Sittercity provides a way for parents to find, sift through, and hire baby sitters.
and social media, we enlisted the help of Sittercity Executive Vice President Melissa Marchwick to help us out.
“Caregivers can be kind of transient and people’s lives change and they move on,” says Melissa whose company helps parents find reputable, reviewed sitters in their area. Sittercity.com has about 2 million caregivers nationwide for parents to choose from and prioritizes safety for the families they serve.
“We connect you with the girl down the street that you stood behind at target that meets your needs and you didn’t know it,” says Melissa.
1. Melissa says that when using Sittercity and choosing a caregiver, parents should look at the background check on the sitter, a hurdle all baby sitters must clear before being able to use the site. “Make sure that’s all clean and on the up and up,” she says. For parents doing face-to-face networking or phone calls around the neighborhood, a little digging can always be helpful. Google your potential sitter’s name or look them up on Facebook. See if they could be a good fit for your family.
2. Melissa also says to read the parent reviews of a sitter on her site. If you’re not using Sittercity, ask around for info on the sitter you’re considering. It might sound creepy, but when it comes to your child’s safety, it’s definitely worth it. See what others are saying about your sitter before you hire.
If you don't use Sittercity, use Melissa's tips and apply them to traditional child care hiring methods.
3. Sittercity also lets you see references for a sitter, kind of like a mini resume. Melissa says to call the references for “one additional data point” that can help you make a decision. If you’re not online, just ask a potential sitter for phone numbers of parents they’ve worked for in the past. If they can’t provide any, it could be a sign that they don’t have much experience or that they’d prefer you not talk to their past employers. Either way, take references seriously and followup on them.
4. Melissa emphasizes the importance of a face-to-face interview. “It’s a critical step,” she says. “We can only go so far online and we believe that there is no substitute for a parent’s intuition and a parent is the absolute best person to know who the best person is for their kids.” She also recommends having the kids present for the interview, or at least part of it, to see how the they interact with the sitter and vice-versa.
5. Hire! Sittercity makes that process super easy, but a phone call to confirm the date, hours and expectations with your sitter won’t take too much time, either. If you’re unsure of what to pay your sitter, use Sittercity’s free rate calculator to see what parents in your area charge for the same service.
Melissa says that safety is Sittercity’s number one concern, and it’s ours, too. Share your tips for hiring a sitter in our comments or tweet them to us @ConsumerBell.
