An interview shows you how someone presents. A trial day shows you how they care for your child. It's the most important step in the hiring process — and the most often skipped.
Emotional: does she initiate warmth, comfort distress quickly, and stay patient when your child tests limits?
Biological: are meals, naps, and hygiene handled proactively, and safety protocols followed without reminders?
Social: does she engage at your child's level and play rather than supervise from a phone?
Environmental: does she respect your routines, keep the space safe, and adapt when plans change?
Tammy Gold, LCSW, spent years matching families with nannies before writing Secrets of the Nanny Whisperer (Penguin). Today she works beside families, and their agencies, as a neutral expert: defining the job, interviewing candidates, checking references and setting up the first 30 days.
Sort what you saw into fixable (a different way of settling a baby, screen habits) and not fixable (a rigid or gruff manner). Test the fixable ones. Never hire hoping a personality will change.
Know what you're evaluating before the candidate arrives, and what it means after they leave.
Screening call, reference questions, clinical interview, trial-day checklist.
Download free ↓Tammy joins your interviews, reference calls, trial debriefs, and onboarding. $189 / 60 min.
Book Tammy →Or text (818) 308-1358 · info@caremapmethod.com
Tammy provides expert guidance; she is not a placement agency and does not run background checks. Hiring decisions remain your family’s.