Smart Sourcing Strategies for Child Care Staffing

In the child care industry, volume matters — but quality matters more.
You want as many potential candidates as possible seeing your posting, but you also need to screen intentionally for the right skills, experience, and values.

A good sourcing strategy balances:

• Widespread visibility through large job boards
• Specialized targeting through community, education, and referral networks

At the same time, it’s critical to recognize:
Sourcing candidates can quickly become the most time-intensive and costly part of running your center if you’re not careful. Posting jobs, refreshing listings, sorting through unqualified applicants, scheduling interviews — all of it adds up.

To prevent sourcing from overwhelming your operations, we strongly encourage centers to use as many tech and online tools as possible to streamline the process. Smart sourcing isn’t just about finding people — it’s about saving your time and dollars along the way.

Major Sourcing Channels You Should Use

Here’s where we recommend you start:

1. Digital Job Boards

Job sites like Indeed, ZipRecruiter, and LinkedIn dominate the search space — especially for roles in the child care pay range.

Pros:

• Huge volume of candidates actively searching
• Easy to create and promote listings
• Built-in functionality that can save you time

Tips for Using Job Board Tools Efficiently:

• Set up automated screening questions to filter candidates faster
• Use 'sponsored' listings when you need visibility boosted quickly
• Turn on email alerts for new applicants
• Refresh your job postings every 5–7 days to keep them visible

(We dive deeper into how to maximize your postings in Crafting Effective Job Descriptions.)

The key is to use the technology available to automate the tedious parts, so your team can spend time interviewing only qualified, serious candidates.

2. Early Childhood Education (ECE) Programs

Partner with local community colleges, universities, and technical schools that offer early childhood education degrees or certificates. Many students are eager for field experience or first roles post-graduation.

How to tap in:

• Ask to post jobs on internal job boards
• Attend ECE-focused career fairs
• Offer practicums or internships as a recruiting tool

Creating these partnerships early builds a steady pipeline of future educators.

3. Community-Based Recruiting

Local recruitment is still incredibly effective for early childhood roles:

• Post at libraries, community centers, and family organizations
• Engage with local parenting groups
• Network at community events

Candidates who find you locally often already have roots in your area — increasing their likelihood of staying longer.

4. Staff and Community Referral Programs

Some of your best future employees may already be part of your existing community — you just have to invite them into the process.

Implementing a referral program for both your staff and your center families can be one of the most powerful — and cost-effective — ways to hire.

Encouraging staff and parents to recommend candidates:

• Strengthens your culture: It empowers your current community to help shape who joins it.
• Builds trust faster: Referred candidates often already feel connected to your center’s mission and values.
• Saves money: Offering a referral bonus typically costs far less than what you’d spend on recruiting fees, advertising, or administrative time.

How to set it up:

• Offer a monetary bonus (e.g., $100–$300) if the referred employee stays 60–90 days.
• Publicize the program clearly: flyers in the center, emails to parents, reminders at staff meetings.
• Make payouts simple and celebratory to keep momentum going.

Remember: A smart referral bonus isn't just an expense — it's an investment.
If a $200 bonus saves you dozens of hours of recruiting, screening, and interviewing, it more than pays for itself.

(Explore more strategies for retention once you hire great people in 5-Step Guide to Hiring and Retaining 5-Star Staff.)

5. Specialized Child Care Staffing Platforms

Platforms designed specifically for child care staffing, like Tandem, offer a completely different way to recruit.

Unlike general job boards, Tandem eliminates the heavy administrative lift.
We handle the upfront recruiting — identifying motivated, credentialed child care workers through automated, targeted processes built specifically for the ECE field. Workers coming through Tandem are already vetted, compliant, and ready to start work immediately when they interface with your center.

With Tandem, you avoid:

• Sorting through hundreds of resumes
• Scheduling endless interviews
• Chasing down credential verifications

We deliver worker-ready matches, so your admin team can spend their time managing quality, not searching for it.

Bonus Tip: Don’t Wait Until You're Desperate

The best sourcing strategies are ongoing — just like your efforts to recruit new families for enrollment. Staffing should be treated the same way: you’re constantly building and marketing your brand to attract strong candidates, not just reacting when you're desperate for coverage.

Keeping your hiring pipelines open year-round allows you to train floaters, develop future lead teachers, and stay ahead of operational disruptions — rather than scrambling to fill critical gaps at the last minute.

(Learn how staffing ties into growth planning in How to Determine Your Staffing Needs.)

🧸Crib Notes

Like Cliff Notes, but for child care:

• Use smart automation tools on job boards to reduce time and administrative strain.
• Tap into specialized pools like early childhood education programs and staff networks.
• Leverage your existing community — invite both staff and parents to refer potential candidates and offer incentives. A strong referral program strengthens your culture and saves significant recruiting time and costs.
• Utilize staffing platforms like Tandem to eliminate sourcing headaches and connect with ready-to-work child care professionals.
• Recruit proactively year-round so staffing becomes a tool for growth, not a reactive burden.

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