The Interview Process…..Hiring a Maid/Nanny

Well that didn’t take long!

I put an ad out through a great forum that I visit (www.abudhabiwoman.com).  Lots of people are always leaving and they are looking to find new homes for their maids or maids are looking for employment. 

I put an ad out through our school’s website.

I started mentioning to maids in our compound and to friends that I was looking.

I have now been here for 7 months and have been around A LOT of maids.  I had a good idea of what I was looking for.  I interviewed 5 in person and a few over the phone before I found ours.

Here are some of the ones who didn’t make it:

Maid #1 

• This one was the sister of a maid in our compound.
• She came with her sister.
• She only looked at me once.
• She barely spoke.
• Her sister did most of the speaking for her.
• Decided I needed someone who spoke better English, was friendlier and not afraid to speak up.  I passed on this one.

 

Maid #2 

• Somebody posted on a website that they were moving and had a fabulous maid who was looking for work.
• I SMS’d the maid and firmed up an interview time.
• A woman knocked on the door and she came in for an interview.
• She asks about living out instead of in.
• Then she asks about whether her husband and child can live there too?
• Then it turns out that it wasn’t even the person I thought I called!
• I ended up doing several emails and SMS’s and found out that someone else was sent instead (OBVIOUSLY) for the interview.
• I contacted the original ad poster about everything and she was surprised but said these things can happen.
• Clearly passed on this one.

Maid #3

• I answered an ad on a website about a gal who sounded very qualified and seemed like a good fit.
• She never stayed anywhere for too long.
• She had a grass is greener attitude.1
• Between the way she was dressed and the questions she asked, she didn’t appear to be looking to work very hard at whatever she got hired for.
• Pass on this one too.

 

Maid #4

• Saw an ad for someone who sounded great!
• I contacted her within moments of seeing the ad posted.
• I asked for an interview that night or the next morning between 9:00 and 10:00
• I contact her at 9:30 a.m. to see when she’s coming and she asks to come at 12.
• I ask if she can come at 11:15 and she says yes.
• I get a text at 11:14 saying she found another employer.
• ARGH!!!

 

Maid #5

In between these ones I have contacted others that have either gotten employers already or didn’t seem like good fits for our household.  We have a maid in our compound who I LOVE and would take in a heartbeat.  She is always outside playing with the 9 year old daughter in their house and her English is perfect!  My kids love her.  She has been with her family for 7 years and I told her that if they ever leave…….Well – lo and behold she became available.  I was so excited.  She had gone to school to look for secretarial work and decided to apply for jobs and told her current family.  They were sad but supportive.  She thought she found a job and notified her employer.  They started the process of working with an agency to get another maid.  Meanwhile the offer never materialized well.  The pay would be less than she was getting now and WITHOUT housing.  She couldn’t afford to take it (she supports a daughter back home – as so many of them do).  By then her employer had already shelled out money to an agency for a new maid so she had to look for work as a maid.  I told her that we would LOVE to have her.  She was unsure.  She wanted to since she enjoys our kids and knows me.  I told her that I would talk to her current employer.  They said it would be too awkward for their kids to see her right across the street.  So – needless to say we didn’t take her on.

 

Maid #7

• I forget where this one came from.
• She was okay.
• Her English wasn’t great.
• I decided to pass on this one.

 

Here’s the one who did make it:

Maid #6

• I had a friend tell me that a friend of her maid was looking for other work since her contract was ending soon.
• She said she seems nice and might be worth an interview.
• At this point I was pretty open.
• I contacted her and we agreed upon a time for me to go to her since she couldn’t leave the house (she was a full-time caregiver to a grandmother)
• I brought Cameron along too.
• Her English was great!
• She was full of smiles and very friendly.
• She was outgoing.
• She seemed loyal (very open with her employers that she was looking and asked if it was okay for me to interview her there)
• Cameron was very comfortable with her.
• She has an almost 4 year old son back home.
• The current house looked very clean!
• She was caring for an American grandma from the South and could cook basic Southern Food and was used to dealing with a demanding, picky eater!
• She worked in a busy household before with lots of kids and activity and was used to things being loud and active.
• She seemed wonderful!