Top 18 Child Care Assistant Interview Questions and Answers

Updated on: May 22, 2022

Child care assistant interviews are conducted with the aim of hiring someone that is compassionate and knows their work. 

That is why it is important to properly practice for the interview process before you head out to be grilled.

The interview stage is extremely important. All your effort in preparing a child care assistant cover letter and resume can go to waste if you do not do well at this stage.

The following set of interview questions and answers will help you ace a child care assistant interview:

Child Care Assistant Interview Questions and Answers

1. Tell me a little about yourself.

I have worked as a childcare assistant for 5 years now, with many cases under my wing. I aspired to work as one because I felt that I was inherently talented for it. My goal is to help children thrive in the environments charted out for them.

2. Why do you want this job?

I love the work immensely. In fact, I am well-versed in handling all the things associated with child care and development. An inherent passion for children’s well-being is another reason I want to work in this capacity.

3. Why do you want to work for our organization specifically?

I have always been in awe of the way in which you train and deploy childcare assistants. Also, your reputation for being the best in the market wants me to add my two cents in too. As soon as I saw that there was an opening, I jumped at the chance.

4. What duties have you performed previously in the role of a child care assistant?

I have worked as a child care assistant quite extensively. My work includes supervising and monitoring the safety of children under my care, preparing meals and organizing mealtimes, ensuring children keep good hygiene, organizing activities, and developing schedules. In addition, I have been evaluating and assessing students under my wing to ensure that their emotional, social, cognitive, and academic development is perfectly managed.

5. What kind of environment do you like best?

I work best when faced with challenges. An environment conducive to learning and giving is definitely the best in my opinion.

6. How can you work if there is no emotion involved?

One cannot work if there isn’t any emotion involved. However, it is not all emotion that I have curtailed. I am still compassionate and caring. However, getting close to them and then feeling empty when they leave is something that I have put a lid on.

7. What is your biggest weakness?

I have recently overcome what I thought was my biggest weakness, which was that I used to get emotionally involved with children under my care.

8. What is your biggest strength?

My biggest strength is my ability to effectively reach out to children of all ages.

9. Tell me of a time when you achieved something big.

I was once responsible for providing care to a five-year-old girl. On the face of it, she was healthy and well. However, I discovered that she would get tired very quickly. I urged the parents to look into it. It was discovered that the poor girl had a hole in her heart that the parents knew nothing about. A surgery later, she was as normal as any child. I believe that this is my biggest achievement.

10. Tell me about a time when you disagreed with a decision. What did you do?

I was once looking after 2 children of the same household. During one shift, I saw that one of them had a bruise on the neck. I asked her how she got that and she recounted that she was hit by her dad. Upon confronting the parents, I was put down by excuses such as my child, my business, and children who need to be disciplined.
Now, I did not agree with this one bit. So, I warned them that as a child care assistant, it was my duty to report negligence and abuse. The parents asked me to leave. I had no choice but to tell the company that I was representing what had happened, as those children were at risk.

11. What can we expect from you in the first three months at work?

I am positive that I can effectively take up child care that other child care assistants have given up on. You can expect results immediately, as I strive to work in accordance with end goals.

12. In your opinion, what drives results in this job?

I believe that it is important to be dedicated to child care if you want to drive results.

13. How do you keep yourself motivated to do this work?

The fact that I can help a child in some way or another is a constant motivating factor for me.

14. Tell us about the toughest decision you have had to make in the last 5 years.

About 3 years ago, I was working for an organization that suddenly developed a reputation for deploying unethical childcare staff. I was initially in a quandary about what to do, as I did not want to be associated with such an organization. But I did not want to assume things either. So, I did a little bit of investigation and found out that all was indeed true. However, it was difficult for me to decide that I wanted to part ways with them.

15. Do you intend to take up any future training?

Yes. I feel that one’s learning never stops. As and when I find out a child care and development course is out there, I make a conscious effort to take it up.

16. In your opinion, what is the most important thing to prevail in a child-caregiver relationship?

I feel that mutual trust is most important, as it paves the way for other things.

17. On a scale of 1 to 10, where do you rate your child care skills?

I stand at a 7. I am quite experienced, but I feel that no one can ever get a 10 because there is always something new to learn and more information to acquire.

18. Do you have any questions for me?

I would like to know about your in-house training programs.

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