Finding the right and trustworthy private carer is an important step in anyone’s life. Making sure you get it right is essential to the quality of your life or your loved one’s life moving forward.

The simple step of deciding to enlist private care can be a milestone in one’s life. In some cases, it may even be a difficult call to make. A care receiver who has dementia, for instance, may find it hard to accept a private carer into their home at first.

If you are looking to hire a private carer in London for yourself or a loved one, Guardian Carers can help you. You don’t have to go through the entire process on your own. Hiring a carer as a private employer can often be a very long process. You need to know how to spot a good private carer, do your research, conduct interviews, check documents, sign up as an employer, provide contracts, payslips, and more.

You may not know where to start or may simply not have the time to carry out all the due diligence. This is where an agency such as Guardian Carers comes in. As experts in the care field, we know exactly what to look for in a private carer, we will carry out all the vetting, take care of the paperwork, and more in a timely manner.

We do all of this to ensure that you can find the right and trustworthy private carer. One of the great things about us is that you get to interview the private carers yourself. This ensures that you pick a private carer who completely suits the role’s needs and requirements and has the personality to match as well.

So, if the time has come for you to interview the chosen candidates, what should you keep in mind? There are a few things you should consider in order to have a series of successful interviews.

Firstly, you should prepare before meeting the candidates. In preparation for the interviews, you should read the candidate’s CVs carefully.

We advise you to look for areas where you wish to question them, such as the responsibilities they held in previous care roles, what were the most challenging aspects of the roles and the most enjoyable ones, and whether they still keep in contact with previous employers.

One key thing to remember is to question the candidates about their qualifications. Do remember that even though they may not have the specific qualifications you are looking for, they may still make excellent private carers. Many times, a private carer’s experience in the care field will make up for their lack of certification and diplomas.

Secondly, at the interview, we recommend that you take your time. This may seem like such a simple thing, however, it’s so important.

Having patience will help both you and the candidate to feel at ease. We recommend that you schedule the interviews at a date and time when you know you will be able to dedicate your attention expressly to this. If you are interviewing more than one candidate, you should book them in intervals of 30 or 45 minutes. You can choose to have your interviews in-person or over Zoom, for instance.

Thirdly, confirming the exact details and requirements of the role is of utmost importance.

Your specialist consultant will have already done this for you before booking the interviews, but it’s always good to confirm this with the candidate and discuss the details during your conversation.

Some things to remember are confirming the start date and hours of work, discussing the household duties and running through your routine or the care receiver’s routine, highlighting what aspects the private carer will be in charge of. You may also want to run through the rules of the house, any medical conditions, allergies or special dietary requirements, just to name a few.

Fourthly, you should have some pre-prepared questions for the candidates.

This part of the interview is your chance to really get to know the candidate. Carers are very passionate about their vocation and you should aim to ask them questions that will allow them to show their passion.

A good starting point is to ask them what they enjoy the most about caring. You may also consider asking what qualities they feel are the most important to have as a carer and what is the most difficult aspect of the role for them.

Lastly, find out if they are the right personality match.

A great way to do this is to simply ask the candidates to describe themselves. You can follow up by asking what are their hobbies and interests. This way, you can tell if they will match up with your or the care receiver’s interests. This is an aspect that may not be taken into account, but having a great personality that can match up to the client’s is more important than you may think.

Now that you know the 5 things to keep in mind when interviewing a candidate for a private carer position, you probably feel more at ease and confident about your upcoming interviews. If your Guardian Carers consultant has booked interviews with pre-vetted candidates for you, rest assured that they will offer you plenty more interview tips in advance.

At Guardian Carers, we are passionate about creating long-lasting relationships between our clients and our private carers, be it in London or in the rest of the UK. If you would like to know more about how we do this, our specialist consultants are one phone call away on 0207 183 1395.