Interview questions you haven't had

[Spixie33]

Since there are a few interview threads about what parents or providers should ask -- I wondered what everyone has NOT been asked.
Some of the stuff really surprises me - that I have not been asked

i.e I have never been asked to show my first aid training certificate...parent s just ask if I have it

I have never been asked who comes in and out of the house during the day, what sort of males go through the house or whether my husband is home at certain hours etc

[playfelt]

I think all parents have their own comfort levels with certain things too. Where one parent would be outraged that my own teenage son might come home for university for reading week and be here another would be excited that the kids had another adult to play with. As far as first aid goes there is an awful lot of the course that is practical and easily self taught so I don't think it is as red a flag as some would think. A lot of parents don't have CPR and would never think to worry about it. I have it for my own sanity not the sanity of the parents.

A lot can be learned about what the parents don't ask too. One they are either getting tired of interviews and just assuming that certain things are standard since the last 5 they visited had certain things. It also could be that they haven't done a lot of research and don't know that there are checklists out there or have decided that their gut feeling is more important than the check list.

A lot of parents go on the assumption especially when we have our own children in the home that we are not bringing anyone or anything into the home we would not want our own children exposed to.

[Judy Trickett]

I have NEVER been asked to see my police record check.

Also, not about interviews but you would also be surprised how many parents sign on to care but NEVER call my references that I freely give out.

[Spixie33]

I have NEVER been asked to see my police record check.

Also, not about interviews but you would also be surprised how many parents sign on to care but NEVER call my references that I freely give out.

I have never been asked for my references. Once a parent asked me if I had references but they didn't ask to have them.

I have only ONCE had a parent ask to see the police check out of probably 20 interviews

[playfelt]

Police check is another one of those things that sounds more important than it really is and a lot of parents realize that. If you had committed a crime against children and been convicted, children's aid would have stepped in to remove your own children from the home. So if you have your own children that pretty much serves the same purpose as the police check.

[Judy Trickett]

Police check is another one of those things that sounds more important than it really is and a lot of parents realize that. If you had committed a crime against children and been convicted, children's aid would have stepped in to remove your own children from the home. So if you have your own children that pretty much serves the same purpose as the police check.

Absolutely true. But if I were a parent seeking care I would still ask to see it. KWIM?

[Spixie33]

With the police check I wouldn't necessarily be worried or expecting something to come up related to kids....but even a DUI, something with drugs or some sort of domestic issue or something would make me worried as a parent
Then again....police checks don't mean someone is innocent - in some cases it is just a matter of someone not getting caught - right?
It is a security blanket that makes parents feel better but in the end is no guarantee of anything

[playfelt]

Police checks started for agencies and groups that were trying to protect themselves with the idea if the police said the person was ok they weren't responsible if the person abused a child or whatever - we had to have them as Brownie and Scout leaders, those working in kids summer camps, and then it broadened to other things like to vollunteer in the school and a couple years ago our church even asked Sunday School teachers to get them.

It only goes back a few years so a caregiver that can show references dating back more years than that again can supercede the report with more relavant info. I still think we should be expecting daycare parents to have the reports done so we know what kind of adults we are letting into our homes on a daily basis.

[sunnydays]

I have never been asked for the police check or first aid certificate either. I have also only once had someone call references even though I give them out...I guess the fact that I gave them makes parents feel that I am not hiding anything so they don't need to actually call.

[playfelt]

Again on references - parents know that we aren't going to give them names of people who are going to say bad things about us.

What I do try to do when I give references out is to point out the parent that might be most likely to identify with the new family in terms of most recent to start a child in care at a young age or the parent that has been with me for a long time and has two in care in that they have made the adjustments. Sometimes the parents have called my reference just to talk about the whole concept of childcare itself.