The vetting that should sit behind every placement
vetting-that-protects-your-family
References, identity, right to work and the conversations that matter most. Our approach to vetting, and the questions families should always ask.
Every agency says it vets. The word has been used so widely that it can mean almost anything, from a genuine investigation of a person’s history to a glance at a CV and a forwarded email. For a family opening its home to someone, the difference is not academic. It is the difference between an introduction you can trust and a risk you have taken without knowing it.
A CV is a claim, not a fact.
A curriculum vitae is a document written by the person it describes. It is where vetting begins, never where it ends. Proper vetting treats every line as a claim to be checked: the households, the dates, the responsibilities, the reasons for leaving. Gaps are not automatically a problem, but unexplained gaps are, and the explanation should always be heard and weighed rather than assumed.
References should be spoken, not forwarded.
A written reference tells you what someone was willing to put on paper. A conversation tells you the rest. We speak directly with former principals and household managers, because tone answers questions a letter cannot: whether they would hire the person again, what the next household should know, and where the person needed support. A reference that cannot be reached, or that turns out to be a friend rather than an employer, tells its own story, and it is exactly the story a family needs to hear before an introduction, not after.
Identity, right to work and history, checked to source.
Before any introduction, the basics must be certain: verified identity, confirmed right to work, and background checks appropriate to the role and the country. None of this is glamorous, and all of it matters. In cross-border households, where staff move between jurisdictions, it takes real care to do properly. It is precisely the work a family should never have to think about, because it has already been done.
No one reaches you unmet.
The final stage is the one most often skipped, and the one we consider least optional: a senior consultant meets every candidate in person before a family ever sees their profile. Presentation, manner and discretion do not survive translation onto paper. A conversation across a table answers questions no document can, and it is often where the strongest candidates distinguish themselves and where the wrong ones quietly fall away.
What this means for your household.
When an introduction reaches you, all of this should already stand behind it. A small, considered shortlist rather than a long list of possibilities. People whose histories have been walked through, whose references have been heard, and who have sat across a table from someone whose judgement you are paying for. That is what vetting means in this house. If you are interviewing agencies, ask each one to describe, precisely, what happens before a profile reaches you. The answers vary more than most families expect.
