Interview Frustrations! What do you all do?

[bright sparks]

I do not send my contract out ahead of time. It is something that should be discussed face to face IMO to make it more personable and also that way it gives me the opportunity to explain things more in depth if the parents have questions rather than them misinterpreting something and getting their backs up.

I do an initial telephone interview whether the enquiry was by phone or email. It is a chance for each of us to ask any deal breaker questions to prevent wasting time. During this telephone interview, the parent generally asks me lots of things that would normally be covered in the interview which obviously cuts the face to face meeting down in time, dramatically. There is nothing worse than having someone come and interview and for them to spring something on me like late pick up, or for them to tell me then, that they are uncertain about if they are going back, should they take extended leave, or something like that which we could have gone over and understood over the phone before wasting anybodies time. I always ask them what it is they are looking for from a daycare provider and the program. This is always a great indicator of whether or not we are on the same page and is how I tend to decide on whether I want to take things further or not.

I started this interview process about a year ago and so far it has served me well. I always set a time limit for them to get back to me, Ask them to let me know either way, and tell them that should any other questions come up to feel free to contact me.