Ready to give up....

[Momof4]

I was in a real interviewing slump a couple years ago and was starting to wonder what I was doing wrong. A daycare provider friend offered to come over so I could run a mock interview and maybe she could pinpoint where I was going wrong. I now think that my worst problem was that I was giving off an air of desparation and frustration. I learned to relax and be confident and in charge during the interview. I'm also sure that I was letting people in for interviews that were only wasting my time so my pre-screening has improved immensely.

A lot of people think they should be impressing the parents by playing with the child in the interview but I believe the more businesslike you can be with the parents the more they will respect you. Let them know all the details about your program and how much fun you and the children have together but keep it professional and ask questions about the family, the child's routines for food and sleep, the parent's ideas about how they want to raise their child, regarding discipline and that sort of thing. People love to talk about themselves.

I tell the parents we are a team and I'm their backup to help them as they raise their child and since we will be working together for years to start their child out on the right path in life it's important that we use the same methods at home and daycare so I want to know all about them.

I hope these tips help.