Frequently Asked Questions
(Let me make sure I get this straight)
Why should I go with a nanny placement agency?
Why should I go with Mom's Best Friend?
What kinds of caregiver jobs can I find?
How much can I make?
What is the process for finding a long-term nanny position?
What is the process for being a sitter or temporary caregiver?
Will Mom's Best Friend train me how to get and keep nanny/sitter assignments?
What sorts of background checks will Mom's Best Friend do?
How will I know when jobs are available?
What happens when a family receives my profile?
What is a “trial day”?
What happens after I am offered a long-term nanny job?
Can I leave Mom's Best Friend at any time?
Can I transfer to other Mom's Best Friend offices if I move?
Why should I go with a nanny placement agency?
If you are committed to developing your nanny career to its fullest extent, choosing to go with an agency is by far your best option. Aside from gaining access to consistently better, higher paying assignments, finding a position with an agency also permits you access to a wide range of opportunities and career tools you may not receive elsewhere. These include:
- A larger pool of families
- Extensive interview has been performed on families
- Temporary nanny (sitter service) opportunities to bridge gap to long-term employment
- Less turnover
- Networking opportunities
- Post-placement support
- Continuing education and professional development opportunities
- Tools of employment (contract, training, mediation, etc.)
In short, nanny professionals choose to go with agencies because agencies help them make the most of their careers.
Mom's Best Friend values our caregivers and our goal is to serve your needs. We are dedicated to providing you with recognition events, networking opportunities, and continuing education. We are also committed to increasing the awareness of household professionals throughout the community. Should you choose to join our agency, we will provide you with a consistently high level of personal attention and professional support. MBF’s support is largely unmatched by other agencies, and continues long after you have been placed. Examples include:
- Largest pool of families
- Largest availability of temporary nanny (sitter) assignments
- Nanny Network sponsor, providing you access to activities such as organized playgroups, Nanny Nights Out and nanny events, and bi-monthly newsletters
- Protection of your personal information, which is never presented to any client without your permission
- Nanny Professional Development (4 hr coaching opportunity)
- Comprehensive Nanny Handbook
- Our commitment and investment in the household staffing industry through our membership with the International Nanny Association and the Alliance of Premier Nanny Agencies
Caregivers can be hired on a long/short-term or temporary, part-time or full-time, live-in or live-out basis. Since we are the largest and most successful full-service household staffing agency in the state, we will be able to give you access to a large client pool and numerous professional opportunities, ranging from regular full and part-time nanny positions to residential sitting jobs, corporate backup care assignments, and hotel jobs.
Please see the positions section of the website for detailed job descriptions and pay rates for nannies, sitters and newborn specialists.
The long-term nanny placement process ensures that you will find a fantastic nanny position in a timely manner. Mom's Best Friend has outlined the simple steps to begin your search in the process section of the website. Depending on how quickly you are able to get together the necessary paperwork and put us in contact with your references, you may be processed in as little as 48 hours.
The goal of the sitter services team is to ensure that you can begin working in the shortest amount of time possible. Mom's Best Friend has outlined the simple steps to get started in the process section of the website.
Mom's Best Friend requires all nannies to attend our Nanny Professional Development course (long-term division) and/or the Nanny Temporary Orientation (Temporary Division). These sessions provide information and recommendations regarding professionalism, interviewing, communication, creative ideas, negotiating, employment agreements, and expectations.
Because security is a top priority for our clients, Mom's Best Friend caregivers go through our agency’s screening process including a criminal background check (initial and ongoing), a driving records check and reference checks. Please see the Process section for complete details.
For long-term positions, a Mom's Best Friend Placement Manager and/or Staffing Specialist will be in contact with you for assignments that match your personal qualifications and job search criteria. You may also view our Current Job Openings page to find nanny positions for which you want to interview. If you have any interest in a particular position, you may also contact the Mom's Best Friend placement team directly.
For sitter assignments, you will provide a running two-weeks of availability to the Temporary Services Team. You will be contacted through either phone or email regarding positions that match your experience and availability, or when you have been specifically requested by certain families.
Mom's Best Friend will not send your profile unless you have agreed that the position meets your needs and objectives. Once a family receives the nanny profiles, they will choose the nannies whom they would like to interview. Your staffing specialist will contact you to set up interviews with the families who have requested an interview, and we encourage you to not only prepare your own qualifications (your Staffing Specialist and Nanny Professional Development Instructor will provide you great tools for this), but also to prepare questions for the family in order to make sure that the match is the best fit for you as well.
Candidates for long-term nanny assignments may be called back for a “trial day” after their initial interview with a client. These days provide the client an opportunity to see you interacting with their children and performing many duties you may regularly perform if you are hired for the position. This is also a great opportunity for you to explore the position and get to know the family to decide whether it is an appropriate fit for you. You will be paid for this time according to a trial rate schedule.
After you are hired for and accept a long-term nanny position, your employer will complete an Employment Agreement. This detailed document, provided by Mom's Best Friend, will provide you and your employer with all of the essential issues/items/criteria on which you must agree before you start your position, including pay rate, benefits, work commitment, hours, etc.
If you have completed your term of commitment with your employer, you are free to leave your position, but we find that most of our candidates return to Mom's Best Friend for future nanny placements.
One of the great benefits of our agency is, if you find yourself moving to any of the cities in which we have offices—Austin, Houston, Dallas, Ft. Worth, San Antonio or Vail/Beaver Creek (CO)—you may simply transfer over to another of our offices to be referred for assignments, without having to replicate the application process all over again.