1. What are your long-term goals as Daycare Worker?

This question is being asked to gauge your commitment to the school district, as well as what your objectives are as a teacher. It also wonders whether you are goal-oriented or not. For a question such as this, it helps if you have a five-year plan in place. It also helps if you have a goal as a teacher but also a vision for the school, so doing some research beforehand may help. When answering this question, always focus on how your goal-oriented tasks will benefit the school and the students.

2. We're now nearly 3 hours overdue. What do you do?

Hopefully she will carry on a normal with the children. At this point she might suggest contacting local hospitals, the police or any emergency contacts that she has for you if she can't see a logical reason for the delay. A nanny should never suggest leaving your children with anyone else unless you've given specific instructions and contact details for family members who live nearby to cover this contingency. If she needs to leave to sort out her own family she should either suggest taking the children with her and leaving a note for you, or contacting social services.

3. Tell me what would you say is your worst quality and why?

What the interviewer is looking for is your body language and reaction. Ouch! I absolutely hate this. As a human services professional, you want to convey a sense of likability. The worst thing you can say is that you have no such quality. However, try to pick something fairly tam, and then tell the interviewer you are working on it. Things not to talk about? Impatience or having a bad temper. Maybe you could say that sometimes the kids push your buttons, but that you try to have a sense of humor about it.

4. You think one of our children has slightly delayed development. What do you do?

A great answer will stress the importance of confidentiality, gathering some evidence to support the nanny' suspicions and having a meeting without the children present while remaining aware that she will be raising a possibility, not giving a diagnosis, and it would be your job as a parent to move forward with other professionals.

5. Tell me what specifically makes you qualified for working with my loved one?

Here's where you ask about specific training or courses pertaining to in-home health work. Also ask for details that apply to your loved one's needs, such as experience bathing, feeding, dressing, cooking, cleaning, or lifting from, for example, a wheelchair to a toilet or bed.

6. Tell me how would you approach any problems in our working relationship?

Any nanny who isn't totally naïve will have anticipated problems arising at some point. You want a reply that indicated clear, honest and professional communication, rather than just ignoring the problem entirely or (worse) leaving without trying to put things right.

7. Explain me do you have any work experience in caregiving or similar areas?

Start with a broad question that encompasses more than in-home health work to give you a general sense of the person. Try to identify patterns or trends that show experience in care giving, companionship, and working with people, even if it isn't specifically with older adults. Look for experience that indicates an ability to work independently, without close supervision.

8. Explain me how would you try to calm an infant if they were crying but they were not hungry, wet or sick?

What the interviewer is really asking is how might you respond if there were a possible crisis, where you might not know immediately what to do. Do you have strategies? If so, then say so. Would you call some to assist you? Explain. Again, do the best you can with your experience. Your interviewer also wants to see how well you think on the spot.

9. Explain me how do you handle classroom discipline as Daycare Worker?

This is a tough one since the way of disciplining classrooms or students vary according to each teacher. It's important that you stay apprised of on-going discourses regarding effective classroom disciplining in order to keep your teaching methods up to date. But the most important reason for having an answer in a case like this is to answer the question without offending anyone but also showing your effective teaching ability. The interviewer is asking this question to get a sense of who you are as a teacher, and whether or not you are prepared when it comes to disciplining students. Knowing the school district's mission statement or discipline philosophy in advance will help you to answer this question best, so that you do not say anything out of line, but you must also remain honest to your own goals as a teacher. A good balance of these two elements will be the best answer. Try to provide a real scenario where you had to exercise discipline and it had an effective result. Explain why you felt that this course of action was best, and how it worked out for the student(s).

10. Professionally, in what areas would you most like to develop?
What skills would you like to learn?

If you're tired of the old "tell me your strengths and weaknesses," give this question a try. This will tell you about their interests and their capacity for self-reflection. You might want to weigh how enthusiastically they answer the question. Do you pick up that they're hesitant to try new things or haven't given much thought to their growth at work? A quick answer on their part may mean they've already given some serious thought to their own professional development. Also you can compare their proposed area of growth with the current and future needs of the program. If they received education/training in their desired area, how would that help your program?

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