Child Care Teacher interview questions and answers
This Child Care Teacher interview profile brings together a snapshot of what to look for in candidates with a balanced sample of suitable childcare interview questions. Similar job titles include Daycare Teacher, Daycare Worker, Childcare Worker, Daycare Coordinator, Early Childhood Educator (ECE) and Early Childhood Assistant.
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Child Care Teacher Interview Questions
Your Childcare Teacher should be equipped with the following essentials: Proven work experience as a child care or daycare teacher, certificate in first aid and CPR, and a BS degree in early childhood education. Once vetted for these qualifications, the interview phase will help you evaluate candidates’ skills. You should also be on the lookout for traits that are indicators of success in this job.
Example childcare interview questions: Are your candidates patient? Are they adaptable? Do they enjoy working with children and can they provide basic care for children? Are they able to teach young children of different age groups, from infants to preschoolers? To investigate this further, ask situational questions, or questions that involve a bit of role play. These tell you a great deal about their experience and problem-solving skills. Process-based questions are also useful. Ask candidates to detail a step by step approach to diapering an infant, or soothing a crying child.
Top candidates will ask you questions that only someone with hands-on child care experience would ask. In addition, they’ll have done some research on your facility and cab speak in detail about why they chose you and what they can contribute to your team and mission.
For similar roles, you may be interested in interview questions for Kindergarten Teacher, Preschool Teacher and Teacher.
- Use this checklist to interview someone for a job at your daycare center
Operational and Situational questions
- What do you like most about working with children?
- What do you like least about working with children?
- What age groups do you prefer to work with?
- Describe a time you resolved an issue with an unhappy parent.
- What’s the relationship between customer service and child care?
- How would you help new parents feel that you’re providing the best care for their baby?
- Define success as a preschool teacher.
- How do you know if your teaching strategies are effective?
- How do you handle misbehavior in the classroom?
- What five items would you put in an empty classroom?
- What would you do if children were fighting and got physical? (Biting, hitting, etc)
- How does the day of an infant in your classroom differ from the day of a toddler in your classroom?
Pro tip: Ask your candidates to walk you through a group activity in a child care center. How would they encourage students to work together? What is the objective of the activity? How would they end the activity?