If you’re having trouble finding a regular babysitter for your children, why not consider using the services of a babysitting agency? Going down this route, as opposed to advertising yourself or asking for recommendations, has many benefits. Not only can it cut out a lot of the work and stress involved in finding just the right person, it will also help you to feel secure that you are leaving your children in capable hands.
Indeed, there are many benefits to doing this. For example, your desire to choose a babysitting agency, such as RockMyBaby, may simply be down to a lack of time in your own life. Perhaps you work long hours and aren’t able to research babysitters and carry out background checks yourself. Perhaps you are worried that your lack of time will lead you to choose someone unqualified that could put your children in danger. One of the most important jobs of an agency is to help you find a babysitter more quickly and easily than you would be able to do yourself. They will already have many professionals on their roster so it’s just a case of choosing the right one for you and your children.
You may also be concerned that your own lack of experience in choosing childcare professionals will mean you are unable to tell the good babysitters from the less well qualified. One of the other benefits of using an agency is that they are able to give you advice and answer any questions you have. You might, for instance, be unsure of the kind of person you want, how much you can expect to pay or how you can find out their level of experience. A good agency will assign you with your own personal placement advisor to answer all of these questions and more.
In fact, it’s a good idea to make a list of all your priorities before you talk to the agency. This should include things like how often you will need the babysitter, how you expect your children to behave, your values as a parent and how much experience you would like them to have. This way, when you have your first meeting with the personal placement advisor they will be able to tailor their service to your needs. This is of course particularly useful if your child has special needs and you need someone with a particular skill-set.
Another reason for using an agency, as mentioned above, is that it can give you that added level of security. Most babysitters don’t need formal qualifications but anyone you employ to look after your children should have had a background check to make sure they have no criminal convictions. It’s also a good idea to have references from previous employers so you can be sure of their previous experience. All of this can be done by the agency and they will provide you with copies of any documentation they have.
Furthermore, when you are going to take on a babysitter the agency will also help you to understand your new role as an employer and what this entails. Many people forget that being an employer, even in such a small capacity, carries with it certain responsibilities. For example, you will need to know about employment law, holiday entitlement, overtime requirements, health & safety and so on. Many people find this a little stressful so it can be a relief to have an agency acting as a kind of safety net.
There are many such agencies available if you just look online. You will find that they have a large number of professionals on their roster so you shouldn’t have any trouble finding somebody in the right area. But even when you’ve chosen your agency you should still take the time to meet every babysitter you are considering before you actually hire them. Of course, the agency will have already done the preliminary interviews but this will help you to decide whether or not they are the right ‘fit’ for you and your family. If you feel unsure about doing this you can always ask your personal placement advisor to be present at interviews to guide you.
