Childcare & daycare employment question

Question

In an interview for childcare or daycare .. what kinds of questions does the interviewer ask? i have an interview on monday & im nervous because ive only had one interview before .. i got the job but i think it was only because they were desperate for employees!!!

Answer 1

Do you have children? If you do, how would you make sure someone was the right person to take care of them? Maybe you don't - here is what I would ask:

Do you love children? Why? What do you value about children?

What experience do you have caring for children? How old were they? What do you think are the three most important things to consider when caring for children (ie. safety, fun. learning, etc give examples of how you made this happen)

What do you do if a child is mis behaving? (How do you disciplin children? The daycare should have guidelines on what is acceptable - follow them)

How do you handle a confict between two children? (give examples of how you resolved conflict in the past)

How would you prioritse your actions if you were needed at the same time for two different issues? (Ask for help, pick the highest priority issues; ie safety is more important that fun or learning)

Do you have any first aid training? Are you confident you know what to do in the case of cut, chocking, allergic reaction, etc? (talk about training, how you can help make the environment safe to avoid needing to do first aid)

You will be expected to answer these questiosns with more than a yes / no response. You'll need to explain yourself so they know you've thought of the answers to these questions. Many employers rely upon behaviroral based interview; designed to understand how you have behaved in past circumstnaces. Questions that being with "tell me about a time you had to resolve a conflict, what did you do and what was the outcome?" are classic examples. These are great opportunities to not only talk about what you did, how, and why but also the fantastic outcome of your efforts.

Look around on the net - some links are below - and think of how you'd answer these questions. Visit the website of the places you are applying to so that you can learn about their priorities and policies. Remember, confidence is an imporant part of the process. If you don't show that you trust yourself how can they trust you? Good luck!