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33 Questions to You Need to Ask When Hiring a New Babysitter

33 Questions to You Need to Ask When Hiring a New Babysitter - these are questions you should ask prospective new babysitters for interview questions

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Hiring a babysitter to watch your kids can be difficult. Not only do you need to find a babysitter who fits in to your budget, you also need to find someone that you can entrust your children’s lives with. The best way to find the right babysitter for your family is to ask the right questions. Take a look at these questions you should ask prospective new babysitters for interview question ideas – you will want to work these down to what is relevant based on your needs, of course.

General Questions

Why do you like working with children?
Why does your babysitter choose to work with children? The answer to this question could be the deciding factor when it comes to who you will hire. You will want to hire a babysitter who genuinely cares for children and loves being around them. Some people choose to babysit because it’s easy money or because they can’t find any other jobs at the moment.

What is your rate? Ask them up front how much they want to paid to ensure it falls within the expected range.

Are your hours flexible?
Unexpected things pop up all the time. You might get stuck behind a train on your way home from date night or your boss might ask you to stay an extra hour to finish a project. Make sure your babysitter is flexible when it comes to those unexpected events. If they aren’t, you might want to look at other options as you may be stuck if you need them in an emergency.

Do you live nearby? How are you going to get here? It’s best to hire someone who has reliable transportation.  If they are under the age of 16, ask them if the person taking them to your house is reliable.

 

Background and Experience

Do you have references?
One of the best ways to tell if a new babysitter is the right fit for your family is to check references. Ask your new babysitter for any references they might have, and then take the time to call those references and ask about the babysitter. You’ll want to know what these references have to say about your babysitter’s skills, timeliness, and character.

How long have you been working with children and in what role?

Do you have any children? This is a huge plus if they already have children – of any age.

How old were the children you have worked with previously?

Have you ever been arrested or convicted of a crime? Alternatively you may want to request a police background check.

How many kids are you comfortable with watching? 

How many have you watched in the past? This is important if you have more than 3 kids as you want to know that your sitter will be able to handle a larger number of kids at once.

Do you like being around pets? Do you have allergies to pets? Obviously you should only ask this question if you have household pets of any kind.

 

Training and Safety

Are you CPR & First Aid certified?
Another great question to ask your new babysitter is if they are CPR and first aid certified. Hopefully, nothing will go wrong while your kids are being watched; however, accidents do happen. The knowledge that your babysitter knows how to respond in these situations can make you feel more comfortable that your children will be safe.

Have you ever dealt with an emergency?

Can you drive in case of emergency?

 

Behavioural Questions

Tell me about a time when you faced a difficult situation. How did you deal with it?

What are your favourite activities with kids? Find out how they plan to keep your children entertained and that it is a good fit.

How do you respond to a child throwing a tantrum?

How do you respond to a child who is not following instructions?

How do you plan to discipline the children if needed. Are you willing to discipline our way?

Why should I hire you?

 

Responsibilities and Tasks

Are you comfortable with putting children to bed? Bedtime can be a challenge so be sure that if your babysitter has to put them in bed, that they are comfortable with it.

Aside from babysitting, are you comfortable with light housework or making dinner? 

Are you available for after school pick up?

 

If the Sitter will be Driving

How long have you been driving?

May I see your driver’s license?

Have you ever been ticketed for speeding or been in an accident?

 

If you have an infant

Are you comfortable caring for an infant?

What is your experience with infants?

Do you know infant CPR?

Do you know how to change a diaper?

How do you respond to stress and/or frustration?

Do you know how to prepare a bottle?

 

 

What questions do you think are important to ask any new babysitter?

Chrisha Dilley

Monday 15th of May 2017

These are helpful - especially when I've been so spoiled by people we already know, love & trust. I did find another list that asked about social media - Do you (interviewee) have social media accounts? This is so good as I forget about these things and in general, I do not like for people to post pictures of my kids online. Even well intentioned family have publicly shared photos without our consent. It's a pretty big deal these days.

Lynda Cook

Thursday 27th of October 2016

This is a great post and some awesome and great questions to have, there is always something you forget to ask and this list will help!!

Ali P

Thursday 27th of October 2016

Definitely great questions. We hired an (ex-friend's) kid to babysit ours and it was horrible.

Judy Cowan

Thursday 27th of October 2016

Great guideline to help with hiring a babysitter, you can never ask too many questions. Thanks for sharing.

Laurie P

Thursday 27th of October 2016

YES! to those questions.....I've never needed to hire one, but this is something to think about.