How to interview maid?

I've interviewed lots of maids and nannies and au-pairs before. I have a list of questions to ask the maid and I write notes of their answers. Firstly, I explain the role and what is expected of them and ask them if they have any questions. Then I ask them questions about their previous relevant work experience. I ask them what they like and what they don't like. If I am interviewing for a childcare position, I ask them some first aid questions (e.g. what would you do if a child was choking? What would you do if a child had a fever?). I also ask common sense questions like What would you do if there was a fire in the house. I ask them about their interests and their families. I also ask them if they suffer from any medical problems. I am then more specific and ask about epilepsy (only really relevant if you need a driver), migraines, allergies, depression and anxiety, cataracts (if they're older). This may seem personal, but it is perfectly aceptable to ask these questions and you need to know the answers since it may affect your choice. Get them to talk as much as you can. Ask them to tell you about whether they like animals, are they sporty. Try and build up a picture of their personality and their reliability. If you can't understand them on the phone, you porbably won't understand them in reality but the phone can distort language ability so do take that into account. If you have a little difficulty understanding them on the phone from time to time; they'll probably be fine face to face. Finally, nearly every nanny or maid I have interviewed over the phone has turned out to be a disaster. I have, however, successfully interviewed plenty of au-pairs (young European girls who come to England to help a family out and do a little cleaning and childcare). I strongly advise you to try and find a maid through the classified on this forum rahter than finding someone in the P'pines through an agency. That way you get to meet them face to face (and you don't have to pay agency fees!). Make sure you follow up references and don't just leave it to the agency. Also, don't employ anyone who doesn't have experience of this type of job unless they have a family member here who you can meet and make sure that they will help train them. Good luck!

if you're too nervous to interview her how will you actually cope with being her employer ??

Don't be nervous. Just be honest with her about her job duties.

We had to do this too but I asked the agent to do it because I was not confident in my ability to speak Arabic. I think they do this to make sure the maid is aware of what she is getting herself into because it is a huge hassle for the agency if the maid changes her mind once she's here. In our case, the agent explained to the maid that I was just about to have a baby, we have two other children, a big house, and another maid and that she'd have to do some cooking. She accepted all those conditions before coming.

From your post it sounds like you will be interviewing on the phone? Between my accent and their accent I've always found phone interviews a disaster, can you arrange to do it in person?