When choosing the right candidate for a babysitting position in your household, it’s important to go through their references. It’s your task to verify their validity, because you never know what measures some people resort to when they desperately want to get a job. Make them provide their reference’s full contact information, not just the names and the addresses.
Contacting a reference might seem awkward to you at first glance, but it really doesn’t have to be. Given your situation – especially if you explain why you’re calling – there is bound to be at least some form of understanding from their side.
But first, you need to introduce yourself to the reference. To freshen up their memory, it’s a good idea to state the name of the babysitter. Don’t complicate things for no reason. Just relax, and let your confidence shine through your voice when you’re on the phone. At the same time, try not to be pushy. If you’re told that this is not a good time to be calling, apologize and try again at a later date. Related read: Sittercity reviews: is it worth it?
Generally speaking, you want to know everything there is to know about the babysitter’s performance. That’s why it’s especially important to prepare a list of questions to ask in advance, because you might slip your mind and forget well over half of them when you’re speaking to the reference on the phone.
Warning: if the reference shows any signs of discomfort when talking to you or if you find out they didn’t agree to be their reference, take this as a severe sign of caution. If you think the babysitter is a good candidate regardless, a second chance might be in order, so ask them for another reference. Otherwise just scratch the candidate off the list.
The same goes if the reference seems to be nervous for any reason, or if they’re hesitant to answer to their name. Who knows, your candidate might have given you their room-mate’s contact details, so use your gut feeling to determine if things smell fishy or not. That’s probably the number one reason why you want to get in touch with them over the phone, and not an email for instance. It’s these subtle things that you simply can’t pick up on in a digital chat. Related read: Save money with a promo code Sittercity
In any case, here is a broad list of questions to ask the reference in order to get your imagination going:
– How well did the babysitter perform under stressful situations and in general?
– How long did you work together?
– How did the kids respond to the babysitter?
– Were you satisfied?
– Were there any problems?
– Did the babysitter need a lot of supervision?
– Does the babysitter have a developed routine?
– Why did your cooperation stop?
– Would you hire the babysitter again?
– Does the babysitter have a temperament problem?
– Is the babysitter excited when around your kids?
– How would you describe the babysitter?
– Could you list their best and their worst qualities?
– Did the babysitter always show up on time?
– On a scale from 1 to 10, how would you rate the babysitter’s overall performance?
At the end of the conversation, always thank the reference for their time, and ask them if you’re allowed to contact them should you have any further questions. As long as you’re polite, there shouldn’t be any problems.
Oh, and don’t forget to write down the answers if you can! But if you’d rather concentrate on picking up the subtle hints in the tone of their voice, that’s fine as well.
I don’t feel too comfortable calling up strangers just so I can ask a couple of questions about the sitter. I’m more comfortable running a background check.
It’s good to check on the babysitter’s references. The good thing about Sittercity is that it’s easy for us to call up the references and inquire about the babysitter. However, we shouldn’t just rely on that. Running a background check can really provide reliable information on the babysitter.
Thanks for the sample questions you provided in your article. I’ll use it as a guideline now. It’s a must to call the references. That’s precisely why those names are listed on the resume. Thanks again.
You have a good list of questions here. I’m taking note of all of them. Thanks for sharing.
I would never communicate with a reference thru email. It’s important to pick up the phone and to speak to the reference. There’s no short cut there.
I take time to really call and talk to the references of the babysitters. But I also read the reviews posted by the other parents. There’s no way I can learn a lot about the babysitters if I rely solely on the references.
I do agree with you totally. We should really consider the tone of the voice. From there, we can tell a lot about the reference. But in addition to that, I still run a background check.