking about paying by the hour and giving overtime for work beyond the regular schedule. According to the Fair Labor Standards Act, they need to pay OT at time and a half beyond 40 hours a week, not the regular schedule. They also can't check a credit record unless the job specifically requires financial management, which it sounds like it does not beyond the McDonalds drive through. If the new nanny was savvy, these folks could get sued.
Suspending all reality and assuming I didn't go to college to avoid being a nanny, I wouldn't touch this with a ten foot pole. These people are nuts.
I love how Madison really isn't good enough for them, either. Nothing is good enough for them!
ReplyDeleteClearly a complicated bereavement reaction going on there... Do I detect the scent of sublimated guilt? Maybe they should reel that in a little! My flat mate is an ex-nanny of the sort they are looking for, but I think the commute would be a downer...
ReplyDeleteI may sound crazy but I think that their ad is unpleasantly highly strung because it was written at 4am after yet another day of failed interviews, in a fit of total panic after a spouse squabble which went 'If you think it's so easy to find someone as good as our last Nanny, then YOU do it!' 'Okay. I WILL.'
The demands don't sound inappropriate to me, it just they said them in a demanding, narcissistic way. They are probably going to pay very well.
A colleague of mine put a non-specific ad into something similar and got 300 applications, only three of whom were the least bit suitable (i.e. could commit to at least a year, legal rights to stay or work in the country, could read and write, weren't scary). The next ad she wrote was very picky to save her the time of reading them all.
I won't scare you with stories of the many people I come across whom you wouldn't want to employ as your plantsitter (have had their own kids taken away, have minimal capacity to think about their relationships or other people's needs, live in squalor, a bit 'light-fingered') worked or are hoping to work in childcare 'cause they like kids'.
Well, I like baby pandas. Doesn't mean the zoo should trust me to look after one...
Yes, there is that side of it. I've never actually tried to hire a nanny. Zelma goes to day care two days a week, and I love them. So does she.
ReplyDeleteIt is a highly charged subject, to say the least. I bet there was some sort of really bad experience with the new (lasted three months) nanny that sparked this ad! And, they have another baby on the way!
That certainly ads some stress. I still think it's overboard, though. Maybe they will modify it to be slightly friendlier, though?
It sure does make one anxious
ReplyDeleteI think that if they're really trying to find a good nanny, they should consider putting an ad in a newspaper, or perhaps posting an ad at the childrens' school, as opposed to advertising on Craigslist, where anyone with half a brain and an internet connection will be able to read it.
ReplyDeleteOh, and they sound like self-important assholes to me. They obviously think that their children are more important than the children of their nannies!
I think you should create a "character" and apply. Make a "too good to be true" resume. Answer all their question superbly. Create a phony email address. Leave off any phone numbers. Then when they try to contact you via email, let them know you are just about to accept another nanny position, unless they happen to by the perfect family/employer for you, and make them fill out a bunch of questions as to why you should work for them, and what makes them so great. Also, mention that her spelling and grammar wasn't up to the standards you would expect for your employer. Did you notice that in the ad? I did, a few times.
ReplyDeleteOh, Robyn. That's very twisted. Be my guest!
ReplyDeleteYes, I did notice the grammar.