Interviewing a babysitter is different from interviewing almost any other domestic role, because the stakes are your child's safety and wellbeing rather than a task getting done well or poorly. Many Pakistani households, especially first-time parents hiring outside help, are not sure what to actually ask beyond basic experience and availability. This checklist covers the specific questions worth asking, and what to listen for in the answers.
Start With Concrete Experience, Not General Claims
Ask for specifics rather than accepting "I have experience with children" at face value. How many children have they cared for, what ages, for how long, and in what kind of household. A candidate who answers with specific ages, durations and situations, "I looked after a two year old and a five year old for a family in F-8 for two years," is giving you something you can actually verify. A vague answer is worth following up on directly rather than letting it pass.
Ask About Specific Age Groups Relevant to Your Child
Caring for an infant is a genuinely different skill set from caring for a toddler or a school-age child. If you have an infant, ask specifically about experience with feeding, bathing, and sleep routines for that age group. If you have a toddler, ask about managing tantrums and keeping an active child safe. Do not assume general childcare experience automatically covers your specific situation.
Test Their Judgment With Situational Questions
Rather than only asking about past experience, present a hypothetical: "If my child fell and was crying but seemed okay, what would you do?" or "If my child refused to eat lunch, how would you handle it?" The specific answer matters less than whether it reflects calm, sensible judgment rather than panic or rigid rule-following that ignores the actual child in front of them.
Ask Directly About Safety Awareness
Ask what they would do in an emergency: a child choking, a minor injury, or if they could not reach you by phone. A candidate with genuine experience will usually have concrete, practical answers, sometimes drawn from something that actually happened to them before. Vague or dismissive answers to safety questions are worth taking seriously as a concern, regardless of how warm and personable the candidate otherwise seems.
Ask About Their Own Family Situation
This is not about prying into someone's personal life unnecessarily, but understanding whether a candidate has caregiving responsibilities of their own, young children, elderly parents, that might affect reliability or availability. A candidate should be comfortable discussing this in general terms, and their answer helps you understand whether the schedule you are offering realistically fits their life.
Watch How They Interact With Your Child During the Interview
If your child is present during the interview or a brief trial visit, watch the interaction rather than only the answers to your questions. Does the candidate get down to the child's level, speak directly to them rather than only to you, and read the child's comfort level appropriately. A candidate who ignores your child throughout the interview to focus entirely on impressing you is showing you something relevant.
Ask How They Would Handle a Disagreement With You
A useful, slightly less obvious question: how would they handle it if they disagreed with an instruction you gave, for example a rule about screen time they thought was too strict or too lenient for the child's age. You are not looking for blind agreement, a candidate who would simply comply with anything regardless of their own judgment is not necessarily reassuring either. You want to hear that they would raise a concern respectfully and directly with you rather than either silently overriding your instructions or silently resenting them.
Ask About CPR and Basic First Aid
Not every babysitter in Pakistan will have formal first aid training, but ask directly whether they have any, and if not, whether they would be willing to complete a basic course, several of which are available in major cities at low cost. This is a reasonable ask for any long-term childcare arrangement and shows the candidate's own seriousness about the role.
Discuss Screen Time and Discipline Philosophy
Ask how they would handle screen time, discipline for misbehaviour, and general house rules, and be clear about your own expectations rather than assuming shared understanding. Disagreements here often surface weeks into a placement rather than during the interview, so raising it directly upfront avoids a mismatch discovered too late.
Ask How They Would Structure a Typical Day
Rather than only asking abstract questions, ask a candidate to describe how they would structure a normal day with your child, from arrival to the end of their shift. A candidate with genuine experience will naturally describe a sensible rhythm, meals, rest, active and quiet time, without needing to be prompted for each element. A candidate who struggles to describe any structure at all, relying entirely on "I'll just watch them," may be less experienced than their stated years suggest.
Trust Your Own Reaction, Not Just the Answers
Interview questions and checklists are useful, but a parent's own instinct after spending time with a candidate matters too, and should not be talked out of existence by an otherwise strong set of answers. If something feels off, even if you cannot articulate exactly why, it is reasonable to extend the trial, ask a follow-up question that gets at the specific discomfort, or simply decide against proceeding. Verification and good interview answers reduce risk, they do not eliminate the value of a parent's own judgment about who they are comfortable leaving their child with.
Verification Matters More for Childcare Than Almost Any Other Role
Because the role involves being alone with your child, often for extended periods, verification is not optional. Confirm identity against a genuine CNIC, and if hiring independently, ask directly for a Police Character Certificate and call previous employers yourself rather than relying on a written reference. Our separate guide on Police Character Certificates explains exactly what that document does and does not confirm.
Involving Your Child in the Decision When Appropriate
For an older child, five or six years and up, it can be genuinely useful to ask afterward how they felt about the person, even in simple terms. Children often pick up on things adults miss during a formal interview, whether someone seemed kind, whether they felt comfortable. This is not a substitute for the adult judgment and verification covered elsewhere in this checklist, but treated as one additional data point among several, a child's own reaction is worth taking seriously rather than dismissing entirely.
What Staffly Does Differently for Childcare Roles
Every nanny and babysitter Staffly places goes through the same 40-point verification as every other role, CNIC checked against NADRA, Police Character Certificate from their own local police station, previous employers called directly, but for childcare roles specifically our team also asks the situational and safety questions covered in this guide during our own screening, before a candidate ever reaches a shortlist. That means the interview you conduct is a second layer of confidence, not the only check that has happened.
If you are looking for a babysitter or nanny and want a shortlist of candidates who have already been through this process, message us on WhatsApp with your child's age and your city and we will begin shortlisting.