I Hate Interviewing!

[providerandmomof4]

I recently had an interview and I feel so frusterated! I think it went well, parents advised they wanted to start asap. I advised to take the weekend and think about it and get back to me on Monday. The parents were really young and I think maybe a tad intimidated at the whole process. I felt like I had to PULL information out of them. I spent a good 45 mins going over all of my policies and trying to make sure they understood everything in my handbook......so, imagine my surprise when looking over their interview questionaire later; I see that they want weekend care as well as weekday care.

I went over my hours, my policy of not accepting shifts of over 9 hours. They didn't say a word.

My questionaire: What days of the week and hours will you be needing care?

Dcp: M-Su, 8:30 - 5:30

Wth??

Why in the world wouldn't they mention this? Now I am going to call them on Monday and ask them if they understood my hours and days of operation because of this

I feel like I'm never going to get my spots filled with long term. reliable dcp's.:confused:

[MarinaVanessa]

When do you have them fill out the questionnaire?

Personally the "must" questions that I always ask during the phone interview (when they first call me for information) are all based on my "non-negotiables". I ask about the age of the child (to make sure that I can stay within my ratio), what hours they need (to make sure that the hours they need are within my business hours and to determine their type of contract and rate), if they are comfortable with vehicle transportation and regular outings on foot (we go out often) and whether their child naps or not.

Because those things are things that I won't negotiate about I discuss these with them before I even set an appointment for an interview. Once I talk about these things with a phone interview and everything seems ok then I email them more info including a questionnaire which they fill out and bring to the interview. I repeat a lot of my questions on the form that we went over on the phone and go over it during the interview. I do this to make sure that what they told me and what they wrote down matches. If there are differences then it's a red flag for me and I discuss the differences with them. I don't wait for them to tell me if there is a problem, because in many cases people are either new to child care and have no clue how it works or are too polite to tell you when they feel that it's not a good fit. Sometimes they don't say anything because they figure that they can get "special" anyway or they can simply work around the problem themselves by having family or friends help out. Because of this I make sure to bring these issues up instead of waiting for the client to say something.

Perhaps you can change your interview process around a little bit to minimize you having to hold an interview that won't work.

[providerandmomof4]

I have them fill out the questionnaire at the interview (beginning). Usually I glance it over at that time but I didn't during that interview, because what they were telling me sounded good. I ask a few questions over the phone before I set up an interview as well but maybe I should be more specific during the phone interview??
I just feel like I am talking, talking, talking during the interview....about my policies and I stop after every section to ask if they have questions. They had an opportunity to say, "Are you willing to work weekends, because that is my schedule." And I would have said, "absolutely not, thanks for coming-!"

I think that they are trying to sneak it in on me, to see if I'll bend on my policies. Maybe not, but how are we going to have open communication when at the beginning of our working relationship, they aren't disclosing their needs?! kwim?:confused:

[rmc20021]

I recently had the same issue. Someone called for 2 kids and asked what my hours are. I told them. They went on to say they work weekends. I told them I don't do weekends. They continued with "ok, when can we come talk to you?" Uhhhhh, didn't I JUST say I DON'T do weekends. It's like they never heard a word I'd said.

[Starburst]

Well they may just want to do it during weekdays and are looking into options for just weekday care and will hire a nanny/sitter or have a relative watch on weekends- while we know as child caregivers it is better for a child to have one constant caregiver; parents sometimes look into what is easier or cheaper for them- like paying a flat rate for weekdays and only paying $80 a day for 2 days a week compared to paying $80 6 or 7 days a week. They may say they need care off of regular care days in case you offer occasional weekend care (like a "parents day out" or "mother's brunch" special). Or they may just have a flexible schedule that sometimes includes weekends and want to know what your policy is on that so they can see if they can alter their schedule.