Candidate FAQs
Working with families worldwide since 2003
We reflect the requests of our clients worldwide, and in general most will ask us for UK/EU/English speaking candidates, with at least 3 years full time professional experience, valid passport, excellent references covering at least the last 3 years and looking for a full-time, permanent role. The skills we work most often with are as follows:
| Childcare / Education | Household Roles |
| Nanny / Manny | House Manager / Estate Manager |
| Governess / Governor | Chief of Staff |
| Home-Teacher | Personal / Executive Assistant / Private PA |
| SEN Specialists / ABA Specialists | Household / Domestic Couples |
| Private Tutor (Online, or in London) | Private Chefs |
| Nanny-Housekeeper | Executive Housekeeper / Head Housekeeper |
| Rota Nanny / Governess | Butlers |
| Maternity Nannies | Ladies Maid |
| Education Consultancy | Personal Trainers |
| Gardeners | |
| Yoga Teachers | |
| Personal Spa Manager |
The main areas we make recruit for tend to be:
Middle East (especially Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain),
Europe including Monaco, Germany, Switzerland, Russia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan,
Asia including Singapore, Hong Kong,
Caribbean including Bermuda, Cayman Islands, Jamaica, Barbados.
Africa: Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya
As a UK based agency we will never charge candidates to register, the clients we work with pay our fees.
If you believe you meet the criteria above and can provide the necessary documents, references, language skills etc, then we would ask you initially to register online at https://www.simplyprivatestaff.com/candidates-registration-details. Once we have your application to join the agency a Consultant will review the details, and if you have submitted all the requested documents will be able to advise whether we are likely to be able to find you a role either now, in the future, or unfortunately also advise if it is unlikely we can assist. As much as we would love to be able to work with everyone, we do have strict parameters for registering, and also do not wish to mislead candidates so will be very honest in our feedback.
Should we have your detailed updated CV, recent documents including certificates, references etc we can quickly advise whether we can help or not. If we can, you can sign up for relevant job alerts, and be among the first to see details of current/new vacancies.
Unfortunately this is impossible to answer – we have some candidates who have been registered for years but who we have never managed to place as yet as simply not had the right role at the time they are searching. Similarly we have had candidates register online and then secure a new role within a week. There’s an element of luck / ‘’right place at the right time’’ to any search, just as there is for families who may have very specific requests.
In the old days it tended to be email, phone call etc but now the simplest and quickest way is usually whatsapp – your Consultant will give you their whatsapp number for quick and easy communication once you are registered and we know which areas and roles to concentrate on. However – please be mindful that although we do want to keep in touch, your consultant will be away from the office sometimes, especially at weekends, so if they don’t reply immediately, they will once back at work. We all have families too, and they are important as well as work!
The obvious ones are a formal nanny/childcare and/or teaching qualification such as NNEB, CACHE, Batchelor Education, Childhood Studies degree, PGCE, QTS etc, as well as a clear recent DBS/Police check, and 1st Aid/CPR certificate. We can assist with obtaining a DBS if you are fully registered and if we place you in a role we will also reimburse the cost of the DBS.
For most roles such as Private Chef, Butler, PA etc there are industry specific qualifications which it will be expected you hold, as well as a minimum of 3 years’ experience within a formal private household. Many roles will require more experience and the client will typically stipulate their own minimum requirements.
As an agency we typically focus on full time, permanent roles, and the minimum contract would usually be a year+ with a notice period of a month from either party to terminate. We have candidates who are still working for the same client 10 years after starting, though this is quite rare now. Most clients looking for permanent staff will expect to see or prefer to see a stable employment history rather than numerous short term roles, as they will be looking for stability themselves.
This is another very difficult question as they vary so much by skills, qualifications, location of work, flexibility required, days/hours of work expected etc, however these are a guideline, but there will be exceptions above and below these figures, and they are a guide:
Nanny – £35-60k
Governess – £40-75k
Rota Nannies – £40-65k
House / Estate Manager – £50-120k
Private Chef – £40-120k
Butler – £35-75k
Household Couple – £60-90k
We have seen this happen on very rare occasions however in the 20 or so years we have been working on these roles we have never managed to make a placement where that happened yet. There are a number of reasons – cultural in some locations, cost/space, visas in others.
The employer will pay you directly, and is totally responsible for this. We always strongly advise ensuring you have been paid in full prior to leaving a role as it can be difficult pursuing payments from overseas. The vast majority of families/employers are very good employers.
There are numerous great agencies in the UK, some of which we know very well. Since 2003 we have been focusing almost exclusively on roles outside UK, and have built a database of childcare and household professionals, many of whom we have known for 10-15+ years, looking specifically for roles worldwide, and experienced with both the traditional client/family as well as VIP/HNW or Royal family environment, or living in different climates where the pace of life, traditions, expectations, climate and other factors can be very different. We believe we understand well what is important in specific locations.
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