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Family Services Sample Interview Questions

This resource offers sample interview questions that Head Start managers, supervisors, and directors can use when hiring family services professionals and home visitors. The general and specific interview questions align with the 10 Relationship-Based Competencies to Support Family Engagement (RBCs). The RBCs are the knowledge, skills, and practices that family services professionals use to effectively engage with parents, families, and community partners in Head Start programs.

You can use this resource in several ways:

  • Select questions that feel most relevant to your program when hiring a family services professional.
  • Modify these questions based on the specific interests and needs of your program and community.
  • Use this resource as a starting place, and then brainstorm your list of interview questions.

Review Conducting Effective Interviews to learn interview planning strategies.

Considerations for Prioritizing Inclusivity and Cultural and Linguistic Responsiveness in Interviews

Foundational to parent, family, and community engagement (PFCE) in Head Start programs are positive and goal-oriented relationships with families that are based on equity, inclusiveness, and cultural and linguistic responsiveness. Review the following considerations for prioritizing equity, inclusiveness, and cultural and linguistic responsiveness in the interview process to provide a positive interview experience for everyone involved:

  • Create interview panels that include staff members who represent a variety of diverse backgrounds and different roles within your program and who can bring in a range of perspectives.
  • Include a current or former Head Start parent, caregiver, or Policy Council member on the interview panel. Their participation and feedback on candidates can help shape the hiring process and inform hiring decisions. To support parents’ and caregivers’ leadership skills, expertise, and contributions to your program, consider engaging them to participate in the interview process.
  • Reflect on your own biases, and provide all staff involved in hiring decisions with opportunities to reflect on their own perspectives during the hiring process. Remain open to candidates of all races, ethnicities, sexual orientations, gender identities and expressions, religions, abilities, and cultural backgrounds.
  • Offer the option for virtual interviews when possible. Some candidates may prefer in-person interviews, while others may prefer to meet virtually. Virtual interviews offer flexibility for candidates who are currently employed, live far from the program, have disabilities, or have additional barriers to participating in an in-person interview.
  • Use standardized interview questions so that all candidates respond to the same questions. Using standardized questions helps reduce implicit bias by ensuring that all candidates are evaluated using the same criteria.
  • Send interview questions to candidates in advance to reduce candidates’ stress and to support those who may have different communication or learning styles.
  • When introducing yourself to a candidate, share your personal gender pronouns (examples: she/her, he/him, they/them). Sharing your personal gender pronouns models inclusiveness and shows candidates that you respect and accept candidates of all gender identities.
  • When hiring someone for a bilingual role, create job descriptions in both languages; send interview questions to the candidate in the languages that they will be expected to use in that role (e.g., English and Spanish).
  • Assess the language skills of a candidate for a bilingual role using oral or written assessments, depending on the requirements of the role and the families served by the program. The assessments may be formal or informal and may occur during or outside the interview. For example, you could ask candidates to respond to some interview questions in one language and then respond to other questions in the second language, allowing you to assess their verbal communication skills and fluency in both languages.
  • Create interactive or applied activities to assess the candidate’s skills. Activities may include role-plays where you ask the candidate to engage in conversations as if they were meeting a family for the first time, or as if they were supporting someone in setting a family goal. Another option is to offer written scenarios that candidates could respond to and discuss.
  • Leave time for the candidate to ask questions to learn more about your program. The interview process is not only about finding the right candidate for your program; it is also an opportunity for the candidate to learn more about your organization and assess if the role and program align with their professional goals, strengths, and interests. Share more about your program’s mission, staff benefits and experiences, and commitment to equity, inclusiveness, and cultural and linguistic responsiveness.

General Interview Questions to Get to Know the Candidate

  • Please tell us about yourself and why you are interested in working as a family services professional in a Head Start program.
  • What are three words or phrases your past coworkers (or family members or friends) use to describe you?
  • What does “family engagement” mean to you?
  • What do you think is the most important element for successful family engagement?
  • What does a good day at work look like for you?
  • What do you find to be most rewarding about working with families?

Interview Questions to Assess Relationship-Based Practices

Consider including interview questions to help you assess the candidate’s strengths related to the RBCs. Use the sample questions below or develop your own.

Positive, Goal-oriented Relationships

RBCRelevant Skills
  • Positive, Goal-oriented Relationships

Engages in mutually respectful, positive, goal-oriented partnerships with families to promote positive child and family outcomes.

  • Uses effective, responsive communication skills with families. Examples include paying attention to both verbal and nonverbal messages, listening carefully without interrupting, and repeating what the other person said to ensure mutual understanding.
  • Creates opportunities for parents to identify their goals for their children and themselves, and regularly follows up on progress.
  • Adjusts plans, approaches, and services to meet each family’s unique needs.

Sample Interview Questions

  • A significant part of this job is focused on building and maintaining relationships with families. How do you approach building relationships? What would you do to create a positive relationship with a parent or caregiver you have just met?
  • Tell us about a time when you helped someone achieve a goal that they set for themselves. What did you do to support this person in making progress towards the goal? 
  • Scenario: You are working with a parent who does not seem interested in engaging in the program activities. They don’t attend any parent events, and they have missed some of the one-to-one meetings you have scheduled with them. What would you do to build your relationship with this parent?

Self-aware and Culturally Responsive Relationships

RBCRelevant Skills
  • Self-aware and Culturally Responsive Relationships

Respects and responds to the cultures, languages, values, and family structures of each family.

  • Reflects on their own beliefs, values, experiences, ethics, and biases to increase self-awareness.
  • Seeks information about the strengths, cultures, languages, beliefs, values, and circumstances of each family.
  • Shows respect for the contributions of home languages and cultures to create shared understandings.

Sample Interview Questions

  • Equity, inclusiveness, and cultural and linguistic responsiveness are essential for effective family engagement. What do equity, inclusiveness, and cultural and linguistic responsiveness mean to you when working with families?
  • The person in this position will engage with individuals from different racial, ethnic, and cultural backgrounds. Please share about a time in which you worked closely with families or community members whose racial, ethnic, or cultural backgrounds were different from your own. What did you do to build positive relationships and make these interactions successful?
  • Please share about an experience when you became aware of your own implicit biases and worked to overcome those biases.
  • How does your own racial, ethnic, or cultural background inform your approach to family engagement?

Family Well-being and Families as Learners

RBCRelevant Skills
  • Family Well-Being and Families as Learners

Supports families’ reflections on and planning for their safety, health, education, well-being, and life goals.

  • Applies information about families’ strengths, talents, cultures, languages, aspirations, resources, challenges, needs, and goals in their work with families.
  • Uses a supportive and nonjudgmental approach when talking with parents about difficult or sensitive topics.
  • Expresses kindness, warmth, and compassion when families are overwhelmed by demanding challenges, trauma, or stress.

Sample Interview Questions

  • Family services professionals partner with families to support family well-being. What does “family well-being” mean to you?
  • Please share about a time when you supported someone in your personal life or who you knew through a past job who was experiencing a crisis. What did you do to support the other person? What emotions came up for you? How did you handle your emotions?
  • Working daily with families may be stressful. We hope to create a culture of staff wellness where we encourage staff to practice self-care and stress management. What supports do you need from your employer to help you manage work-related stress and support your mental and emotional health?

Parent–Child Relationships and Families as Lifelong Educators

RBCRelevant Skills
  • Parent–Child Relationships and Families as Lifelong Educators

Partners with families to build strong parent-child relationships and supports parents as the first and lifelong educators of their children.

  • Communicates with families about child progress in ways that deepen trust and build relationships with families.
  • Focuses on child and family strengths in discussions with parents about their children.
  • Guides and connects parents with resources to address developmental concerns, including how to manage child behaviors in positive, developmentally appropriate, and inclusive ways.

Sample Interview Questions

  • The Head Start program values families as “the first and most important teachers of their children.” What does that mean to you?
  • Scenario: A child in a family you work with has been biting her friends in the classroom. The child’s teacher has asked you to have a conversation with the parent to let them know about this behavior and to find ways the parent can support the child. How would you approach this conversation with the parent? What emotions might come up for the parent? What emotions might come up for you?
  • Scenario: You are working with parents who are separated and living in different households. You have discovered that one parent is potty training the child; the other parent, however, is not potty training and is still using diapers. The child’s teacher has shared that the child seems confused about using the potty in the classroom. How might you partner with both parents to find a consistent approach to potty training their child?

Family Connections to Peers and Community

RBCRelevant Skills
  • Family Connections to Peers and Community

Works with families to strengthen their support networks and connections with other parents and community members who can address families’ strengths, interests, and challenges.

  • Identifies the common and individual interests, strengths, and challenges of parents and uses that information to plan activities and opportunities for group learning.
  • Coordinates training, educational, and parenting skill opportunities for parents. Examples include adult education, life skills, parenting curriculum, family literacy, and employment training.
  • Uses group facilitation skills to lead parenting groups effectively.

Sample Interview Questions

  • Scenario: A family just enrolled in your program. They recently moved to town, and they do not know anyone. How might you support them in building connections and relationships with other families?
  • Please share about a time when you facilitated or led a workshop, group discussion, or support group. What was the topic of the conversation? What did you do to prepare to lead this conversation?
  • Imagine that you are planning four parenting education workshops to take place throughout the year. What would be your process to identify the topics for these events?

Family Connections to Peers and Community

RBCRelevant Skills
  • Family Access to Community Resources

Supports families’ use of community resources to make progress toward positive child and family outcomes.

  • Partners with families to identify services and resources to help them reach their goals.
  • Recognizes when immediate assistance or support is needed for a family, especially when a child shows signs of possible developmental delay or a family shares concerns about food insecurity, family and child safety, environmental toxins (e.g., lead in the water supply or building) or expresses a need for emergency shelter.
  • Supports partnerships with schools and community service providers to serve families more effectively.

Sample Interview Questions

  • Imagine that a family is experiencing a crisis and will need support from another local community agency. Please describe your process and the steps you would take to connect the family to the community agency.
  • How would you partner with a family whose members do not follow through with service referrals? For example, you share information with a family about how to apply for affordable housing; you’ve checked back with the family twice, and they haven’t acted on the referral. How would you approach this situation?
  • Please describe a time when you partnered effectively with an external partner or community agency to achieve a goal. What did you do to make this partnership successful?

Leadership and Advocacy

RBCRelevant Skills
  • Leadership and Advocacy

Works alongside parents to build on their strengths as advocates for their families and as leaders in the program and community.

  • Includes families in decision making, planning, implementing, and evaluating change at different levels of the organization.
  • Listens to families’ ideas and encourages them to move their ideas forward.
  • Supports families in developing skills and confidence to be effective leaders and advocates for their children.

Sample Interview Questions

  • What is your experience with family leadership and advocacy? In other words, what is your experience with including the recipients of services in planning or making decisions about those services?
  • Scenario: A family is transitioning out of your program and will be starting kindergarten soon. The child has a disability and the family is worried that they will not receive the support that the child needs at the new school. How would you support the family in advocating for their child as they transition to the new school?
  • Scenario: A parent you’re working with is a new member of the program’s Policy Council. (The Policy Council is a group of Head Start parents and community members who help lead and make decisions about their program.) The parent will be presenting at the next Policy Council meeting and is feeling nervous about public speaking. How might you support this parent as they prepare for their presentation?

Coordinated, Integrated, and Comprehensive Services

RBCRelevant Skills
  • Coordinated, Integrated, and Comprehensive Services

Works with other professionals and agencies to support coordinated, integrated, and comprehensive services for families across the organization, community, and system.

  • Partners with their supervisor, parents, staff, and other experts or peers to find information when needed.
  • Reaches out to other professionals to better coordinate and integrate services for families.
  • Secures parental consent before sharing information within programs and with outside agencies that will improve services for children and families.

Sample Interview Questions

  • One of the responsibilities of this role is planning and coordinating parent/family events. Please share about a time when you planned an event for a group of people from start to finish. How did you collaborate with participants, colleagues, or external partners to coordinate this event? What were the outcomes? What did you learn from the process?
  • What does “confidentiality” mean to you when working with families? What are different ways you could show respect and protect families’ confidentiality in this position?
  • Scenario: You know that many families in the program are interested in obtaining a GED or college degree. How would you go about creating a partnership with adult education services?

Data-driven Services and Continuous Improvement

RBCRelevant Skills
  • Data-driven Services and Continuous Improvement

Collects information with families and reflects with them to inform goal-setting, planning, and implementation to effect progress and outcomes for families, children, programs, and communities.

  • Engages families as active participants in collecting and analyzing information (e.g., through surveys, observation, or other sources of information from families) to enhance and individualize services.
  • Applies information about child development and family well-being to individualize services, decision-making, and practices.

Sample Interview Questions

  • Part of this job requires staff to collect information from families through surveys, forms, and conversations and then use that information to plan and improve family engagement services. (Staff on the interview panel are encouraged to share an example of collecting and using family data in their program.) Please describe an experience when you collected information and then used the information to plan or improve something.
  • What is your process for documenting your interactions with clients or families? How do you stay organized and up to date on all required paperwork or case notes?
  • Family services professionals partner with families to set goals and make progress on their goals. How might you support a family in tracking their progress on their goals over time?

Professional Growth

RBCRelevant Skills
  • Professional Growth

Shows professionalism and participates actively in opportunities for ongoing professional development related to family engagement.

  • Engages in reflective practice (self-reflection) to gain insights to enhance work with families and their children.
  • Seeks opportunities to learn and apply new knowledge about strengths-based, culturally and linguistically responsive family engagement.
  • Maintains professional boundaries with other family services professionals, teachers and child care providers, children, and families.

Sample Interview Questions

  • What do you look for in a supervisor? What can your supervisor do to help you do your best work?
  • Please share about a time when you experienced a challenge or conflict in a past job. How did you resolve it? What lessons did you learn from this experience? What would you do differently if you experienced this situation again?
  • Being flexible and adaptable to a changing environment is important in this role. Please share an example of a time when you had to adjust to a changing situation at work that you had no control over. How do you react when requirements change suddenly after working on a project for a while?
  • What is your learning style? What types of learning opportunities support your professional growth?

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