1. Make a good first impression:  This is from the first phone call forward.  Call back promptly, be on time or early to the interview,  dress appropriately, no perfume!  Bring your resume and references.  Have a good hand shake! 
2. Interact with the children:  We often get feedback from families that the nanny didn’t interact with the children. Often nannies are nervous and focused on answering the parent’s questions.  Parents want to see your love for children, be sure to convey your passion for childcare as much as possible!
3. Do not gossip about previous employers or nanny agencies:  Families will want to know why your previous position ended, but remember to be professional at all times.  Any kind of gossiping makes parents worry that you will gossip about them to others.  Be positive about any negative experiences you’ve had and don’t dwell on them!
4. Come prepared with questions for the parents:  Remember you are not the only one being interviewed!  You should also interview the parents and make sure that they are the right fit for you!  Parents like being asked questions about their family, parenting style and the job.  It shows you are truly interested in the job.
5. Share a compelling story:  Many times, you will be asked the same questions over and over.  The families often hear the same cookie-cutter responses.   Come prepared with a few interesting stories about situations you’ve had with children.  Keep them positive! 
6. Do not discuss salary:  During the first interview, it is not usually a good idea to bring up salary requirements. If you are asked by the family, say you are negotiable.  Salary is best discussed in a second interview or once a job offer has been made.  Nanny jobs are highly relational, and parents often feel put off when a nanny brings up money right away.
7. Thank you!:  Thank the parents for their time at the end of the interview.   Write a thank you note or email after the interview if you are interested in the position.  The hand written thank you note is a lost art and really makes you stand out!

Here are a few suggestions on how to address this issue for Nannies and Families:

1.  Families that are working from home during this time, consider letting your nanny flex her hours around peak commute times

2.  Nannies that will have to commute through this area during this time: consider staying closer to your work family on key days either with friends or family.  If that is not possible, consider spending the night at your work family’s house.  Families: consider offering your nanny a bonus or incentive to stay closer to you on key days during the work week.

For more information:

General Info:

http://wsdot.wa.gov/Projects/SR99/HolgateToKing/ViaductNineDayClosure.htm#ViaductClosureDetails

Recommended Routes:

http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/Projects/SR99/HolgateToKing/SR99RecommendedRoutes.htm

Another great source for real time information:

http://westseattleblog.com/

After the Closure:

Keep in mind that the closure is not the end of traffic issues through this area.  During the closure, the DOT will be removing the south end of the viaduct.  Traffic will be partially re-routed onto city streets through this area and then back up onto the viaduct at King St.  The speed limit through the area will be 25mph.  This will affect commute times until the tunnel project is complete sometime around 2015.

More information about SR 99 after the closure:

http://wsdot.wa.gov/Projects/SR99/HolgateToKing/ViaductNineDayClosure.htm#AccessingTheViaduct

Simulated drive through on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0aaX8s3MME

Have any other suggestions about how to deal with this closure, please comment below!  Also, tell us what you plan to do to adjust your commute!

Nanny Associations:

Northwest Nanny Association

International Nanny Association

Nanny Blogs:

Regarding Nannies

All Things Nanny

The Financial Nanny

Tales from the Nannyhood

Networking:

Nanny Island

Please let us know of other places you connect as nannies!  Thank you for all you do everyday!

#1: On-Call Work!

While waiting for the prefect long term job to come up, taking temporary and On-Call positions will help you earn income and meet families.  It will also allow you to put something on your resume for the time period you are out of work.  Through networking and  meeting lots of families in temporary situations, you may also create a long term job for yourself and meet a family that decides they cannot live without you!  Annie’s Nannies offers On-Call work, summer positions, and short-term On-Going positions.  Let us know if you are interested!

#2: Volunteer!

Another thing to help keep you busy and add to your resume is to volunteer in your community!  There are so many organizations in the Seattle/East Side area that could use your child development expertise!  Volunteering your time not only benefits your community, it also looks good on your resume. Potential employers will see that, even though you didn’t have a job, you were spending your time using your skills and helping others.

Here are some online resources to find  local volunteer opportunities.

www.volunteermatch.org

www.uwkc.org

www.idealist.org

Comment below if you have other helpful ideas for nannies out of work!

Have an old digital camera lying around? Why not make use of it on a rainy day by letting your charges explore their inner photographer!  There are many different ways to manage this sort of activity.  You can direct them to take pictures of their favorite things or have them take pictures of items that begin with a particular letter.  Take it further and create a photo album book using websites such as shutterfly.com and photobucket.com.

The following websites give great ideas on how to create and make an activity such as this one fun for your charges, and also great photo book and scrapbook ideas!    

http://www.marthastewart.com/article/kids-scrapbooking-ideas

http://www.intoscrapbooking.com/scrapbooking-with-kids/simple-scrapbooking-for-kids-the-family-album-approach.html

http://www.digitalphotographybasics.com/kids-guide-to-digital-photography-through-games/

http://www.livestrong.com/article/225899-fun-photography-ideas-for-children/

http://www.make-your-own-photobooks.com/children-story-photo-books.html

http://www.squidoo.com/kidsdigitalcameraphotoactivities

Bonus: turn this great idea into a unique and thoughtful Mother’s day gift!

Have a great photo activity to do with children?  Comment below and let us know!

Employee or Independent Contractor?

As a nanny, you are always considered the employee of any family you work for (regardless of how many hours).  The IRS allows families to employ nannies without putting them on payroll, if they pay the nanny less than $1,700 per calendar year.  This law is primarily to allow families to have temporary nannies and not have to deal with payroll.  As a nanny, you are required to claim all the wages you make throughout the year.  It is a good idea if you do a lot of temporary work to keep a notebook and log all the families you work for, and how much you made.  If this is your primary source of income, you will want to keep aside a portion of every dollar to pay for your tax portion in April.

Gross vs. Net Pay:

When looking for a long term job, it is very important to understand the difference between Gross and Net pay.  Gross refers to PRE-TAX dollars, and is how most families will make a job offer.  Net pay refers to your take home pay after your tax contribution and your employer’s contribution.  For more information regarding this click here.

For calculating your Gross vs. Net pay click here.

Legal vs “Under the table” Pay:

Being paid legally and advocating for yourself to be paid legally is extremely important.  Not only does it provide you with a verifiable employment history, but you also will have unemployment insurance as well as social security and Medicare benefits.  For more information click here.

Spring is coming!  What better way to kick off spring than with sharing April’s National Poetry Month with your little ones?  Children’s poetry can be silly and stimulating.  It can help teach children to relate words and feelings more quickly.  Studies show that when children participate in art, it engages their senses and wires the brain for successful learning.  During a child’s early years, this is tremendously important as neural connections are being made at a rapid rate.  Plus poetry is fun! 

In honor of National Poetry Month, King County Libraries will be holding a series of FREE performances by The South Side Dance Force based on the work of local children’s poet Erik Korhel’s new book  The Kid With The Red Juice Mustache and Other Nostalgic Companions with illustrations by Celia Marie Baker.  

This will be a great show to watch, make sure to catch it when it comes to your local King Country Library.

Performance dates below:

Kent Branch- April 6^th at 2pm

Covington Branch- April 7^th at 11am

Sammamish Branch- April 9^th at 3pm

Kenmore Branch- May 14^th at 2pm