Nairobi News

With the recent cases of children being mistreated by house helps, there is need for parents to do a thorough background check on house helps before hiring them.

Below are some tips on must-ask questions. But since potential candidates are likely to lie during the questioning session, the best thing for parents is to trust their instincts on whether the answer is correct or not.

Also remember this; do not to hire out of desperation as you are unlikely to take time in conducting background checks.

1. What was the reason for leaving your last job?

Here it is important to obtain as much details on the day to day activities they were involved in at their employer’s house.

Watch out for blame games to any family member of the last employer as this will give you the warning signs.

2. Where is your parents or guardians home?

At this point declare an interest in visiting the parents or guardians and carefully note the reaction of the house help.

Also don’t mind throwing in something like, “I have a friend who comes from the same area, she could be knowing your home” this can send signals that there is no chance to lie.

3. How can we contact your relatives in case you fall ill?

Obtain the contacts of the relatives, not minding if the contacts are set up friends who have been put on standby. Check the authenticity of the contacts provided at a time when the house help is unaware.

4. Any contacts of people you have worked for previously?

This is another area that house helps can easily set up by giving the numbers of friends. Confirm their authenticity.

5. Do you have any health complications and have you been treated of any illness in the last one year?

This is just to have an idea of the health status of the house help and avoid cases of faked sick offs in future.

Point to note is that there is need to clarify that being sickly does not call for discrimination during hiring.

6. What will you do to discipline a baby?

Be keen to note any signs of a violent person through the words they use when answering this question.

The correct answer would be “You cannot discipline a baby, you can only find out what is making them uncomfortable and sort that”

7. What kind of duties are a no-no for you?

Watch out for a complainant at this point and also the ‘holy’ kind who pretend to be okay with all kind of duties regardless.

8. What would you do if I have an emergency on your day off?

This will clear the air on what to expect when it is the house help’s day off. Deliberate on what must be done before going off and the timings.

9. What is your salary expectation?

Listen carefully to see if there is any hint of a preferred raise after a certain time as this can hint on the likelihood of the house help working for you for long.

10. What plans do you have in future?

This will again give hints of a keeper kind of a house help along with give an idea of what kind of a person you are dealing with when it comes to having plans for future life hence the pressure to achieve them assures you of a hard worker.