Recruiting Child Care Professionals

Recruiting child care professionals involves a long process and requires a careful selection because if child care centres are able to successfully recruit appropriate staff, children, families and child care professionals can develop trusting and respectful partnerships. In order to achieve a successful recruitment, there are several steps that need to be considered. The following are the steps to be taken when recruiting child care professionals.

1. Identifying the child care centre’s needs.

   It is important that the centre along with its stakeholders reflect upon their values and beliefs during the recruitment process without neglecting the compliance with legislation and national standards or licensing requirements. It is possible to use networking with other services, peak bodies or education and training institutions to exchange information about child care recruitment trends, the availability of child care professionals seeking employment and the possibility of sharing staff. A regular review of the centre’s recruitment needs can help to identify specific selection criteria needed for a role.

2. Developing a recruitment policy.

   A recruitment policy should reflect Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) practices, current legislation or licensing requirement. Creating an environment that guides and supports the successful recruitment of child care professionals will result in services that establish practices that adhere to EEO legislation, attracts qualified and experiences staff from various backgrounds, ensure continuity and quality of care for children and families and encourage the retention of child care professionals.

3. Creating position description.

   A position description should clearly identify the role and responsibilities of an employee which can be measured against a set of outcomes. Identifying the specific qualities required can also help the service to develop position descriptions which reflect a combination of personal skills, knowledge and experience. It is also important to consider how children and families can be involved in developing position descriptions and how their input can identify the qualities an applicant may require.

4. Determining the selection criteria

   Selection criteria are a list of statements which characterise the skills and knowledge required to undertake the role. It should complement the job description and also inform applicants about what is expected from them. ‘Strengths’ based approach should be used for selection criteria to encourage applicants to consider their skills and knowledge from a performance based perspective.

5. Advertising for child care professionals

   An effective advertising strategy is needed in order to target at the most appropriate candidates. An employment advertisement can include the position title, outline of the role and responsibilities, the centre’s philosophy and contact details, and application closure date. It should be well noted that besides employment agencies, newspapers or notice boards, ‘word of mouth’ and networking with other services or peak bodies is one of the most useful ways to communicate employment needs and opportunities.

6. Selecting child care professionals

   Many selection procedures are governed by EEO and anti-discrimination legislation. Selection procedures can also detail how and for what purpose certain information is required such as referee and working with children checks. The structure and role of an interview panel is also important. Interviewers should have access to the applicants’ responses to the selection criteria prior to the interview. They also need to have an understanding of their legal obligations and be reminded of the importance of remaining unbiased and objective.