Things NOT to do on your first day in a Preschool

1.  Coming to work OUT of dress code.  I mean, seriously, you have the handbook in your hands for a WEEK before your first day.  At the very least turn to the page that tells you how to dress.  Besides, coming to work in a tank top, sandals, and torn pants on your first day?  Probably not a good impression.

Then, when you are told about the dress code and that you are NOT supposed to wear open toed shoes or tank tops, don’t try to justify what you are wearing by saying, Oh, but I’m wearing a jacket over this, or, I guess I’m going to have to go buy a pair of shoes, all I have are sandals.  I mean, I know we live in San Diego, but there still is a professionalism in our workforce.

The sad part is that this isn’t just one or two people doing this; there are LOTS of people doing this.  Oh, and to top that off, one new employee wanted to know, after finding out that it’s against our dress code to where torn or holey clothes, if it was okay to wear the jeans that you BUY with holes already in them…again, I don’t get it.

2.  Question the policies in place.  Okay, there is a difference between ASKING questions about a policy and QUESTIONING the policies.  Making cute little quotation marks with your fingers in the air doesn’t make it better. 

When you are told that we do NOT EVER put a child on time out, your response shouldn’t be, “okay but when you do have to have a child on (air quotes) Time out, how is that handled.”

And then, when the trainer responds, “We don’t put them on time out EVER.”

Don’t come back with, “I know, that’s why I did like this (again making air quotes).”

Because you’ll get, from the trainer, “We don’t even to this kind of time out (making air quotes).”

Then, don’t go on to debate with said trainer about what else should you do and proceed to INTERRUPT her every time she begins to tell you what to do instead; this does not bode well with the impression of you at this new job.

Stay away from those two things and you might just jump off on the right foot; do either or both of these things, and you may find that you’ve left a bad impression of yourself.  These are two very small teeny tiny things, but they really leave an impression.