How an expat hired the best nanny/maid in Manila after examining 40 candidates from 5 sources

One of my friends, Kasumi, just published how she hired a reliable nanny for her newborn baby in Manila, the Philippines where she’s just relocated to with limited network. Believing how she did must be one of the best practice, with her approval, I’ve translated her way here.

1. Overview
2. Define Qualification
3. Acquire Applicants
4. Select the Best
5. Negotiate & Contract
6. Keep, Problem Try

[1.Overview]

After giving a birth in Japan in July 2018, my husband started to work in the Philippines. My son and I followed him to the Philippines once my baby got fifth month old. I was happy to be able to escape from Japan, where it is hard to be a working mother. I thought I would be able to immediately hire a good maid to allow me to work full time! Things have not gone so.

Initially I set the purpose to hire a maid as;

• Take care of my son to allow me and my husband to work full time outside.
• Do housework to lighten my load
• Educate my son (Nice-to-have)

The entire process has been done in as same way as recruitment in companies; Define Qualification -> Acquire Applicants ->Select the best ->Negotiate & Contract
Not knowing any major recruitment platform for maids, I needed to try and find various methods by myself. Let me tell you one by one.

[2.Define Qualification]

What do we expect a maid to do? My husband and I discussed.

- Stay-out/Live-out or Stay-in/Live-in?
It was the first thing to decide. It is said that there are many cases where double-income families choose the one of live-in. Considering the limited space of my residence and privacy issue, I chose “Live-out”.

Pros/Cons of Live-out (vs. Live-in)

Pros:
Professional distance from a maid
No need of any private room for a maid
No need to prepare for maid, such as meal
Cons:
No support in a busy morning and night (this is a big disadvantage. If live-in, you can play with your kids or work while ask a maid for housework)
Need to manage time-in & out
Higher risk of tardiness and absences
Larger amount of salary expected

Different from the expectation, I’ve realized it is really the seller’s market if targeting Live-out maids with fluent English. As most of maids in Manila come from provinces, most prefer Live-in, to save the cost of living/meal. In addition, those who can speak English tend to work outside of the country such as Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, the Middle East, etc., where they can expect much higher salary.

Job Description
I’ve designated it as “all the caregiving plus as much housework as you can. ”

All-Around Maid or Nanny?
I have used the term “maid” in this article as I once looked for “All-Around Maid”, a person who can do housework and caregiving. The more applicants I met, the more I realized that those good at caregiving seemed completely different from those good at housework. It is our top priority to hire someone for caregiving and housework may or may not be appropriate. We changed the policy to search for “Nanny”, specialized maid in caregiving, called Yaya in the Philippines”.

Working days and hours
I was worried about how to set working hours. To always ensure someone beside my baby, they must be started earlier than the one of either of my husband or me. And they also must be ended later than either of us finished our work outside.
(Although this must be a separate topic, but in order to carry out this operation, I chose to work a company that is located within 5 min walking distance by foot. Coincidently, his office is also located in 5 min distance as well. Additionally, I needed to seek telework in case of absences.)

Salary
My initial expectation was P8,000–12,000 PHP. We offered P14,000 in the end, as I deadly needed someone trustworthy to take care of my son. It must be higher than the market price.

Qualifications
・ Several years or more experience in caring for children, including 0-year-old one
・ Lives within the commutable range, without any huge difficulty in the case of our overtime work
・ English proficiency to avoid communication issues
・ Healthy (Important. I’ve heard many issues with maids who often get sick, resulting in absences and medical expenses problem. I did a medical checkup for her this time and confirmed its result, before signing the contract)
・ Pleasant personality (which was quite hard to assess, though)

Bonus, Benefits, Leaves etc.
It is recommended that you have an idea of bonus, benefits, leaves, transportation expenses and food expenses, before being asked by your applicants upon interview. You also need to provide legally mandated ones. In the case of the Philippines, there are SSS (Social Security System), Philhealth (Medical Insurance), Pag-IBIG (Mortgage Deposit Fund) grant, bonus called 13th month pay, etc.
Reference: “Domestic Workers Act”

[3. Acuire Applicants]
I kept searching for it in the following way 1–5.

3.1. Referrals among Japanese or other expats:
I find it most common and reliable. As I’d just arrived and few friends here, every time I saw new people online and offline, I occasionally appealed “I’m looking for Nanny!”. Luckily, some kind people share it SNS etc.
However, I could not find any. I felt it was difficult as
3.1.1. the competition is tough (Many expats looking for maids while few provided. Good maids tend to be transferred from expats to expats within same company.)
3.1.2. It was not the best timing to me (Japanese expats tend to transfer at the same timing
3.1.3. Among expats, there are more full time moms than working moms. Qualification would be different.

3.2. Facebook expat group
Although I did not actually find any applicant here, I used it to know the market price.
(Ma’am Manila and Yaya / Nanny Job Corner in Manila)

3.3. Maid agency
Although I asked major ones, I did not use them after all. That’s because
3.3.1. There seemed a small number of referrals for Live-out applicants, as many agency handles Live-in ones.
3.3.2. The contract does not seem so flexible to my needs (e.g. the shortest contract duration was six months)
They’d be suitable if you’re in urgent needs of those live-in, expecting larger number of applicants. If you do not fined matched, they’d provide 1–2 people as replacement.
The fee structure depends on the agencies. I’ve heard that it is about 10,000–14,000 PHP for one-time fee upon successful referral. Some people will be introduced once you inform your qualification. 1,000 PHP per applicants may be charged upon interview.

Popular agencies
・MAIDPROVIDER.PH
・MaidinthePhilippines
・CHARMONDE CANE MANPOWER
・MetroMaid.ph

3.4. Candidate search

I kept searching for it in the following way 1–5.

3.4.1. Introduction through Japanese or expat:
I think it is the most common and reliable way. I had no contact at all, and I was making contact via Twitter, or appealing to people I met occasionally, “I’m looking for Nanny!”. Then I kindly turned the information posted on the Japanese LINE group and the bulletin board of the Japanese association (thank you!).
After all I did not find it this way. I felt it was difficult that 1) the competition rate is very high (there are a lot of people aiming, but there are few public offerings because they are handed over to the successors of the expats), and 2 the time when vacancies come out is limited (experts There is a circumstance that there are many part-time applicants who I met, probably because there are few time to work together.

3.4.2. Facebook expat group
Although I did not actually find a candidate here, I used to look closely at the market to get a sense of what other people are offering.
These include Ma’am Manila and Yaya / Nanny Job Corner in Manila.

3.4.3. Maid introduction agent
I asked all representative agents, but I did not use them after all. The reason is that there is a small number of referrals for one candidate (there are many agents who only deal with living in the first place), and that the contract period can not be set flexibly by themselves for a minimum of six months. It will quickly introduce the candidate, so it may be useful for those who are in a hurry and are looking for a maid. If you do not match the hired person, 1–2 people will replace it for free.
The fee depends on the agent, but I’ve heard that it is about 10,000–14,000 PHP (about 21,000–29,400 yen) in the one-time success fee if it is adopted. If you want to be informed, some people will introduce you and you may be charged about 1,000 PHP (about 2,100 yen) per person when interviewing

3.4.4. Ask “Boss”
One of my Japanese friend referred me a “Boss”, who took care and refer some maids. I’ve interviewed several at a time at a shopping mall. The fee for her is 1,000 PHP upon successful referral. I met a few good ones but finally hired the other one

3.4.5. Matching web service called GreatAuPair
We finally hired one at the service. It runs by an American organization, aiming to match caregivers and families in need all around the world.
With GreatAuPair, you can view the job seeker’s profile for free, but there is a charge to actually interact. Subscription costs 35USD per month. As I already had difficulties in the method 4.1–4.4 method, I purchased one month subscription.
A large number of Filipinos seemed to register, including those who currently work abroad but want to come back to the country to see more often the their children growing up in provinces of the Philippines.

[4.Screen for the best]

I sent a message to a total of about 40 applicants, performed 10 phone calls and interviews, 4 actual trials, and hired one I met through GreatAuPair. The selection method is as follows.

4.1. Confirm basic specifications
Basic information such as name, age, experience (Better if you can receive a CV and a recommendation letter from their previous employer)

4.2. Confirm by message if my conditions are OK with them or not
I asked three points.
4.2.1. Live-out
4.2.2. Location of residence
4.2.3. Salary expectation

4.3. Telephone interview
At first we talked over the phone to screen them according to their past experiences, preference, feeling and so on. Then, I met some of them as interview.
What I took care of was,
4.3.1. Always finish it in good mood, to avoid those from getting angry with me even in the case of non-employment.
4.3.2. Lower the risk of rubbery. The interview was held not at home but in the lobby of my condo. I didn’t tell my room number.
4.3.3. Pay the transportation cost for the interview. I often paid more than actual.

4.4. Trial
I asked those who were likely to meet my expectation upon the interview to actually work at home one day.
I highly recommend to use a security camera to check your children while your absence from home. While the applicants worked, I dare to go out of the room for about an hour to check their performance through the camera. I checked most whether they prioritize caregiving over housework. Housework is more measurable than caregiving. Some prioritize housework, so that they’ll be more evaluated. But I’m afraid of accident for my son.
By the way, the cameras are not particularly hidden. As many expat family and wealthy people use ones, many maids would also get used to it.
In addition, I also checked how they behave to my son when he kept on crying.

Again, Security cameras are must-buys. Everybody are more motivated once they realized they’re being observed. They also can be used as a baby monitor.
I put 3 in my bedroom, a living room and a kitchen. I chose this Xiaomi Mi Home Security Camera 360 at 1,900 PHP at major EC site Lazada

After the trial with four applicants, I finally met the best.
She is 42-year-old woman who has worked as a nanny/maid for American, European and Indian families aside from her experiences to work abroad. She has abundant childcare experience, but still show her respect to Japanese style as well. I also like her as she frankly tell what she believes best. She was angry with me once I was about to give cold water to my son. I can learn a lot about caregiving from her.

[5.Negotiation & Contract]

As we had confirmed each other’s needs in advance, the negotiations went relatively smoothly. The more attractive applicants, the more offer given. You need to offer some attractive conditions for those who you really want to come. The nanny, who works for my family now, also had got another offer, according to what she told me after starting to work for us.

I assume it would be safer to have a lawyer review an employment contract in English for the unlikely event of a lawsuit. I described details such as trial period, the payment terms and conditions of the termination.
I also created job descriptions and my home work rules, attached and signed by her. It includes rules from caring for children (ex. Don’t give sweets), the duty of prior contact in case of tardiness to the rules for advance of payroll.

Lastly, we asked for confirmation of various ID cards and Pre-Employment Medical Examination, and after confirming that there were no problems, we signed this contract.

[6. Keep, Problem and Try]

It took me two months to hire her. And I also needed a few more months to establish consistent understanding with her about how to care my son.

It has been more difficult than expected to find the one. Timing is also important. Better to anticipate long-term battle. As I did not have few connection in the beginning, it is said that I found the one so early.

Also, unlike a professional like a childcare worker in Japan, it was extremely uneasy to leave important children to people with completely different backgrounds, such as culture, lifestyle and income levels. Childcare in Japan may be too severe. For example, some nannies always give milk or bananas once babies start to cry. “He must be hungry.” “No, we gave milk 30 minutes ago! He must not be hungry.” I repeated the conversation many times.

I also learned from the nanny that Japan’s childcare practices and ways of thinking (for example, how to prepare baby food or milk formulating methods) are unique in the world. As she was familiar with the Western methods, I also studied the one by myself. As a result, I found I need not stick to Japanese style. I’d like to discuss with her to decide how we will do.

Everyday, I do appreciate her. For example,
- You can do your things: I can concentrate on my PC work, and the job hunting. And I can go to the bathroom when I need(!).
- Mental and physical burden drastically reduced: I can treat the son more carefully and happily.
- A new parter for caregiving: The joy to see the growth of my son have been doubled. Better decisions made. I can learn childcare from her.
- Benefits for my son: He is always cared by someone. Now my son is totally fond of her.

As I have not yet begun to work full time, I am still not so sure if it really works for double income family. I would like to report it once I realized it.
The challenges I am currently aware of are:
- It is really busy in the morning and evening.
- No one may be able to see my sons once she get absent or decide to resign.
I may have to consider options such as hiring one more nanny, Live-out or Live-in.

I am very happy if it can help you to find the best one as well. Thank you for reading!