Personally I prefer hiring from agencies because there's a clear contract and comms with the agency. If there's any issue, you can also try to get a change in nanny. For private, it's really through word of mouth (assuming you're a first time mom) and honestly everyone's experience is different. A friend/relative may have liked the nanny very much, but you may interact differently and have an entirely different experience! I looked at the reviews of the nannies from agency for the following things: hygiene, patience and confidence in handling baby and mom (esp if mom wants to try to breastfeed - is this nanny encouraging, supportive, knowledgeable?) . Cooking was secondary for me since most agency nannies should be trained 😅 do note that clients are highly encouraged to leave reviews on agency's fb pages so I also looked at the length of the reviews, haha! If someone bothered to write a lengthy raving review, the nanny should be OK? 😂 Hope this helps. All the best!
thank you so much.