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Job Title: Contracts Manager
Type of Company: I work for a Child Care company, that serves back-up care, full-time care for children and adults. Center-based care, as well as in-home care is provided.
Education: BA in Elementary Education, Stonehill College
Previous Experience: I've been with the same company since graduating college in 2000. I worked for a corporate child care company called ChildrenFirst which provided BACK-UP child care to employees of clients that contracted on with us. I started as a teacher, then customer service liaison, then director and moved to the corporate office 18 months ago.
Job Tasks: Originally I was a teacher at one of the back-up daycare centers, and was ultimately promoted to director. Back-up day care is care at a center in or near a client's location in which parents can bring their child to when their normal regular care breaks down. For example, if the nanny calls out sick, or if there is no school for snow, or vacation weeks, parents can make a reservation to bring their child(ren) into one of our centers. The particular center I worked at did not provide full time care (care for the child everyday) but only on a back-up basis. However, we do offer full time day care centers.
I now made a move to our corporate office to see the behind the scenes business. I manage all of our client contracts for the various companies that contract on with us to provide this back-up care to their employees. I prepare and send the clients' contracts - also assist in the negotiations. I also work closely with the client relations team to negotiate and prepare the deal for the Client. Each client buys something different, so there are negotiations on pricing and what level of service they should be purchasing.
Best and Worst Parts of the Job: As a director, I loved interacting with the families and clients, but most importantly the children of all ages. It was fun to prepare the curriculum and lessons that would be covered that day. The best part was it being back-up you are always meeting new children, but seeing some of the ones you are most familiar with as well. My position now, Contracts Manager, isn't as exciting as it was working in the Centers. There is a lot of data entry at times, and miss the excitement of having the children around!
Job Tips:
1. Take as many curriculum courses as you can, especially EARLY childhood courses which seem to be more limited than elementary courses.
2. Go and visit various centers and do an observation with your interview so you can make sure it is a good fit for you as well as the others you'd be working with.
3. Visit more than one center.
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