You may have experienced this. You posted a job on Care.com and
the floodgates opened! Before long, your inbox had 30 responses and you didn't
know where to start.
I want you to know that at Care.com
we consider ourselves a work in progress. We are always working to improve the
user experience. However, until it's perfect, I want to give you a list of tips
to navigate all the responses to your job post – so it's not as overwhelming of
an experience. Plus, we like to hope that with so many great applicants
applying for your job, it's no doubt you're having trouble limiting it to just
one.
1. Send Immediate 'No
Thank You' notes
Once you're browsing applicants, do a gut-reaction to all your candidates. Maybe one charges too much, has drastic misspellings
in her summary, doesn't sound engaging, or didn't include a picture. If someone doesn't meet your needs, click the Say "No Thanks" button. The site will immediately send them a "No thank you" response and your inbox will be a lot smaller.
2. Categorize Others as a Maybe or a Favorite
The two heart icons will help you tag the remaining
applicants as a Maybe (half-heart) or a Favorite (full-heart). Scroll through
and look for the qualities that most interest you: experience, cost, location,
engaging cover letter… whatever it is, do another gut-check and mark the ideal
people as a Favorite and the people you want to know a little more about as a
Maybe. The rest can get the Say "No Thanks" button too.
3. Email Your Favorites
Write an email that says something like, "Hi. I'm so
glad you responded to my job post. I would love to talk to you about your
experience and interest in babysitting/nannying.
Can you send me your number and a good time to call you?" Note: You will have
to be a Premium Member to respond to your applicants.
4. Start Arranging Phone Interviews and
In-person Meetings
Use our list of questions to interview applicants
over the phone. Then, invite the people you like to meet for coffee. If for
some reason your Favorites are no longer available, move on to your Maybe List.
(Get a list of phone interview
questions >>)
5. Call References and Run a Background Check
Tell me, what are your tips for finding the right sitter for your family?
I think it is very important to run a background check or screening when you are exposing your children to a caregiver. While many people might see this as offensive, you can't be too cautious when it's your child's life on the line. Especially in light of many abuse scandals in recent years. Thank you for your tips!
Posted by: Background Screening | September 11, 2012 at 05:31 PM