Years ago, I took on a family that I thought would be perfect because mom was a former daycare provider. Surely she would understand! Surely for the next year I listened to "well, when I did daycare". It was during that time that I swore I would never take another former daycare provider on as a client.
I have since relaxed that policy, and had wonderful working relationships with two such families. However, this was because I did some careful screening during the interview process.
Recently, I received a phone call from a lady who was looking for spots for her grandchildren. Turns out that the parents were divorced and shared custody, and Grandma was calling for her son (the father). Big red flag - why is Son not calling daycares himself? Grandma goes on to tell me about problems with some of the other daycares THEY have interviewed.
She then began to ask about the fees. Not a red flag. The red flag came when she questioned me about Son having to pay for the weeks when the mom had the children. Well, yes, I explained, he would have to pay for those weeks. Her reply? "Well, when I did daycare..."
I knew very early on in this conversation that Grandma was going to be overly involved, and I learned years ago that this is going to lead to problems with grandmas. I had one grandma in the past that was such an issue that my contract now has a section all about how I only discuss things with the contracted parents, and what my expectations are of grandparents or anyone else picking up the children. I have turned clients down because grandma came with on the interview and I could tell she was going to be an issue. And this grandma having formerly "did daycare", was going to make working with this family a nightmare.
Grandma ended this conversation by saying that she hoped that I would consider the fact that Son is a single dad. I told Grandma that I hoped she would consider the fact that I have a family to feed and house.
Needless to say, this family has not been, nor will they ever be, enrolled.
Sophie
Showing posts with label interviews. Show all posts
Showing posts with label interviews. Show all posts
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Warning Signs
I recently interviewed a very lovely family. I would have gladly enrolled them into our daycare family. The parents were lovely, the child was well-mannered and well-behaved, and I was quite confident that this family would work out beautifully.
We, however, had one not-so-little issue - they would not be able to pick up by our closing time every day.
I was not willing to budge on this one.
This is not the first time this has been an issue for a family. I once had a parent quit a new job because she didn't realize she would have to be at work until my closing time. She thought she got off a half hour sooner. I have had parents go to their employers and ask to change their work schedule or take a shorter lunch break to work into my schedule.
This family thought they might have a solution, but needed to talk it over and try to work it out. That would be great! I told the family that I was not planning on scheduling any more interviews for the next four days. The spot would still be available to them as long as they called me by the end of the fourth day.
I did not hear from them by the end of Day 4. I was ok with that, figuring that they just couldn't work out the issue. I proceeded to interview a couple more families, and enrolled a child on Day 7.
On Day 8, they called me wanting the spot.
Was I disappointed? Did I consider calling the other family and saying sorry, I can't take your child? Did I get mad at myself for not waiting a bit longer?
No, I felt like I dodged a bullet.
One of the things I look for in a potential client is signs that they will be respectful of my time. I do not conduct interviews during operating hours. I will explain this to a family when we schedule their interview right after my daycare day ends. When a family shows up a half hour early, I take it as sign that they are not respectful of my time. If they show up more than just a few minutes late for their interview without calling, I take this as a sign that they are not respectful of my time. This tends to be something that will continue throughout our relationship.
Because this family was not respectful of the time frame I had set, especially a family that already had the potential of not being able to meet our pickup time, it is likely that they would not have been respectful of my closing time throughout our working relationship.
They were genuinely shocked the spot was no longer available to them. They said they weren't available to contact me before that. However, in the age of cellphones and email, I find that rather hard to believe. Had they even contacted me to say they needed a few more days, I probably would have obliged.
Now...I just feel relief.
Sophie
We, however, had one not-so-little issue - they would not be able to pick up by our closing time every day.
I was not willing to budge on this one.
This is not the first time this has been an issue for a family. I once had a parent quit a new job because she didn't realize she would have to be at work until my closing time. She thought she got off a half hour sooner. I have had parents go to their employers and ask to change their work schedule or take a shorter lunch break to work into my schedule.
This family thought they might have a solution, but needed to talk it over and try to work it out. That would be great! I told the family that I was not planning on scheduling any more interviews for the next four days. The spot would still be available to them as long as they called me by the end of the fourth day.
I did not hear from them by the end of Day 4. I was ok with that, figuring that they just couldn't work out the issue. I proceeded to interview a couple more families, and enrolled a child on Day 7.
On Day 8, they called me wanting the spot.
Was I disappointed? Did I consider calling the other family and saying sorry, I can't take your child? Did I get mad at myself for not waiting a bit longer?
No, I felt like I dodged a bullet.
One of the things I look for in a potential client is signs that they will be respectful of my time. I do not conduct interviews during operating hours. I will explain this to a family when we schedule their interview right after my daycare day ends. When a family shows up a half hour early, I take it as sign that they are not respectful of my time. If they show up more than just a few minutes late for their interview without calling, I take this as a sign that they are not respectful of my time. This tends to be something that will continue throughout our relationship.
Because this family was not respectful of the time frame I had set, especially a family that already had the potential of not being able to meet our pickup time, it is likely that they would not have been respectful of my closing time throughout our working relationship.
They were genuinely shocked the spot was no longer available to them. They said they weren't available to contact me before that. However, in the age of cellphones and email, I find that rather hard to believe. Had they even contacted me to say they needed a few more days, I probably would have obliged.
Now...I just feel relief.
Sophie
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)