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Welcome to myTamarin Narratives - our user story series spotlighting some of our users and their experience with myTamarin support.
This week we are introducing you to Faye (name has been changed for privacy purposes) who recently went back to work after having her first baby. Her partner also works full time so she wanted to know more about their options for childcare. With access to myTamarin support through her employer, she talked to us about how helpful she found the process of working with one of our Childcare Experts and ultimately finding the right support for her family.
myTamarin: Faye, thanks for sharing experience - could you let us know why you decided to book in a myTamarin consultation initially?
Faye: I had been on maternity leave for a few months and was weighing up my options for returning to work when my manager reached out to me. She had just received some comms about a new benefit our company was providing that included support with childcare. I was so pleased to hear that was something I had access to as it all felt a bit overwhelming and I was going down lots of late night internet rabbit holes. So, I immediately booked myself in for a consultation with one of the Childcare Experts.
myTamarin: It sounds like this benefit came at just the right time for you. What did you cover in the consultation?
Faye: My partner also joined the consultation as he had lots of questions too. Firstly, we were asked by my consultant Ina about the types of childcare we had been considering. I explained that we had been looking at both nurseries and nannies but didn’t feel sure on which would be best for us. Ina took the time to explain the process, cost, timeline, advantages and disadvantages of both. It was so useful having an expert clearly explain what some of the industry terms meant, and also how you can use a combination of different types of support.
myTamarin: Sounds like you went into a lot of detail. Did you come to any decisions about what was right for you at the end of the call?
Faye: It left us lots of questions answered, but also a lot to consider. Ina sent a detailed summary of everything we covered in the call, so we spent a couple of weeks mulling everything over. After talking through various scenarios we felt that hiring a nanny would be the best option for us. Our daughter was only going to be 6 months old when I went back to work, and we felt she was a bit too little to be put in full time nursery.
myTamarin: Once you decided a nanny was the right choice, did myTamarin help you with the process of finding one?
Faye: Absolutely, and I think this is where the benefit really came into its own. Ina sent us a link to sign up for the nanny matching platform, I signed up with my work email and scheduled another call. We had an in depth chat about exactly what the role would involve and what we were looking for in a nanny. I hadn’t considered until then how important it was to find a nanny that matched our parenting approach and values. I felt like Ina really took the time to understand exactly what kind of person would fit into our family. The thought of having someone else who’s effectively a stranger look after your child is a scary one. But I felt reassured by the vetting process all nannies go through who work with myTamarin.
myTamarin: I can imagine it might feel daunting. What was the next step after this second consultation?
Faye: Ina put together a job advert and within a couple of days presented us with the first shortlist of nannies. I was able to easily log in and look at the nanny profiles. The platform was easy to navigate and the profiles were set up in a way that clearly outlined their experience, approach and skills. I also really liked the fact that there was a tailored matching note that explained why each nanny might be a good fit for our family. The shortlist contained 5 nannies with varying qualifications and experience. A few of them particularly stood out. One had a lot of experience at Montessori nurseries, which I really liked. And then two others had lots of baby experience and lived locally, so I decided to interview them first.
myTamarin: How did you find the interviews? I am sure as it was your first time conducting nanny interviews it must have been hard to know how to structure them.
Faye: For sure, I had never interviewed anyone outside of a work environment so it was definitely different. Luckily Ina sent me some useful resources, including a guide on how to interview a nanny. She also gave me a call to run through any questions I had before speaking to the nannies.
myTamarin: What did you make of the nannies after the interviews?
Faye: We started with video calls to save on time and they were pretty good. All three nannies were warm, had great experience and ticked a lot of boxes, but I felt a much better connection with one of them. Nothing against the other nannies, but I felt we didn’t gel so much. Ina suggested booking a trial with the one I liked the most so that is what we did. In the meantime, she had also shortlisted another 2 nannies for us to have a look at. She really took onboard our feedback from before about location and the next set of candidates all lived in our area. We went ahead with the trial and also interviewed the new nannies. There was one that really stood out. It’s hard to put my finger on, but I had a strong gut feeling that she was the right person for us.
myTamarin: So not the nanny you initially trialled, right? Did myTamarin help you work out what to do next?
Faye: Yes, not the nanny we liked most from the first set. We trialled her but I was keen to also trial the second nanny. She was working in another role so it made it hard to coordinate on timings, but Ina helped us to schedule a trial the following weekend. It couldn’t have gone better, and we decided that day we wanted to offer her the role. We informally agreed, then got in touch with Ina to help us firm things up. She helped us get a contract in place and also set up with a payroll provider. The whole process felt really smooth and it was great having someone on hand to answer all our questions.
myTamarin: It sounds like Ina was a big support for you during this process. What's been the impact of having myTamarin support through your employer?
Faye: She was the biggest help! I was quite overwhelmed with what to do at the start of this process and so it was really useful to have an expert to talk through my questions and options with. I really felt she listened to us and gave us tailored advice that suited our family. Our nanny has been with us for 6 months now and things are going really well. We still have the odd question which Ina is always happy to answer. I feel so lucky that the company I work for offers this benefit.
If you have access to myTamarin childcare support through your employer, get in touch to start the search for your perfect childcare solution.
If you want your employers to have access to myTamarin childcare support (and support across all 6 critical life stages) get in touch today to find out more.
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