Monday, February 20, 2012
Mother's Helper Help
So...I think I've interviewed all the folks I intend to interview. One candidate, who happens to have a perfect schedule, I dismissed about 30 seconds into the interview. My favorite candidate has a really tricky schedule for me to work with; I'd hoped to hire someone to come in daily for 3 hrs (so 15 total). She can do 3 days at a time I'd like and 2 days it's really not worth it at all (given how late in the day she's available). So what I'm trying to figure out is if it's worth just keeping things at the 9 hrs she could easily do at the times I want..or going for 4 hr stretches...or splitting the position between her and someone else who could come daily (and would probably do fine but didn't really wow me in the interview) so I could keep it at a regular 15 hrs (this is for me to do research/write; doesn't count additional meetings I might need to attend). Thoughts?
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Wow, tough one. My first impulse was to suggest hiring the one you liked best, for 3 4-hr. stretches per week. For myself, I've found that the amount of work accomplished is based more on LENGTH of the interval rather than the FREQUENCY; you may be different, and that's certainly a variable to consider. But then it occurred to me that it might be nice to split the position between the two top contenders, since you'd then have more flexibility if candidate #1 had to call in sick or cancel for some other reason. If these are college students (I'm guessing they are), schedules can shift so quickly or other work opportunities arise, so it's prudent to consider spreading the work around a bit so as not to be left completely in the lurch.
ReplyDeleteHeidi has a good point - having two helpers goes a long way to making your life easier if one of them isn't able to work.
ReplyDeleteDealing with childcare issues is honestly the only thing I really hate about this whole single motherhood business.
Congrats on finding people you like and one you love! I say go with two...
ReplyDeleteI see both your points, Heidi. I think for me regularity of schedule is more important at this stage...If I'm focused I can get a good amount of work done in 3 hrs (and really can't write for more than that, anyway) and if I go up to 4 hrs chances are I'll be spending more time nursing. Really would have been nice to find one person who could come in daily.
ReplyDeleteBut, yeah, in the end I think you're all right that having two people in rotation is probably a good place to start. And it's only for about 2 months, anyway, as I'll stick with one person for the summer...