b"Encouraging a nanny to take a job she or he listing services. A good agency won't wasteisnt 100% comfortable with is also cause for a nanny's time and can often save a nanny At the endconcern. A good agency knows that no match time on her job search, she says. Plus, manyis better than a bad match and encourages agencieswillhavegreatjobsthatanannynannies and families to make decisions that willneverseeifshedoesntapplytothe of the day,arerightforthem.Forthisreason,Swift agency.Anotherbonustoworkingwithaencourages nannies to pay close attention to great agency is that nannies get to work withwho is doing the hiring. The families should a real person who can answer their questions allbe the ones doing the hiring, she says. Its andactasanadvocatethroughoutthethe families who bear that responsibility and interviewingandhiringprocess.Thisistheneedtobethedecision-makers,notthe personaltouchthatkeepsexperienced agenciesagency.Whileagenciesprovidehelpful nanniesgoingbacktoreputableagenciesadvice,theultimatehiringdecisionshould time and time again.always be left to the family. are notButSwiftcautionsnanniesthatnannyForSwiftandotherAPNAagencyowners, agenciesarenotonesizefitsall.Sometheyknowthatitisthismatchmakingand nannies will not be a good match for some createdhelpfuladvicethatmaketheirboutique agencies, she says. If an agency won't workagenciessuccessful.Wearenowina withananny,thereisareason.It'snottechnicalworldwhereprocessessometimes personal,andunfortunately,theagency equal.make placements less personal, says Swift. I cannot always tell a nanny whyfor example,thinkagoodagencyusestheprocessesto if the nanny has been given a bad reference,makethingseasierfornanniesandclients theywon'ttellherwhatwassaidinthe handlesthosescenarioswhentheycantwhilestillmaintainingthepersonal reference.work with a nanny are indicators of a qualityconnection.Thisiswhatmakesboutique agency: A good agency wont just brush offagencies a much better resource for nannies Toworksuccessfullywithanagency,Swift thenannyornotrespondbutwillletthethan an online listing service. encourages nannies to be honest with what nannyknowthatatthistimetheycannottheyneedandwhattheyarelookingfor. moveforward.SwiftencouragesnanniesBut its not uncommon for clients and nannies According to her, The most frustrating thing who are turned away from agencies to buildtousebothbrick-and-mortaragenciesand for an agency is when a nanny says she will theirexperience,gainadditionaltraining,onlinelistingservicestoconducttheir take$20-per-hourgrosswagesandthen get a mentor, secure some great references,searches.AccordingtoSwift,oftentimes interviewswithafamilyandtellsthemshe andenrollinearlychildhoodeducationnanniesandclientsutilizevariousrecruiting must make $22 per hour. The reverse is true courses.Doingthesethingscanhelptooptions,butbusyCEOsandVIPsseethe as well. If a nanny says she must make $20 provide nannies with more opportunities.advantagesofusingbrick-and-mortar per hour and then accepts a job at $17 peragenciesandwillexclusivelyuseboutique hour,weasanagencyhaveahardtime At the end of the day, all agencies are notagencyservicesfromthestart.Manyother understanding how she can survive. created equal. I hope that nannies will seefamilies roll the dice and try out the cheaper thatthoseagenciesthataremembersofroute of using an online listing service first, but Forsomenannies,however,noamountof APNA are a step above the rest, says Swift.quickly get frustrated with the quality of some honestywillgetthemthroughthedoor. At APNA, we take membership very seriouslyof the caregivers as well as the time it takes Nannies who have ended jobs on bad terms and only accept those [agencies] that dotoscreenandfindtherightperson.Those can have a hard time gaining representation therightthings,whichincludecheckingclientsoftencometoabrick-and-mortar fromgoodagencies.AccordingtoSwift, nannyreferences,conductinginterviews,agency only a week or two before they need Overcoming a bad reference can be done, doingbackgroundchecks,andhavingto hire, lending urgency to the search. Swift but it is very hard, especially if the nanny was written agreements. In addition, APNA doesbelievesthatoncetheyseethevalueand inthejobforalongtime.Swiftsaysher interviewswiththeowner(s)ofeachservice a quality agency provides when time is teamatABCNannieswillchallengea applying agency and does reference checksof the essence, they are likely to come back reference and ask why they kept the nanny so oneachagencytomakesurethattheyrepeatedly and to refer their friends.longifthereferencewasnotgreat.Ifthe followapplicablelawsanddon'tnanny subsequently works for a new family or discriminate.NanniesshouldlookforFornannieswhohavenotusedanagency two and gets great references, Swift believes agencieswhovaluetherelationshipwithbefore, the idea of doing so can be daunting. that can help, but moving forward can still be theirnanniesasmuchasthatwiththeMost reputable agencies will only work with a challenge. Good agencies really try to get families, Swift says. If an agency doesn'texperienced childcare providers and have a thewholepicturesothattheycanfinda treatorrespecttheirnannieswell,thatthoroughvettingprocessthatscreensout better match for the nanny. Oftentimes a bad nanny isn't going to come back, refer friendsmost applicants. However, Swift believes that reference just means it was a bad match. and family, or have positive feelings towardsnanny agencies.APNAagenciesareagreatresourcefornannies and are safer to use than online Swift also stresses that how an agency28Summer 2020|NannyMag.com"