If one person can have almost as profound an effect on a child’s upbringing as their parents, it’s the nanny. Individuals from all sorts of cultures and backgrounds will undertake this full-time career in child-rearing. But what if you are seeking a nanny with a particular skill, such as the ability to speak Spanish?
Whether you prefer your future nanny to speak Spanish so that your children can become bilingual, or as a cultural preference, finding the perfect Spanish speaking nanny doesn’t have to be a task. Steps such as contacting Hispanic community centers, posting your job in Spanish, and having a clear job description will help you find the perfect match with ease.
It is important to note a nanny’s responsibilities, the best process for hiring a Spanish speaking nanny, and what to expect in terms of employment cost. This article will discuss all of these elements in further detail, so you are prepared before you even post the job notice.
The Process of Hiring a Spanish Speaking Nanny
If you’ve never hired a nanny before, you might be at a loss for how the process works from beginning to end. For those seeking a Spanish-speaking nanny for the first time, here are the basic steps to follow for the hiring process.
Here’s a guide to help you navigate hiring a Spanish speaking nanny:
Conceptualize Your Ideal Nanny
Before you even begin to write a job proposal for the ideal nanny, visualize what it is you are looking for. This way, your proposal can be more concise and to-the-point in terms of your requirements. Be sure to reflect on details such as preferred age, experience level, background, living situation (in-home or out-of-home), availability, etc.
You should also state your preference for how a nanny should handle certain situations, especially if disciplinary action is required. It is important that the nanny shares your views on this matter and strictly adheres to your specifications when necessary.
Create Your Job Proposal
With the ideal nanny in mind, write your job proposal. Provide a brief background about your family in regard to how many children the nanny will be responsible for and how old they are. You should also include logistical details such as salary, vacation time, and overtime pay. Be sure to list the nanny’s responsibilities along with any specific requirements you have for the candidate.
Post Your Proposal
Once you are confident with your job proposal, get it out to the public so you can find your perfect nanny.
As previously discussed, you can post your proposal online on nanny and au pair websites, social media, or print hard copies of the proposal and post them around the community.
Select Potential Candidates for Interviews
After you have posted your proposal and received ample applications, weed through them to determine which nannies match your specifications most.
Sometimes, you will find that none of the applicants fulfill every requirement, and so, you can choose to wait for that perfect match, or you might have to decide which requirements to prioritize over others.
Interview Candidates
Now, it’s time to see which of the lucky candidates will be hired to care for your children. It is highly recommended that interviews be conducted in person, face-to-face.
This way, you can have more quality interactions with the individual and gauge their personalities and dispositions first-hand. If an in-person interview is not possible, try to conduct one online over a video chat so you can still see the candidate.
Review Application and Conduct Background Checks
If the interview process goes well, review the application(s) of the candidate(s) you are considering. It is important to double-check their qualifications and conduct a thorough background check of the potential nanny before hiring them if there are any red flags.
Be sure to require references with your applications and contact these individuals for their opinion.
Enter a Trial Period
Some might want to hire their perfect match right away, but often it is wiser to have a trial period first. This way, you can determine if the nanny gets along with your children, is comfortable with their responsibilities, and will be the right fit for a long-term position.
Create a Contract
If the nanny in question passes the trial period with flying colors, then it is time to sit down and create a contract for them to sign.
This isn’t a requirement, but it might ease both yours and your nanny’s conscience to know that all responsibilities, pay rates, vacation time/days off, and work hours are written somewhere in black and white and signed consensually by both parties.
Educate Yourself on the Nanny Tax
As a private employer, it is recommended that you familiarize yourself with the nanny tax. This refers to the federal and state payroll and tax responsibilities of families that hire their own personal nannies.
You want to be sure that legally you have stated that this person is an employee rather than an independent contractor.
Not only does this ensure you won’t be accused of tax evasion, but it also ensures the nanny can apply for state unemployment and provides them with legal records of employment that are necessary to apply for credit cards, leases, and more.
Tips on How to Hire a Spanish Speaking Nanny
If you have never hired a Spanish-speaking nanny before and aren’t sure where to begin, follow these tips. Although you are searching for an individual with a specific criterion, remember that ultimately you are hiring the person, not their skill.
Compose a Detailed Job Description
When you are initially writing the job description for the desired nanny, be sure that the proposal is detailed and clear of your specifications.
Since your ultimate goal is to hire a Spanish speaking nanny, place this in your posting title so potential employees will recognize it easily.
You should also specify your preferred background for the nanny, in terms of experience and possibly even country of origin, as well as providing a brief background on your own family. Key points to make would be:
- If you and/or your children speak Spanish (either as a primary or secondary language)
- If you prefer your nanny’s primary language be Spanish
- If you prefer your nanny is bilingual or fluent in another language, such as English, for easy communication
It is also important to clearly state why you prefer your desired nanny to speak Spanish. Is this because your family prefers to communicate in this language or because you are hoping they will teach the language to your children, etc.
Write Your Job Description in Spanish
If you are comfortable with the Spanish language, the best way to reach a Spanish speaking audience is to write your job posting in their language.
Not only will this help you connect with your desired nanny faster (because individuals that don’t speak Spanish will quickly scroll past the posting), but it will also help the applicants feel like they already have a leg-up when applying for the position.
Be sure that you state your level of understanding of the language as an employer in the proposal, so the applicants know what to expect, particularly for interviews.
A note of caution, if you have not practiced the Spanish language to any degree, this might not be the best approach. You are likely to receive responding applications in Spanish, and if you cannot translate them, this tip will just make more work for you.
You could potentially use an online translator, but if so, be transparent in your proposal that you, as an employer, do not speak Spanish and will require your nanny to be fluent in your native language.
Reach Out to the Spanish-Speaking Community
Hispanic culture strongly values community, and so, if you are searching for a Spanish speaking nanny, it might be easier to post an inquiry at Spanish community centers. The Hispanic Chamber of Commerce or a local Spanish-speaking church are both optimal places to start.
You can speak to community leaders or well-respected members in these locations, such as a priest, and explain your posting.
They might have recommendations for you, or they might allow you to post a hard copy of your job position somewhere in their facility for members to see. If you are permitted to do this, be sure to state your contact information and/or detail where to go online to apply for the position.
Use the Internet to Your Advantage
Arguably an essential tool for job hunting and posting is the internet. You can increase the scope of potential applicants substantially by posting your job on common job search engines such as Indeed, Glassdoor, LinkedIn, and more.
Social media is another impactful online tool that can help you reach a wider range of Spanish-speaking individuals that might respond to your advertisement. Be sure to post your job in Spanish on popular social media sites, such as Facebook and Twitter, to increase the odds of Spanish-speaking job seekers finding your post.
There are also countless nanny and au pair websites where you can search for available nannies, read reviews and recommendations of previous hires, and post your job.
Be sure to set any available filters on these sites so that the location is limited to a certain radius around your home to avoid reaching out to individuals that aren’t in your residential area.
This tip might not work if you seek a Spanish-speaking nanny from an older generation. If you seek a nanny that is 40 years or older, you might have better luck with the previous tip searching the community.
However, if you are aiming for a younger nanny, maybe between the ages of 25-35, this is arguably the best way to reach them.
Ask Around Your Social Circle
It is not unlikely that you could find an appropriate nanny through networking. If you have friends or know other individuals that also hire nannies, they might be able to point you in the right direction in terms of recommendations or resources to aid your search.
Benefits of Hiring a Spanish Speaking Nanny
Amidst more cost-efficient options, such as babysitters and daycares, one might question whether or not a nanny is worth the full-time dedication and additional cost.
However, nannies can help immensely with childcare over various spectrums and have numerous benefits over the previously mentioned alternatives. Here is a brief list of why you might want to invest in a private nanny.
Highly Personalized Experience
One of the most significant benefits of hiring a nanny, especially over a daycare service, is that the nanny is solely focused on caring for your children and their individual needs.
This daily dedication to child-rearing helps form a personal bond between the nanny and their charges and helps the children see the nanny as a well-respected superior figure and source of support.
Nannies are also typically expected to keep a daily log of the children’s activities and any observations they make. This might prove helpful if they notice something concerning about a child on a daily basis that might need to be brought to the parent’s attention for additional help or action.
Since nannies work so closely with the family’s children and often bond closely with them. They are also more likely to help support the family when they can, especially during emergencies.
A babysitter or daycare might not be available when the parent has to leave for an unforeseen crisis, but nannies are often on-call and willing to help in these situations. This could even be included contractually, and they could be paid an emergency rate as compensation.
Constant Support for Children
Unfortunately, one of the reasons parents will hire a nanny, particularly a live-in nanny, is because their schedules are too hectic or not conducive to providing their children with the attention and resources the child deserves.
The consistent lack of a parental presence or strong adult figure could have significant emotional and mental consequences for a child.
Hiring a nanny ensures that children will always have a source of support throughout the day when their parents aren’t accessible. This could be emotional support through problem-solving, academic support through tutoring, or social support through planned events.
The nanny will also ensure that children don’t miss out on opportunities, such as extracurriculars, because their parents cannot provide transportation or have the time to plan events themselves.
Educational Assistance
Most nannies have some form of educational training before they are hired for a position. Although this is not a requirement to be a nanny, it is typically a preferred skill.
Most nannies are recommended to have an Associates degree and a basic understanding of the common core curriculum appropriate for the grade level of the children they are caring for.
Having a nanny that can tutor or even homeschool your children can help them significantly with their academics.
Not only can the nanny assist with the material the child might not understand, but they could also potentially discern when a child might need extra help in a particular class or if they might have a learning disability that impedes their studies and understanding of materials.
Easier Access to Your Kids
Nannies work around your schedule since they are employed by you. Not only does this mean they are always available when you need them, but they might also allow you to see your children more.
If your child is in a daycare service, you might not be able to visit them easily when you have a spare hour or so.
Fortunately, with a nanny, you can leave your kids at home with them and stop by whenever you have the time.
Therefore, if your workday ends early, you were permitted to work remotely, or you have time over a lunch break to head home and see the kids; they’ll be there with the nanny waiting for you.
Teaching a Second Language
Of course, you’re here to read about Spanish-speaking nannies, and the points above could apply to practically any nanny in the field, but not this one. If you seek a Spanish speaking nanny, the motivation likely is for them to teach your child their language.
Maintain Culture
One reason could be that culturally, some or all of your family members speak Spanish, but your child grows up in settings where the dominant language is English (or any other language). To ensure they are fluent enough in Spanish to communicate with family members and maintain a cultural connection, you could hire a Spanish speaking nanny to hone this skill at home. At the same time, they practice their English in public.
Spanish as a Second Language
Another, more likely, reason would be that your goal is for your child to be bilingual because Spanish is not their primary language. There are numerous benefits of being bilingual, especially at a young age.
Nannies typically work with children that range from infancy to about 12 years old. This is the perfect age range for learning languages because children’s brains are still developing.
In comparison to adults that will study a language and learn it through practice and repetition, children usually learn languages through immersion and passively “absorbing” the language as it is being spoken around them. Therefore, the overall process comes much easier to them.
There are also significant advantages for bilingual children in terms of brain development. It has been proven that children that learn one or more additional languages at a young age tend to have sharper cognitive skills, faster response times, heightened environmental awareness, heightened creativity, and will often score higher on intelligence tests.
Being bilingual is also beneficial because it allows your child to communicate with a wider range of individuals. With 43,200,000 native speakers, Spanish is the second most-spoken language in the United States. Being bilingual allows children to communicate comfortably with most Americans without the barrier of language.
Cultural Enrichment
Having a Spanish speaking nanny means that they can share their experiences, traditions, and culture with children to give them a wider perspective of the world. This is especially beneficial if the nanny’s culture is dissimilar to the family’s culture.
Not only will this likely increase the bond between the children and their nanny, but the family might also incorporate some of these traditions and practices into their own lives for a more culturally enriched atmosphere.
Average Costs of Hiring a Spanish Speaking Nanny
Since nannies are full-time employees, they can cost a significant sum for the everyday family. Multiple factors can play into how much you decide to pay your nannies, such as the average wage for nannies in your state or city.
Typically, nannies can make anywhere ranging from $15-$21 per hour according to the average rate in major cities such as Atlanta, New York, Chicago, Denver, San Francisco, and more. The national average hourly rate for a nanny is $19.14.
How much you pay your nanny can depend on a range of factors, including:
- How many children they care for;
- How much experience they have; and
- If they have medical or educational certifications.
Nannies that have extra responsibilities and childcare, or that live on the premises, will also play into costs. Live-in nannies are often paid less because the family provides them with lodging and sometimes food.
Comparatively, the national average for a gross weekly salary of a full-time live-out nanny is $766. In contrast, the national average for a gross weekly salary of a full-time live-in nanny is $670.
Nanny vs. Babysitter: How a Spanish Speaking Nanny is Different
Before discussing tips on hiring a Spanish-speaking nanny, it would be prudent to detail what the position of a nanny entails. First thing’s first, nannies are not babysitters. These two positions differ widely, apart from the fact that both are responsible for supervising children.
Position Hours
One distinction between a babysitter and a nanny is that a babysitter is typically a part-time position, while a nanny is a full-time position.
While a family might contact a babysitter to watch their children while they go out on a date for a few hours, a nanny will spend most of the day with the children. It is not uncommon for nannies to work 45-60 hours a week, which means they are most likely working 7-10 hour shifts a day.
Availability
Unlike babysitters, nannies work set schedules with their employers rather than being at their beck-and-call. Nannies are expected to be with the children at certain hours throughout the week, whereas a babysitter could tell the family they cannot watch their children.
Some nannies will even live in their employers’ homes to be available at a moment’s notice unless it is their designated day off.
Responsibilities
When a family hires a babysitter, they are more or less expected to solely supervise and mildly entertain the children while the parents are away.
For the most part, these individuals can toss on a movie or spend the night playing games and then, when the parents come home, they take their pay and leave.
The responsibilities of a nanny are quite different. Although supervision is part of their job, it is just one of many responsibilities.
Nannies aren’t typically hired to just watch children; nannies are essential to the children’s upbringing and, often, their education. Here is a list of common responsibilities of the nanny.
Duties of a Nanny
- Arrange and supervise social events, such as playdates
- Playing with the children
- Management of child’s hygiene or personal care (ex. Bathing, dressing, diaper changing, potty training)
- Acts of artistic enrichment, such as singing or reading to the children
- Food preparation such as cooking meals for the children and packing meals when necessary
- Arranging transportation when necessary (ex. To and from school or extracurriculars)
- Planning and executing events/activities/outings
- Educating children in cases of homeschooling or assisting with homework or projects in the case of private or public schooling
- Housekeeping such as laundry, cleaning of children’s spaces or other rooms in the house, family shopping, or cleaning dishes
These responsibilities might differ from family to family but should always be agreed upon by both parties before a nanny accepts a position. Employers need to state what they expect of a nanny in their job-posting before hiring to ensure a mutual understanding.
Final Thoughts
Providing for a family can be extremely difficult, especially when you want to give your children every opportunity you could provide. Sometimes, this commitment of giving your child a fulfilling life comes at a cost. Hiring a nanny can help alleviate stress and concern that your child is not receiving sufficient support and attention in your absence.
Nannies are dedicated to childcare, so you can rest assured that your child has their undivided attention at all times.
A Spanish speaking nanny takes this one step further because not only can they fulfill all of the typical responsibilities of a nanny, but they can also provide your child with linguistic and cultural opportunities they could not easily acquire elsewhere.
These nannies will help immerse your children in their language and culture throughout the day, so they can quickly learn and adapt to their care. Ultimately, they are exceptional resources and highly valued employees.