Summer, followed by the start of the school term, is traditionally the busiest time of year for nanny agencies. A few years ago a client phoning the agency in September would have to be told she had missed the best candidates, as qualified nannies were snapped up by employers almost as soon as they'd signed up. However, this year many agencies are finding they still have a healthy list of qualified, experienced nannies, capable nursery nurses and enthusiastic college leavers, and it's the jobs that are being snapped up, rather than the nannies.
This comes as a shock to quite a few. The experienced nanny leaving full-time, well-paid work - perhaps after the family's children have outgrown needing her - who expects to walk into a similar position may well find that all that's on offer locally is two or three days a week, with no guarantee that the other days can be filled with another family. Then there's the nursery nurse who wants to become a nanny - at least she can often earn as much in three days nannying as she did in a whole week at nursery. Both these types of jobseekers need to plan for the possibility that they may not get full-time hours immediately.
However, beware the money trap - I have one young nanny on my books who insists on working in a pub until a full-time vacancy comes up, because the pay is better. Her nannying job chances are dwindling.
College leavers need to know that unless they are lucky enough to get taken on by a family friend or through the grapevine, they are unlikely to get a nanny job straight out of college. I know a couple of newly-qualifieds who absolutely refuse to consider working in a day nursery because they did not enjoy it on their placements. To be realistic they should take a job in a nursery, build up their experience, learn about dealing with parents, go on all the free courses they are offered, get their driving licence - and then they really will have something to offer a nanny employer.
So the secret is having a practical attitude and the willingness to compromise - another word for 'flexibility'. Agencies surveyed for the annual Nannytax/Professional Nanny pay survey in recent years testify to parents' ever-growing demand for part-time childcare, and point out that two part-time jobs may bring in more money than one full-time.
There is one more category of jobhunter, who often actively wants part-time work - the nanny with her own baby or young child. While employers are becoming more agreeable to hiring a nanny who brings her child to work, most parents still do not want to fit their own children's schedule around them. Recently I had a candidate moving out of London with a three-year-old, who insisted she would not take an after-school job, only two or three complete days, but had already booked her child into the local pre-school. She was shocked when I pointed out that an employer would not want their children sitting in a car every day just to pick up her child.
Working parents have had a financial incentive to use day nurseries or childminders ever since the Government brought in tax breaks and childcare vouchers for using carers registered and inspected, formerly by local councils, now by Ofsted. Nannies were excluded from this - and they still are, from the compulsory, inspected side of it. Since April this year, however, under the Government's voluntary Childcare Approval Scheme, parents who use 'approved' nannies can claim tax credits or subsidise their costs with childcare vouchers from their own employers.
How a nanny can become 'approved' is explained in detail on the website www.childcareapprovalscheme.co.uk. The sticking point for many nannies, especially those without a job, is that it costs 99 a year.
Many feel that it's the employer who should pay this, since they're the one getting the financial benefit. But I am finding already that an approved nanny stands a much better chance of getting a job interview than her equally capable, 'not yet approved' friend. So that 99 is a worthwhile investment.
Yes, childcare is a competitive market at the moment, but employment trends do tend to happen in cycles. In 2000 there was a sharp rise in the birth rate, followed by an expansion in nursery provision to match the demand.
However, this baby boom proved to be a millennium blip as, once the children born in 2000 went to school, they were not replaced, so now parents no longer have problems getting a nursery place. Some nurseries will even pick children up from the local school and care for them until 6pm. Unfortunately this means nannies are back to competing for jobs with local nurseries.
Another recent form of potential competition is au pairs and immigrants from the new member countries of the EU. The 'new Europeans' are not even restricted to working temporarily as au pairs, and they have not been slow to cotton on to joining the Childcare Approval Scheme by doing short childcare and first aid courses, having a CRB check and calling themselves nannies. Although you cannot compare the few hours of tuition they have had with the two years professional training of a qualified nanny, some parents value their tax breaks more.
In previous articles about finding a job in a changing market I have emphasised good presentation, carefully written CVs and a flexible attitude. Now, from talking to other agencies and to employers over the past few weeks, I am convinced that, at the moment, it's joining the Childcare Approval Scheme that will really make a difference.
Helen Kewley is the owner of Nice Nannies Now in Huntingdon, Cambs
CASE STUDY
Joanna Mann is a prime example of how professionalism can succeed. She was a 19-year-old NVQ qualified nursery nurse when she came to my agency a year ago. Her reference from the nursery was excellent, having worked with all the children's age groups and become popular with the parents. Most clients were reluctant to interview one so young, but eventually one family saw her potential and hired her for two days a week. To keep her finances afloat Joanna worked part-time in a local hotel restaurant, until another family needing a three-day nanny were impressed by her growing references and took her on. Joanna says, 'It's important to stay focused on what you want but accept that you might not get it straight away. When the hotel offered me a promotion many people would have said, why not change career? But I stuck to my ambition to be a nanny and now I have two great nanny jobs.'
