Anyone that isn’t wholly familiar with the nanny industry in general may not be wholly aware of how different one nanny can be from the next. It’s common to approach the subject a little like that of a slightly more hands-on babysitter – basically a person that watches over the kids and may do a little dusting when the parents are out. In the real world however, professional nannies cannot realistically be considered in the same category as babysitters as while one is in essence something of a casual convenience worker, the other represents a long-term career path for life.
Of course, if you were to recruit a nanny via the very best nanny agency in London, chances are you’d find it impossible to go wrong. But assuming you’d like to find yourself in the company of the best in the business and a real asset to the family, it’s worth setting your expectations as high as possible and gunning for a truly great nanny. It’s technically pretty easy for someone to play house from time to time and watch the kids – being a great nanny is something entirely different.
So, with this in mind, what are the main differences between a decent nanny and a genuinely elite nanny of the highest order?
1 – Passion
Right off the bat, the biggest and most important difference of all is that a great nanny will be a wholly passionate and dedicated individual that’s in the field because it’s absolutely what they love to do. There will always be those who join the nanny industry as they see it as something of a no-brainer to make a little extra cash or to simply ‘test the waters’ with something new. These kinds of nannies never make it far up the ladder and would never be considered anything more than mediocre at best. A great nanny is the type that genuinely believes that this and this alone is what they were born to do.
Without genuine passion, it’s impossible to make it as a great nanny.
2 – Dependability
One of the hallmarks of the very best nannies in the business is the apparent inability to say ‘no’ and not being confined to a rather limited set of tasks, duties and working hours. It’s a simple case of the more the family can depend on you, the more respect you’ll earn and the more your career as a nanny will progress. This is why from the perspective of the family looking to take on the nanny there’s very little of more importance than assessing their dependability in advance. This can be done through feedback and references provided, along with your own gut instinct.
3 – Multi-Skilled
It’s of course fair to say that a great nanny needs to be wholly capable when it comes to multi-tasking, but at the same time there’s much to be said for multi-skilled individuals. For example, there may a be a nanny that’s great with kids, but if they’ve never seen a sink full of dirty dishes in their life, they might not prove to be the greatest asset to the household. By contrast, find a nanny who knows their way around the kitchen, bathroom, bedroom, living room and even the garden and chances are you’ll wonder how you ever got by before!
4 – Positive Attitude
It’s often said that any professional should be ready, willing and able to leave their emotional baggage at the door – this couldn’t apply more in the case of the nanny. The reason being that there isn’t a household in the land that would actively seek a nanny who had a tendency of bringing the family down with bad moods and negativity in general – even if they do happen to be having the worst day of the year so far. Confidence and enthusiasm are more important than it’s possible to convey – apathy and negativity will get you nowhere.
5 – Friend, Teacher, Mentor
Last but not least, perhaps that most pivotal difference of all between a good nanny and a great nanny is the way in which the latter goes so much further than the standard job description would ever ask. A great nanny isn’t just a baby-sitter, but is more of a teacher, a friend, a mentor and a role model during the kids’ most important developmental years. A nanny can and will play a crucially important role in the upbringing of the children they help care for, which is why there’s simply no room at all for treating it like ‘just a job’.