Job creation

Started: 2010-07-07 21:41:11

Submitted: 2010-07-07 22:19:41

Visibility: World-readable

Now that the summer season has arrived, I'm interested in spending my weekends climbing up and down mountains, which is difficult to do with a toddler in tow. (We did, at length, manage to take Calvin on a hike that didn't end in tears, but anything involving an ice ax is a bit much for a toddler in a backpack.) Kiesa and I decided to hire a babysitter for a scheduled interval on weekends to give us a bit more time. Our standard babysitter, a high school student, had conflicts with her real job, so Kiesa carefully crafted a job posting for care.com and began reviewing applicants. We ended up interviewing two candidates, which was an interesting experience. I have a modest amount of experience interviewing software engineers, but we're looking for a somewhat different skill set in our babysitter, so Kiesa crafted a new set of interview questions. We had to choose between two qualified candidates, but with only one position (and only three hours a week) we had to pick one.

Our new babysitter's first day was two weeks ago. I got up with Calvin when he woke up a little after 07:00, and Kiesa got up in time for an experimental breakfast of experimental French toast. The babysitter arrived at 09:00, and after a quick briefing, Kiesa retreated to the basement to work and I worked first on the dishes and then on the lawn. The extra three hours in the morning didn't feel like much but made it easier to fit in everything I needed to do on the weekend. She gave Calvin plenty of attention, which he thought was wonderful. The experience worked out well for everyone.