by Mopes

Created on: January 29, 2009   Last Updated: January 30, 2009

When screening potential applicants to watch your children you should be asking a lot of questions. By the time you've completed the interview process, you should know practically everything about the candidate. You should be as familiar with them as you are a good friend.

The first series of questions you should ask should relate to their reasons for babysitting as well as their experience. You should be asking questions such as:

*Why have you chosen the job of babysitting?

*How long have you been babysitting?

*Have you ever had to deal with an emergency situation while babysitting?

*Are you currently babysitting for other families?

*Do you have children of your own?

This series of questions will help you distinguish the potential caregivers qualifications and motivations. This gives you a good insight to whether or not they are just trying to make a quick buck, or if they will be a good long-term sitter. The next series of questions I would recommend asking relates directly to personal philosophies:

*What do you consider appropriate methods of discipline? (Try not to help them along for this question, you're just asking questions)

*Can you give me examples of problems you've had with children, and how you handled them?

*How would you handle becoming angered by my children?

*What is your opinion of drugs and alcohol?

*Do you want more kids?

Questions like these will help you discover more about the person, and how they will handle your child. If a person seems a little too lenient when it comes to drugs and alcohol you may want to be careful leaving your children in their care. If they want more kids, they may be babysitting for personal reasons, which can be a wonderful motivation for them to do a good job. They don't want to disappoint themselves.

It is also a good idea to ask them about both the best and worst child they have ever babysat. This will help you identify traits they consider to be problematic in children. In fact, by asking this question you may be able to weed out a sitter that would not be compatible with your child. It can be difficult going through the process of hiring a sitter only to find out that you will soon need a replacement.

You should also ask a bit about their personal situation. You want to know about their life, to ensure they are secure, and stable. It is very important that all of your children's influences in their developing years are able to speak about their own life positively.

This guide is only a guideline. It's important to ask questions that are important to you. Just don't be scared to ask a lot of them.

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