Pre-K Printable Fun
  • Home
  • About
    • Subscribe
    • Facebook Group >
      • Instagram
    • Contact Me
  • Blog
  • Theme Planning
    • Preschool Spring Themes
  • Educator Resources
    • Dramatic Play
    • Art & Creativity
    • Language & Literacy
    • Math
    • Physical Health
    • Science
    • Social & Emotional Development
    • Social Studies
    • For Educators
    • For Parents
    • Free Preschool Printables
  • Join our Membership
  • Log In
  • Store

Tips for interviewing new clients

8/1/2019

Comments

 
Picture
Interviewing new clients can be stressful for both parents and Childcare Providers.  Here are some tips and some great advice from Childcare Providers in our Daycare Spaces and Ideas Facebook Community to help ease your nerves during the interview process.

Advice from Childcare Providers for Childcare Providers


Ask why they are looking for childcare. Are they leaving another program? If so, why?
Do a quick Facebook search on the client prior to the interview- Sheena W.


Ask the following questions...
What are the top three things that are most important for you in a daycare environment and in a provider?
What's more important to you that your child plays or sits down to learn?
What type of relationship do you want your child to have with the other kids and what type of relationship do you want to have with me?
Do you prefer to have daycare very scheduled or something new each day?
What things do you or your child like about day? What area have been challenging to you?
What type of manners do you expect your child to have?
What activities do you do for fun as a family?
How do you handle a emergency/sudden daycare closing?-Emily U.

Go over Policies to ensure they understand them.
Be prepared! Make sure your entrance is clean and welcoming.
Have all your paperwork ready to go.

Remember it's your business and you are interviewing the client to see if they are a good fit for your program just as much as they are interviewing you! -Kathy M.


I ask the parents to provide me with 3 references usually family member, friend and a coworker or employer that I do contact just to give me a better idea of the best way to work with the parent and support the children's needs. -Tami F.

I normally start by getting a feel for the family over the phone. How old is your child(ren)? What hours are you looking for? Has the child been in care somewhere else? And so on. Then I invite them to come for a interview and I always ask them to bring the child along. When they arrive I give them a tour and I tell them about myself and my program. I explain curriculum, routines and then we sit down and I ask them what their needs are. Are there any special needs they are concerned with when it comes to their child? What are they looking for in a program? Etc. then we go over my contract in detail and discuss any area they may have questions. Then I normally send them with my paperwork and I follow up later if I feel like the family is a good match.-Christina N.

My best piece of advice is to put as much information in their hands as possible ahead of time - the only things I personally feel that I need to "know" from a prospective client before investing time in an information and interview exchange is 1) age(s) of child(ren) in case I am near my infant or total maximum. And 2) the hours and schedule they need for work. I don't post my open-close hours because I find it less inviting and needlessly excluding: everyone has their own schedule and needs, and I would rather assess them on a case by case basis. Hours are somewhat like ages: if I'm not open until 6:45pm, or on weekends, and that's what they need? I can at least actively make recommendations from there: sometimes there are actually ways to still offer care for those families by offering options that they may not have thought about (could a family member or trusted babysitter pick up on your late Thursdays, or overnight shifts? Would you want to stay on a waitlist? etc.)
The second big tip is that I invested *a lot* of time creating a *thorough* Handbook - and I posted it on my website so that it's easily accessible. This way, I can send a link directly to my handbook quickly over an email or text message instead of emailing 10 different attachments (which possibly won't open or display correctly on their computer or phone). It includes links to all state-required enrollment paperwork as well - so that if I am not a good match for a prospective client, I can at least still provide them with quality, informative service - which helps generate positive word of mouth & builds a professional reputation.
I send the link again before an interview and try and get any questions they might have answered before we meet: I want my interview to just be meeting them and the child, time where they can check out the place, and making sure we feel comfortable with each other before care begins. Once upon a time when I was new, interviews involved me reading over contract bullet points and hoping I didn't miss anything important - eventually I learned that really doesn't work for me!! Nor is childcare like, say, renting an apartment. I'm not a big chit-chatter at drop off and pick up (well not about non-kid things), and more conversational and connection-building interviews really helps me build a good foundation on my parent-provider relationships! -Kathleen M.


I always tell them I have multiple interviews and I will know by (date) who I have chosen, only because if I don't get a good feeling or have red flags during the interview it gives me an easy out without burning bridges. -Katie B.

Do you have some advice for handling
new client interviews?

Related Posts
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...
Comments
    Picture

    What can I help you find?


    Get Free
    Lesson Plans!

    50+ Free Sample Preschool Lesson Plans!
    Free Lesson Plans
    Sign Me Up!

    Popular Products

    Let's Build STEM Poster Pack

    $3.00
    Shop

    Circle Time Binder

    $8.00
    Shop

    Alphabet Play Dough Mats

    $5.00
    Shop

    Let's connect!


    By Category:

    All
    4th Of July
    Activity Pack
    Airport Dramatic Play
    Alphabet
    Animals
    Ants
    Aound The World
    Apples
    Aquarium
    Arctic Animals Igloos Ice
    Around The World
    Arts & Crafts
    Back To School
    Bakery
    Birds
    Black History
    Blocks And Construction
    Book Lists For Kids
    Calendar
    Camping
    Canada
    Candy Canes
    Car Wash
    Caterpillars And Butterflies
    Childcare Providers
    Chinese New Year
    Chinese Restaurant
    Christmas
    Circle Time
    Circle Time Binder
    Circus
    Clouds Wind & Rain
    Colors
    Community Helpers
    Costume Shop
    COVID19
    Craft Tutorials
    Cut And Paste
    Deck The Halls
    Dental Health
    Dentist Office
    Diner
    Dinosaurs
    Doctor's Office
    Dramatic Play
    Dramatic Play Props
    Early Learning Standards
    Earth Day And Recycling
    Easter
    Educator Resources
    Educator Spotlight
    Fairy Tales
    Fall
    Family Friends Home
    Farm
    Farmers Market
    Father's Day
    Feelings And Emotions
    Felt
    Fine Motor
    Fingerplays
    Fire Safety
    Flowers & Bees
    Focus Wall
    Forest Animals
    Free Printables
    Fruits-and-vegetables
    Fun In The Sun
    Gardening
    Gingerbread
    Graduation
    Graph & Measure
    Grocery Store
    Gross Motor
    Groundhog Day
    Halloween
    Health & Safety
    Healthy Me
    Holiday
    Holiday Printables
    Homeschooling Pre-K
    Hot Chocolate
    Ice Cream
    Ideas For Educators
    IKEA
    Infants & Toddlers
    Insects
    Kwanzaa
    Language & Literacy
    Learning Spaces
    Learning To Count
    Learning To Read
    Leaves & Trees
    Lesson Planning
    Let's Build
    Letter Formation
    Letter Recognition
    Little Miss Muffet
    Loose Parts
    March
    Martin Luther King Jr. Day
    Math
    Meals
    Medieval Fantasy
    Member Round UP
    Military
    Mother Goose & Nursery Rhymes
    Mother's Day
    Movie Theater
    Mud Kitchen
    Music
    Music Space
    Music Wall
    Name Recognition
    National Card Playing Day
    News Station
    New Years
    Number Formation
    Numbers
    Ocean
    One To One Coorespondence
    Oral Language & Literacy Activities
    Organizing
    Organizing & Storage
    Outer Space
    Outside
    Parent Communication
    Parent Engagement
    Pattern Blocks
    Patterning
    Penguins
    Pets
    Phonemic Awareness
    Physical Development
    Picnics
    Pie Stand
    Pizza
    Play Dough
    Police
    Pond
    Positional Phrases
    Post Office
    Post Office Printables
    Pre-K Activities On A Budget
    Pre K At Home
    Pre-K At Home
    Pre-K Printables Club
    Pre-Writing
    Printable
    Printing Tips
    Process Art
    Product Tutorials
    Pumpkin Patch Dramatic Play
    Pumpkins
    Puppet Theater
    Puzzles
    Rainbow
    Reading Space
    Rebus Stories
    Rhymes
    Rocks Dirt And Mud
    Round Up
    Routine
    Safety
    Sandwich Shop
    Santa And His Helpers
    Santa's Workshop
    Scarecrows Corn And Crows
    Science
    Science And Discovery
    Science Space
    Seek And Find Activities
    Self Care
    Sensory
    Sensory Bin Activities
    Shapes
    Sight Words
    Small World Play
    Snack Tutorial
    Snakes
    Snakes Printables
    Snow And Snowmen
    Social Emotional
    Social Studies
    Songs
    Sorting And Classification
    Spaces
    Spiders
    Sports
    Spring
    Spring Cleaning
    Spring Weather
    Squirrels And Acorns
    STEAM
    STEM
    Storybook Theater
    Storytime Activities
    St. Patrick's Day
    Summer
    Sweet Treats
    Teaching Tips
    Theme Pacing Calendar
    Themes
    Toy Rotation
    Transportation
    Turkeys And Thanksgiving
    Tutorials
    Under The Sea
    Valentine's Day
    Veterans Day
    Veterinarian
    Visual Discrimination
    Water Cycle Science Activities
    Weather
    Winter
    Winter Clothes
    Winter Themes
    Word Families
    Word Wall Activities
    Worms Snails Slugs
    Writing Activities
    Writing Tray
    Zoo
    Zoom

    Archives

    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    September 2018
    June 2013
    February 2013
    April 2010

    RSS Feed

50+ Free Preschool Lesson Plans

Picture

Get your free sample plans!

    I'd like the plans!

Submit

Let's Connect

Picture
Copyright © 2020 prekprintablefun.com
  • Home
  • About
    • Subscribe
    • Facebook Group >
      • Instagram
    • Contact Me
  • Blog
  • Theme Planning
    • Preschool Spring Themes
  • Educator Resources
    • Dramatic Play
    • Art & Creativity
    • Language & Literacy
    • Math
    • Physical Health
    • Science
    • Social & Emotional Development
    • Social Studies
    • For Educators
    • For Parents
    • Free Preschool Printables
  • Join our Membership
  • Log In
  • Store