Candidate Help

You can register with us by completing our Candidate Registration Form or alternatively by emailing your documents to us at office@thestaffdirectory.com

All candidates wishing to register must have a minimum of 3 years of relevant experience within Private Staff, Superyacht, or PA roles.

Candidates will require the following documentation:

• valid passport
• driving licence (if applicable)
• a minimum of 2 verifiable references
• up to date CV (Word format preferred)
• valid Enhanced DBS Check (childcare candidates)
• valid Paediatric First Aid certificate (childcare candidates)
• smart candidate photograph & copies of any relevant qualifications
• Chefs must also provide a copy of their portfolio/food images

The agency can arrange a DBS Check for any candidate wishing to register. A DBS certificate is typically processed and issued within 7 days.

Information on how we handle your sensitive data is available by viewing our Privacy Policy. You will also find our ICO registration number as we are a registered organisation of the Information Commissioners Office.

The Staff Directory asks that all registered childcare candidates hold a valid Enhanced DBS certificate.
We have partnered with a DBS provider (Disclosure & Barring Service) who will process Basic and Enhanced DBS Checks for our candidates.
Enhanced DBS certificates are now only issued to individuals working with vulnerable groups, therefore only those applying for childcare positions will be permitted to apply for an Enhanced DBS. A DBS certificate will typically be issued within 7 days.

Please visit our Apply for a DBS Check help page for further information.

Yes, we will represent you right the way through the recruitment process. This also includes supporting you throughout your probationary period once you have been placed in a role.
Any conversations covering salary negotiations, hours of work, start date, etc will be handled by the agency once we have discussed your expectations with you.

It’s not always possible to represent yourself in person, particularly when you are based overseas. Our general protocol is that any candidate based within 2 hours of London should attend a face to face registration interview.

Travel Information: Registration interviews are held in Chelsea. The nearest tube stations are Sloane Square or South Kensington (district & circle lines). For those travelling into London, the nearest overground station is London Victoria. Parking in the area is expensive, so we would advise you to take public transport where possible.

Coronavirus update: To limit candidates’ use of public transport, all registration interviews will be conducted virtually via video call until further notice.

It can be very difficult to arrange a client interview whilst you are still in a job. For some private household positions, your interview host may be happy to meet you before or after your working day. Some may even be happy to meet you in the evening or on a weekend. This tends to be the case for Nanny positions where the client would like to see you engage with their children as part of the interview process.
For Corporate/Exec Assistant positions, it can be a little more difficult, although some hosts may be prepared to come in early or stay late in order to meet with you.

A client can occasionally request that you complete a short trial before offering you a position. Typically trials are only necessary for housekeeping and childcare positions. The agency caps the length of trials at a maximum duration of 2 weeks.

You must hold a valid and in-date passport to ensure your registration with us remains active. Please remember to email a copy of any renewed ID documents as soon as they are issued.

Recruitment industry regulations are enforced by the Employment Agencies Standards Inspectorate (EAS). To ensure we adhere to these rules, we stipulate that a minimum of 2 references are provided as part of your registration. Once they have been verified, notes will be added to your file on our database.

We will only get in touch with each reference contact once, so please be reassured that they will not be continually pestered unnecessarily. It goes without saying that any reference for a current role will not be checked until you have a job offer available to you. Confidentially and discretion is at the forefront of our approach and we will contact you before reaching out to any of your references.

We recommend that all household staff payroll is processed using a payroll service such as www.stafftax.co.uk or www.nannytax.co.uk.
In cases of corporate staff such as Executive Assistants, you will be employed via the organisation itself.

Only self-employed candidates are responsible for their own tax returns. Our preferred accountancy firm for self-employed candidates is The Accountancy Partnership.

Contracts are not issued by The Staff Directory as we are an introductory service only, however an offer letter stating all standard details including salary, place of work and start date will be issued to you by the agency.
It is the employer’s responsibility to provide a contract of employment where applicable.

All candidates wishing to apply for UK based positions must have existing rights to work within the UK. Unfortunately, we cannot assist with working visa applications or sponsor our candidates.

Candidates wishing to apply for international roles are not required to have UK settlement status.

It is usually the case that an employer will pay standard utilities as a minimum. These would include council tax and energy bills. Occasionally they will also cover a phone line and internet services.

The minimum entitlement of statutory annual leave for individuals working in a full-time position is 28 days (5.6 weeks) 20 days plus public holidays (8). Employers can choose to offer more than the minimum statutory annual leave entitlement.
Holiday entitlement for persons working in a part-time position should be calculated on a pro-rata basis. You must be employed in a permanent position, working part-time hours (not applicable for the self-employed).

Please check your contract to establish the length of your notice period in the event your role is terminated.
A typical notice period will be 1 week or 1 month, however, it can be as long as 3 months. Some employers will expect you to work your notice period and others will not.

There is no fee to register with us.

Training courses are available for our registered candidates. They cover Butler & Valet skills, Wine & Spirit tuition (run by a WSET qualified tutor), Superyacht service and Private PA training.
Additional 1-day courses will be introduced in 2022. ‘How to plate’ will be run by an experienced food stylist and chef. ‘Create a Chef Portfolio’ will be run by a professional food photographer and chef and will show you how to create a professional chef portfolio. Lastly, ‘Catering for special diets’. This will offer students basic training in special diets, such as gluten-free, paleo, keto, kosher, vegan and vegetarian (ideal for chalet staff or junior chefs).