Working at a daycare for employment experience?

[Violagirl]

Hey everyone! I wanted to see if I could get some input on this. I finished my last day at my former job on Tuesday (it was a non-medical job) and am looking for employment that would allow me to add to my healthcare background in some way, shape or form outside of what I do for volunteering. I'm looking for an alternative to working as a scribe or in a lab or anything that, having been unsuccessful in securing anything like that, for the summer and then seeing what next fall brings with regard to other employment opportunities. Although I know employment in a healthcare environment is not mandatory for medical schools, I still would like to have some form of providing care to others in my background. My question is, has anyone here had experience working at a public daycare working as either a childcare attendant or as a teacher's aide? I like the idea in that it would allow for the opportunity for gaining supervisory experience and as I'm not currently certified in First Aid or CPR, I would be able to obtain those certifications too. And I know working at a daycare would be much different then working in an actual healthcare environment but I'm looking for something that might still allow me to work in an environment where I can still provide care for others. Just wanted to get opinions from others on it as a possible employment experience and if anyone here has done it, what your own experiences were like. Thanks a lot! 🙂

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[DokterMom]

Tried to reply earlier, but got cut off...

If you're doing this to boost your application, I'd suggest you reconsider. Working at a daycare tends to send the dismissive sexist message of "This girl just wants to get married and have babies" which is not the message you want to send. Working with disadvantaged or disabled kids might mitigate to some extent, but safer and wiser to do something else entirely. I'd suggest working in a nursing home, assisted living center or hospice or as a home health aid instead.

 

[okokok]

Definitely look into being a home health aide instead.

I personally wouldn't consider working in daycare related to working in health care.

 

[Violagirl]

Thank you both for your great responses, I appreciate it and also appreciate the suggested ideas! I'll look into employment prospects as a home health aide too then as that might be closer to along the lines of what I want to show on my resume. Thanks!! 🙂

 

[taniaekal]

I was a teacher's aid at a daycare. I got to teach the preschoolers, interact with parents and my coworkers, and had the opportunity to attend meetings and lessons in child development. The job was great and allowed me to understand how children think, how to talk to them, and how to talk to their parents to discuss their progress (in class or in other aspects).

The experience helped tremendously now as I work in another child care facility and volunteer at a Children's hospital. While it may not be medicine-related, your experiences there will definitely help you in the future, and now you know how to talk to and positively influence the "tiny humans" 🙂

 

[LizzyM]

Another option would be adult daycare which is typically care for older adults with disabilities (cognitive and/or physical) that preclude them from staying at home alone.