Carry Out Background Check on a Babysitter Candidate
Nowadays, running a background check on babysitters has become increasingly popular in order to protect your family and to find a wonderful sitter for your children. When you are evaluating a babysitter for your family, you should make sure to keep an open mind but maintain your rationality. More individuals are searching for employment as babysitters in today’s economic downturn. The majority of persons don’t have the necessary experience to care for your child. You should examine your potential babysitter’s background which will help you to make an informed decision.
To ensure that the person you hire to babysit your children will be worthy of your trust, it is a good idea to perform a variety of background checks. The following are the list of background checks recommended while hiring a babysitter.
Character and professional references - Such references will indicate the level of professionalism, experience, kindness, warmth and fineness of your promising babysitter. Reference information can also indicate the babysitter candidate’s honesty. For example, are the dates of employment provided by the candidate the same as the dates of employment provided by the references?
Criminal background checks – These checks will tell you if your babysitter candidate has a record of any criminal offenses that would make him/her not a suitable candidate to babysit your children.
Driver’s records checks – These checks will tell you if your babysitter candidate can be entrusted to safely transport your children. If your babysitter will not be driving with your children in the automobile, you may not want this background information. However, even if your babysitter won’t be transporting your children, these records can indicate the level of risk that the babysitter is comfortable with on a day-to-day basis. For example, if she/he has long history of speeding, negligent driving etc., you can assume that this candidate is comfortable. You would then need to decide if you are comfortable exposing your children to that risk.
Drug testing – Pre-employment drug testing reduces the likelihood that your babysitter candidate may abuse substances (i.e., illegal drugs).
Higher education and license verifications - If your babysitter candidate tells you that he/she holds a Bachelor’s Degree or if he/she claims to be licensed as an Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN), it is smart to confirm this information because the accuracy or falseness of those claims speak directly to the candidate’s fitness for the job.
Sex offender registry/child abuse registry/vulnerable adult abuse registry record checks - If your babysitter has a record of sexual abuse or assault, child abuse or vulnerable adult abuse, a candidate likely not worthy of your further consideration.
Credit history record checks - If your babysitter will be left without adult supervision in your home and thus have unsupervised access to your financial and other assets, you may want to request a copy of his/her credit history to determine how responsible the candidate has been in handling his/her finances. A person in financial distress is more likely to engage in theft than a person who is not in financial distress.
Social Security record checks - By checking these records, you will be able to confirm your babysitter candidate’s name and Social Security number are valid or not according to the records of the federal Social Security Administration.
If a babysitter candidate has any of these things in his/her background, he/she may not be a volunteer information teller about these things. The best way to know if you have the best candidate is to perform thorough background checks.
