Finding a great childcare provider takes time and effort. Even if you use a nanny service or an au pair agency like Cultural Care Au Pair—that recruits, interviews and carefully screens candidates before they are accepted onto the program—you should never skip the important step of personally interviewing candidates on your own to ensure the best match.
Below, you’ll find questions from our Au Pair-Nanny Interview Guide, a comprehensive list of 50+ questions to ask once you’ve identified your preferred applicants. We recommend reading through the list of questions first and identifying the ones that relate to your family. Question topics include:
- An applicant’s general childcare experience
- Their expectations with relation to your family’s needs
- Their personality, maturity level and interests
- Specific ages and needs of your children (infant, toddler, school-aged child, special needs child)
Before the interview begins, mark the questions that are relevant to your family’s situation, and note that questions marked with an asterisk (*) should be reserved for candidates whose English competency is more advanced. We wish you luck during the interview process and hope it leads you to a caregiver you feel confident and excited about!
Questions about a candidate’s general childcare experience
- What were the ages of the children under your care?
- What were your specific responsibilities? (Refer to each childcare experience separately.)
- What was the most difficult part of that job? What did you like most about that job?
- What do you like most about taking care of children?
- What do you find most challenging about caring for children?
- How many hours at a time are you used to caring for a child? What would be the maximum number of hours you could care for a child before needing a break?*How would you discipline a child who misbehaves?How would you comfort a child who is upset?What do you think children most need from an au pair/nanny?Have you been in an emergency situation with a child in your care? If so, what happened and how did you respond?
- Questions that relate to your family’s needs
- What would your ideal host family/employer be like?If you disagreed with something that your host parents/employer said or did, how would you handle it?*
- Are you okay with our family’s schedule? (Talk in detail about your family’s typical schedule; will you expect her to work early mornings? Evenings? Weekends? A 9–5, Monday—Friday schedule? Setting expectations during the interview process is critical for a successful match.)
- How flexible are you on a scale of 1–10? (1 being very rigid and 10 being extremely flexible)
- What additional household responsibilities are you comfortable taking on as our au pair/nanny? (Talk about your specific household needs related to the children; for example: meal prep, laundry, light cleaning, setting up appointments, etc.)
- How neat are you on a scale of 1–10? (1 being a slob and 10 being extremely neat)
- How long have you been driving? How often do you drive? Where do you drive? Would you be comfortable driving the children to school and lessons every day? (Adapt the question to your own needs, vehicle and driving expectations, i.e., local vs. highway driving.)
Questions about a candidate’s personality, maturity level and interests
- Why did you decide to become an au pair/nanny?
- What will your priorities be during your year/contract with our family?
- How do you think your friends and family would describe your personality?
- If you are comfortable doing so, could you share a little bit about your childhood and your relationship with your family?
- What do you like to do in your free time?
- What is your favorite sport?
- Favorite television shows?
- Favorite books?
- Favorite type of music/favorite bands?
- Have you ever lived on your own? Traveled on your own? If not, do you like the idea of living and traveling on your own?
- Do you do your own laundry? Cook your own meals? Clean your own room/apartment/home?
- How independent would you say you are you on a scale of 1–10? (1 being not at all independent and 10 being extremely independent)
- What are three things you’ve accomplished that you are proud of?
- Do you smoke cigarettes? If yes, how often?
- Do you drink alcohol? If yes, how often?
Questions about the care of an infant (3 months–1 year)
- What do you like about caring for babies?
- Are there things you find challenging caring for babies?
- How would you try to bond with my baby?
- What activities might you do with my baby?
- How would you soothe my crying baby?
- What would you do if my baby just won’t stop crying?*
- What potential safety hazards might exist in the house for my baby? What about safety hazards outside of the home? What steps would you take to make sure my baby was safe?*
Questions about the care of a toddler (1–3 years)
- What do you like about caring for toddlers?
- Are there things you find challenging caring for toddlers?
- What indoor and outdoor activities might you do with my toddler?
- How would you comfort my toddler if he/she was upset?
- How would you handle it if my child was having a temper tantrum?
- How would you discipline my toddler if she/he was misbehaving?
- What potential safety hazards might exist in the house for my toddler? What about safety hazards outside of the home? What steps would you take to make sure my toddler was safe?*
Questions about the care of a pre-school or school-aged child (4+ years)
- What do you like about caring for pre-school and school-aged children?
- Are there things you find challenging caring for pre-school and school-aged children?
- What indoor and activities would you do with my child?
- What kinds of things would you like to teach my child?
- How would you comfort my child if he/she was upset?
- How would you discipline my child if she/he was misbehaving?
- What would you do if my child would not listen to you? Or refused to do what you said?
- Would you be willing and able to help with my child’s homework?
- Are you interested in helping my child learn words and phrases in another language?
- What potential safety hazards might exist in the house for my pre-school/school-aged child? What about safety hazards outside of the home? What steps would you take to make sure my child was safe?*
Questions about the care of children with special needs
- Can you describe your experience with children with special needs?
- What have been the joys and challenges of caring for children with special needs?
- (Describe the responsibilities inherent in caring for your special needs child.) Would you be comfortable with these tasks?
Conducting a thorough, thoughtful interview with each of your prospective caregivers takes time but in the long run, this step is so important. We wish you luck using these questions to find an au pair or nanny who meets all of your criteria!
For more help, read our au pair interview tips.
