Interview Advice

[spud912]

I want to tweak my interviewing techniques and was wondering how you all have your interviews set up?

Presently, I have the family come during after hours with their child. When they come to the door I introduce myself and my family and show them the play room (which is adjacent to the front door). Then I will show give them a tour of the rest of the child care areas . At the end, I will give them a copy of my parent handbook. During the interview, I will discuss a typical day, answer questions, ask specific questions about their child, and try to "sell myself." I also get down with their child to assess how they are behaviorally. I figured this is all ok, but I believe I could do better. Do you all sit down with the family and review all of the policies? If so, do you put a time limit on how long the interview is? I found with just the tour it can take 20-60 minutes (and our house isn't even that big). Tips please? Thanks!

[Meeko]

Sounds like you do a great job!

My only advice is...(and this depends on how you run your day care).......would be to not introduce your family too unless the clients want to meet them. I personally feel this makes the interview seem too casual....or the clients may feel they are intruding on your time with them. I now do day care from my son's home and we are set up like a small center. But when I did it from home, I would send my family to another part of the house out of sight. If the clients asked, I called them out. If not....my family were quiet in another room watching tv or whatever. I try to be VERY professional when interviewing and to seem like a business owner rather that "mom" with husband and kids in tow. I also found that the prospective kids can be overwhelmed if there a whole bunch of strange faces. Just a thought or two!

Good luck....it sounds like you cover all the "must have" parts!

[WImom]

I do just about everything you do. I also introduce them to my family because my DH is my sub and my kids help me out in the summer and they usually like to interact with the potiental child anyway so I can see how they are with my kids. (They are 6 and 8y).

[littlemissmuffet]

My interviews typically last one to one and a half hours. I have never had an interview where a parent didn't enroll.

I meet the parent(s) and child(ren) at the door and we go straight to the playroom. The parents and I sit on the floor, and I give the child(ren) some age appropriate toys to play with (the older ones soon get up and start playing on their own, exploring). I start by asking what they are looking for in a daycare. I take notes. I then tell them what I am looking for in a daycare family. Most questions from either side come up during this portion of the meeting, and I answer them while pointing out where in my handbook the "official" answers are located. After all questions are completed, I then read through the portions of my handbook that haven't yet been covered (most have by this time). Of course, I am interacting with the child(ren) throughout this whole process.

I know and the family knows at this point if it is going to work out...

So the family is then introduced to my husband, who is my sub.
Parents usually begin the paperwork at this point. My husband stays/plays with child(ren) as I give a quick tour of the remainder of our home, and while I make copies of paperwork/fill out a deposit receipt.

I don't get my hubs or the rest of the house involved until I know their in, otherwise, it's just a waste of everyone's time.

That's it.

[victorial]

I find I am much more successful with interviews that are the tour/chat/interact with child type than with the handbook/policies type. IMO, the parents are primarily concerned with how I will bond with and interact with their child. When I conducted interviews based on the handbook I was not near as successful as I am now where we chat, I get to know the child a bit, and send them on their way with a copy of my handbook.

[boysx5]

I don't have my family here when I interview I don't think they need to meet them. I show them around give them my contract and my daily schedule and all my policies answer questions they may have asked a few of my own and show them around.

[DBug]

I'm pretty sure my interviews are starting to sound scripted -- I must say the exact same thing every time

I greet them at the door and shake hands with the parents, and then greet the little one/s. Then we head to the back door (where the daycare entrance is) and I show them the touchscreen sign-in, cubbies, communication logs, etc. Then we go upstairs to look at the sleep room and bathroom where I do all of the diaper changes and our potty times. Then we head back to the playroom and the child will play while the parents and I sit on the floor and go through the PHB. Mine is relatively short, but it will take 30-45 min to go through everything (including our daily schedule, all of my policies, payment info, etc). I tell them to jump in if they have any questions. After that I ask them if they have any more questions, but usually by then all of their questions are answered. Then I ask questions about the child's usual schedule, personality, allergies, medical issues, whatever. I remind them to make sure to do lots of research and see what else is available in our tiny town (no centers, but there are alot of crappy home daycares -- so this always works to my benefit ). I give all of my paperwork to every interviewee, and send them on their way. I've never had anyone sign up immediately, which is fine with me. I wouldn't want them to jump into a commitment impulsively.

I usually hear back within a week, maybe two, but I don't hold the spot while they make their decision.

In my experience, parents visit a lot of places that don't have a business-like interview, they don't present themselves professionally, and they don't have paperwork to send home with them. So this process seems to work well for my area.

That's it! I also don't involve my family, since they don't help out with the dc kids much at all.