I accepted an interview for this Friday at 2:00 (today is Wednesday and she just called me!) It's for a child care center that is large and has two locations. It's for a substitute position right now, and maybe a full-time teaching position in the fall. Normally I'd wear a button-up shirt and dress pants, but she said I would be spending time with kids in a class or outside. I don't know what ages she'll put me with --infants, toddlers, or preschoolers-- or what we'll be doing. She mentioned that Friday is their weekly water day. What in the world do I wear?
Nice Kaki slacks or capris and shoes that look nice, are closed and can get messy. The same button up the front shirt.
Anything that is neat, clean, no holes, and ironed. It must be able to get dirty. I have interviewed people who wear jeans--and that doesn't bother me.
Ditto the above. Some don'ts I have seen - ratty t-shirts, t-shirts that say inappropriate things, holes in jeans, kids can see your "crack" or cleavage, flip flops, running clothes, etc. Clean, presentable, comfortable will put you above most, sadly enough. Interact with the kids, be helpful and friendly to the teachers, ask questions and don't say too much about your personal life. Good luck!
Thanks all! I was used to dressing up because my last work was in public school. Sadly, at Head Start we did have some of those things you mentioned, SCMom. I ended up wearing a nice peach t-shirt with a lace design on top, peach-tan plaid capris, nice peach sandals, and a denim short-sleeved blazer (all washable. My plan was to take off the blazer for the work portion of the interview. That was the most intense interview ever--I talked to the Early Head Start support services worker for almost 3 hours. They're integrating Reggio Emilia and Project Approach concepts into their curriculum and she thought my experiences would be great to "step-up" their curriculum. (I worked in a Reggio-inspired center.) She actually had an unexpected opening for an older toddler/young preschool teacher. I actually didn't get to work in a classroom, but got a tour. I'm supposed to get a call-back next week to go and visit the other center--where the position is--and talk to their director. Fingers crossed!
A Reggio influenced Head Start!?!?!?! Wow - I have never heard of that. If you get it, WaProvider and I would love to hear more about it and maybe give you some suggestions along the way. I am really not sure how that would work in the Head Starts I have seen, especially because many of the teachers are so new. Interesting...
Yeah, me either. The open position is actually Early Head Start, which I think is birth-three, and then they have pre-k classrooms. They said that they had integrated Reggio and Project Approach in their pre-k their past year, and this year they'll be working on integrating it in their infant and toddler rooms. They're facing some resistance and many of their teachers/aides have a lack of knowledge about it. But the bigger center is on a college campus, so they're trying to show the most current practices to the college students who intern there. I'll keep y'all updated . . . I have my second interview (and probably working portion) tomorrow morning.
