Published: September 20th, 2008
How To Perform A Background Check On A Babysitter
By, Ryan Sommers
Consumers-Guides.org
When you think of arranging for a babysitter for your child you are aiming at peace of mind and the safety of your child. Employing a total stranger can be stressful unless you are able to run a thorough background check on the person you intend to entrust with the care of your loved one. Don’t make the mistake and assume that the person you are considering is desirable to employ in this position of trust just because she displays proper etiquette, is neatly dressed, and exudes good manners during the interview. You are well aware of the difficulty in judging people on the basis of appearances, as you even explain to your children the dangers posed by strangers and try to put across the point that even people that appear normal could be potentially dangerous.
Heeding your own advice you must look for concrete evidence that can let you choose the right person as a babysitter instead of simply relying on your instinct, which may be a valuable tool in itself. This is very important because the welfare and safety of your children depends on the correctness of your decision.
While you conduct a background check on a babysitter, make the candidate herself your first point of reference and subject her to an intense interview. Some of the points that you need to clear in order to feel confident about her background and experience are being discussed here.
- Check for written references related to her previous employment
- Confirm the age(s)of the children whom she has previously looked after.
- Ask her if there is anything about her background that she should tell you about
It will be easy for you to judge how trustworthy she is during this initial interview from her demeanor and her responses to your queries.
Once the babysitting applicant provides you with references from previous employers, you need to carefully read all of them and then get in touch with the families she has worked for to confirm the bonafides of the references provided by her. There are also many points that you may want to ask the people who have employed your prospective baby sitter earlier. Ask them
- The reasons why they selected that person as a caregiver to their children?
- How suitable did they find her in her role of a babysitter?
- How reliable and punctual did they find her?
- What duties did she perform while she was employed with them?
- Did they ever face any problems with her in course of her association with them?
- What was their children’s age when they were under her care?
- What were the reasons for her to leave their employment?
- How highly would they recommend her?
- If required would they consider hiring her again?
While speaking with them carefully observe the tenor of their responses and if it appears to you that they are holding back some information, decide in favor of caution and do not hire that babysitter.
If you find that the results to your checks till now have been satisfactory, proceed to expand your checking through an online background check of your state’s public record databases. Check DMV records for a clean driving record. More importantly, check for a clean criminal record. If you find it difficult doing it yourself, seek professional background checking services.
You must take the utmost precautions to select the most deserving person so that you may confidently place your precious children in her charge.
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