The Underdressed Nanny
I went to interview for a nanny job at a fancy downtown high-rise building. I was interviewed by the executive assistant of a divorced dad of two school-age kids whose current nanny had given notice. The job required four overnights a week (when the dad had custody), and I wasn’t super interested, since that meant being away from my cats for half the week and generally disrupting my life.
However, my recruiter really wanted to give them some candidates and I wasn’t completely opposed to the idea, so I figured, what the heck. The executive assistant who interviewed me was a very proper lady in her early 60s. She also clearly had a very close, motherly relationship with her executive boss. But as time went on, it got weirder and weirder.
Among the questions I was asked in the interview was how bothered I would be if I had been told to pack for a trip to Florida, but then had to change at the last minute for a trip to Aspen instead. Apparently, the family had a private jet. One charming anecdote I was told also related to the helplessness of this “poor” executive man.
One time he was actually left to care for HIS CHILDREN overnight when they had the stomach flu. He had called his executive assistant the next morning to say that it was tough, but he got through it—somehow he got through it. The woman interviewing me seemed to find this quite endearing, since she told me the story with the smiling fondness of a proud mother.
However, she was also simultaneously driving home how very important it was that he had support at all times, and this is why the job required so many overnights. At the end of the interview, as she was walking me to the elevator, it somehow got more uncomfortable. She made a snide comment about the fact that I had worn jeans to an interview.
She said decided to overlook it because of the weather. So yes, we had had a snowstorm the night before and the streets and sidewalks were still slick. I was also wearing new, dark skinny jeans, a cashmere sweater, jewelry, makeup, and boots that would keep me from slipping but still looked nice. BUT I also always wear clothes I can play in to nanny interviews.
You never know when they are going to spring children on you for an impromptu audition. Also, it is a nanny job, not an office job. One where you are expected to cook, clean, and most importantly play, so you really shouldn’t be dressing up in an executive suit. But whatever. In the end, they interviewed many candidates from multiple agencies across the city.
The only one who got called back was a girl who actually got to meet The Man. He liked her and asked her back for a second interview, and then a lunch interview. They strung her along for weeks and she turned down at least one other job she was offered, hoping for that one. After all that, their current nanny decided she’d do one more year after all and that was that.
I was so glad I didn’t make it to the next round of interviews.
Story credit: Reddit / mallorn_hugger