Nanny interviews are with parents, usually at home, and they test trust more than anything: your judgment in an emergency, how you handle discipline and screen time in line with the family's values, your reliability, your boundaries about the job, and whether the children warm to you. Expect questions about your experience by age, a scenario with an injury or a tantrum, your views on routines and discipline, driving, and your availability and expectations. The classroom version is in early childhood teacher interview questions, the adult-care cousin is caregiver interview questions, and the question every family asks has a structure in what is your availability. This page gives 10 questions with what a strong answer contains, 3 sample answers you can adapt, a table of the rounds to expect, and a practice plan for the week before.
What the interview looks like
| Round | What happens | Prepare |
|---|---|---|
| Phone or video screen with a parent or an agency | Experience by age, certifications (CPR and first aid), driving and vehicle, background check and references, schedule, pay expectations, live-in or live-out | References ready, certifications current, your schedule and rate written down |
| In-home interview with the parents | Scenarios (injury, tantrum, a stranger at the door), discipline and routines, screen time, meals and allergies, household duties and their limits, communication with parents, your own boundaries | Ask as many questions as you answer; the fit is mutual |
| Trial day with the children | A paid day or afternoon with the children, parents nearby or not | Questions about routines, rules, emergency contacts, allergies, and what the parents found hard with previous nannies |
Nanny interview questions and what strong answers contain
- Tell me about your experience with children this age. Specific families and ages, what you did day to day, how long, why it ended.
- A child falls and hits their head. What do you do? Assess, first aid, call emergency services if needed, call the parents, watch for symptoms, document.
- How do you handle a tantrum in public? Calm, safety, no shaming, follow the family's approach, debrief later.
- What is your approach to discipline, and how do you align it with ours? Consistent, age-appropriate, the family's rules first, honest about what you will not do.
- How do you handle screen time? The family's rules; alternatives; honest.
- Someone comes to the door saying they are a relative. What do you do? Do not open; check with the parents; the agreed list only.
- What household duties do you consider part of the job? Child-related tasks yes; clear about the rest; agree it in writing.
- How do you keep parents informed? A daily note or message, honesty about hard days, no surprises.
- What would you do if you disagreed with how we parent? Follow the family's approach unless it is unsafe; raise it respectfully once.
- What are your schedule, rate and expectations? Clear and upfront; overtime, sick days, taxes.
Sample answers
A child falls and hits their head. What do you do?
I get to them calmly and check: are they conscious, did they lose consciousness even briefly, are they vomiting, is there a lump or a cut, are their eyes normal. If there is any loss of consciousness, vomiting, confusion or a serious wound, I call emergency services first and the parents second. Otherwise I comfort them, apply a cold compress, and I call or message the parents straight away with what happened, even if it looks minor, because they should never find out at pickup. Then I watch for the rest of the day and write down the time and what I saw. I keep my first aid current for exactly this.
What would you do if you disagreed with how we parent?
I would follow your approach, because they are your children and consistency between us matters more than my preferences. The exception is safety, where I would say something immediately. For anything else, if I thought a different approach might help, I would raise it once, privately and respectfully, as a question rather than a criticism, and then do it your way whatever you decided. With my last family we disagreed about naps, I said my piece, they kept their routine, and it was fine. You should know that I will tell you what I think, and that I will do what you ask.
Someone comes to the door saying they are a relative. What do you do?
I do not open the door. I say through the door that I will check, and I call one of you. If I cannot reach you and the person is not on the list you gave me, they do not come in, however convincing they are, and I would rather apologise to a real aunt later than be wrong once. If they become insistent or will not leave I call the police. I would want the list of approved people, with names and if possible photos, on day one, and the children would be told that we only open the door to people on the list.
Mistakes to avoid
- Vague experience; parents want ages, families and what you actually did.
- An emergency answer that delays calling for help or the parents.
- Agreeing to any household duty to get the job and resenting it later.
- No boundaries or expectations stated; it leads to problems in month two.
A practice plan for the week before
- Write your experience by family and age, and have references ready to contact.
- Rehearse the injury, tantrum and door scenarios aloud, calmly.
- Decide your duties, schedule, rate and boundaries before the interview and say them plainly.
- Run a mock interview with the family's likely questions and practise asking your own.
- Prepare questions about routines, rules, allergies, emergency contacts and what went wrong with previous nannies.
Where CoPilot Interview fits
CoPilot Interview is an AI interview assistant whose free AI mock interview builds nanny questions from your résumé and the job description, reads them aloud, scores each spoken answer out of ten and shows a model answer, which is the fastest way to turn the outlines above into answers that sound like you. The free plan gives 15 minutes a day of live help in sessions of up to 15 minutes, with AI mock interviews included. Most nannies use it to practice; if you ever consider live help in a video interview, follow your employer's rules.
Disclosure: CoPilot Interview is our product, so weigh what we say about it accordingly.
Frequently asked questions
What questions are asked in a nanny interview?
Experience by age, emergencies, tantrums, discipline, screen time, strangers at the door, household duties, communication, disagreements with parents, and schedule, rate and expectations.
Should I bring references and certifications?
Yes: contactable references, current CPR and first aid, and a clean driving record if you will drive the children.
How do I handle the duties question?
Say clearly which child-related tasks you consider part of the job and which household tasks you would do, and ask that it be written into the agreement.
What do parents look for?
Judgment in an emergency, warmth the children respond to, consistency with their approach, honesty, reliability and clear expectations.
Practice this interview before the real one
The AI mock interview builds questions from your resume and the job description, reads them aloud and scores each spoken answer out of 10. Included on the free plan.
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