It may be a familiar adage, but it’s true. You don’t get a second chance to make a first impression—especially when you’re interviewing for a babysitting job. Even if you’re the most qualified person for the position, bombing the babysitting job interview questions could cost you the gig. A good way to get a leg up? Know the most common babysitting interview questions in advance and have your answers ready.
Resumes and other documents that attest to your experience as a caregiver are great to begin with, but the interview, or interviews, where you’ll be asked all about your previous experience and references, is even more crucial when it comes to instilling confidence in parents.
Veteran babysitters report that a lot of the same questions always come up. Aside from a background check and references, candidates are often asked if they can work some weekends, do light meal prep, light housework, and run errands. They’ll always ask about your rate.
Got the interview? Congrats! But don’t pop the sparkling cider just yet. Make sure you’re ultra-prepared by familiarizing yourself with these common babysitting interview questions and our experts’ advice on the best ways to answer them.
Babysitting interview questions and answers
Experience and history questions
1. How long have you been babysitting?
It’s important to be truthful about your experience — even if you’re just starting out as a babysitter. Be open with parents about how long you’ve been caring for children and what motivates you to do so. It can help to put parents at ease if you share some personal anecdotes about fun things you’ve done with kids in the past and your favourite experiences.
2. What age ranges of children have you cared for?
When this question comes, be truthful since different age groups require different skill sets. Caring for newborns and caring for preteens are two totally different experiences. So be honest, and if you have your previous employers’ permission, offer one or two of them as a reference for families you’ve worked with who have kids of a similar age.
It’s also advisable to have an answer ready about which ages you’re most comfortable caring for. Be transparent and honest. Or else you might end up in a situation, let’s say a playdate with four 10-year-olds, where you’re completely overwhelmed.
3. What is your experience caring for multiple children?
Parents with multiple children are generally going to prefer babysitters who have experience with different age ranges.
Even though having a babysitter around the house gives parents added flexibility, it also means that only one person will be there watching their children, so it’s important that parents feel confident that you’ll be able to meet each of their kids’ needs.
Be prepared for these follow-up questions:
- What could a typical day or evening look like for the kids?
- What activities do you like to do with children at these ages?
4. Do you have references?
A question that’s 100% going to come up (potentially even before an interview) is if you can provide references — aka, names and numbers for a few families who can speak to your babysitting skills.
Parents will want to know that you’ve done this before and that you’ve earned the trust of other parents. So ask a few of your previous employers if you can use them as references. Hearing positive feedback about you can be reassuring for parents.
5. Would you be willing to consent to a background check?
For many families, background checks are a must before hiring so they will often ask for your permission to run one during an interview. A background check, which can be done easily online, will show indictable offences, summary offences and even traffic violations.
Health and safety questions
6. Are you CPR and first-aid certified?
When you’re babysitting, the child’s safety and health should be the number-one priority. This means that CPR and first-aid certification are a must.
If you are not certified to give first aid and CPR, you should take care of this before you agree to take care of kids. And if you’re already certified, make sure to let parents know why it was important for you to get these qualifications.
7. What is your experience supporting kids with unique health needs?
If a child has an ongoing condition like asthma, it’s important for a caregiver to have previous knowledge and experience supporting children with these needs. Parents will often ask you to explain how you would handle specific scenarios that could happen while the kids are in your care.
Some follow-up questions could be:
- How would you respond if [insert health issue] happens?
- What would you do if you felt like the health situation worsened?
- When and how will you communicate with me about any issues?
Schedule and rate questions
8. What is your availability?
Parents are busy people, so it’s important to make your availability crystal clear whether it’s just Tuesday and Thursday after school or any evening you don’t have another job booked. If you’re available on weekends, but not every weekend, make sure they know this, so that you don’t get locked into sitting every single weekend if that’s not what you want.
9. What is your pay rate?
Learn what the realistic rate for babysitters is in your area, and factor in your experience when calculating your rate. Make sure you communicate your rate to parents clearly before you commit to taking care of their children.
Not sure how to determine your hourly rate? Check out our babysitting rates calculator.
10. How do we book you?
Parents want to know how they can best reach you. If you have a business card or digital file at the ready that contains all your contact information, all the better. You can even include some extra information about you and your experience to leave a good impression.
If you’re communicating with families on a platform like Care.com, respond to babysitting requests promptly with a quick “Yes” to confirm you’re available (or ask for a quick call if you have questions) or a quick “No, maybe next time!” so families can continue their search.
11. Do you anticipate any changes in your schedule?
While most babysitting jobs are for one-time or occasional child care, families looking to book a regular sitter might ask this question. For example, a parent who uses an after-school sitter one day a week while they’re working, needs to make sure they’re hiring a sitter who’s reliable for a set period of time. Because of this, they’ll always ask about their schedule up front.
That said, you shouldn’t feel the need to make yourself available at all times to get a babysitting job. It’s okay to let parents know that your schedule is liable to change and that you’ll evaluate it and let them know on a month-to-month basis.
Questions about discipline
12. How do you approach discipline?
Caregivers and parents should be on the same page when it comes to discipline and what approaches are appropriate for different age groups. So before you start listing typical strategies, it’s important to make sure you’re on the same page.
Consider asking parents some questions about their views on discipline, including:
- How do you encourage good behaviour?
- If the child isn’t complying with instructions, how would you handle it?
13. How do you handle conflict between siblings?
One parent, who has two girls, ages 10 and 8, always asks potential sitters how they handle sibling conflict before hiring, as they like to know their style isn’t the polar opposite of theirs. More specifically: They like to hear both sides and have their girls work things out together — so they’re not looking for a sitter who’s going to point fingers or take sides.
That being said, when you’re asked this question, it’s a great opportunity to ask the parents what works best for their family and how they prefer you handle things — even if this comes after sharing how you’ve handled things for other families in the past.
Questions about tasks and responsibilities
14. How do you keep the kids engaged and/or entertained?
Have a few of your favourite kids’ activities at the ready so you’re prepared for this question. And don’t worry about being too specific. If you like nature, consider simple nature hikes. If you like theatre, think about how the kids could put on a mini play. You don’t need step-by-step instructions, just general ideas.
If you’re caring for kids who still nap, ask the parents what, if anything, they’d like you to do during that time.
15. Are you willing to prepare light meals and clean up after?
A frequent question is if you are willing to do light meal prep. You could respond that you’re always willing and ready to make pasta and chop veggies, if that’s the case. Make sure you’re honest about your skills in the kitchen. You don’t want to overpromise and underdeliver when it comes to mealtime.
16. How do you handle specific dietary rules?
If the parents forbid junk food, so should you. Period. You should think about how you’ll handle parents’ preferences for what foods they want their children to eat and any other food-related questions when it comes to meals eaten outside of the home.
In fact, babysitters should be an extension of parents when it comes to all the house rules, and this includes what the kids eat, what the kids watch, how much screen time they have and anything else.
17. Are you willing to find and take the kids on outings?
When parents work from home, it can be hard to get work done — even when a sitter is with the kids. Because of this, many parents appreciate it when sitters are willing to take the kids out to the park, the library, or other kid-friendly places. That said, if you’re not familiar with the area, let the family know what activities you may be comfortable doing outside the home.
Personal questions
18. What do you enjoy doing?
This question comes up often, and it’s a great opportunity to shine. You can prepare for it by having some of your favourite reasons for working with kids at the tip of your tongue. And it’s a great chance to talk about anything else you’re passionate about.
19. Why did you become a babysitter?
Yes, the schedule and pay can be good, but families want to know, beyond that, why you’ve chosen to work with children.
Parents might use this question to see if you’re the right fit for their family. If your answers show that you’re passionate about caring for children, you’re more likely to get your foot in the door.
If you love kids and watching them grow, just say that.
Questions families cannot ask
As with any hiring process, families need to follow legal guidelines about questions they can ask. Families cannot ask about your:
- Age.
- Race/ethnic background.
- Religious views.
- Sexual orientation.
- Marital status/plans on becoming pregnant.
- Disability.
- Arrest record.
The bottom line
While having solid answers to these common babysitting interview questions is important, keep in mind, you also need to mesh well with the kids. If they’re old enough to give their own feedback, parents might ask them how they felt after spending a little bit of time with you. If they felt comfortable and the rest of the interview went well too, that might be enough for parents to set up the first babysitting date right then and there.
Some parents might set up a “test run” before making things official, basically, a normal babysitting date where you get to interact with the kids on your own, but the parents are still in the house. This can show parents what a typical day would look like and how the sitter and kids interact.