Finding an Au Pair

TIPS FOR FINDING AN AU PAIR

Here is some advice that should help you to find the perfect au pair for your family!

1. Always begin your search by choosing between 15 and 20 au pairs who may suit your family.  This will reduce down very quickly as you find out more about each other.  By the end of your search you will usually have 2 or 3 au pairs who will match your family really well.  And at the end, there will usually be one perfect au pair for your family!

2. Always begin your search at the front of the au pair list.  These au pairs are the au pairs who have last logged on and are most actively looking for an au pair placement. The further back you go in the list the less likely an au pair is to be actively searching of an au pair position.

3. Always add a photo.  Family profiles with at least one photo get 10 times more interest than profiles that don’t have any photo.

Also we randomly choose families for our 'featured family' position on our home page.  If you would like your photo to be considered for our feature family section, please choose a landscape photo as the 'main photo' on your profile.

4. When choosing your au pair, au pair from EU, EEA and Switzerland can au pair in the UK without the need for a visa. Au pairs from Australia, Japan, New Zealand, Canada and Monaco and British overseas territories citizens can apply for the 'youth mobility scheme'. For all other countries a student visa may be an option.  Please click here for more visa information: http://kangarooaupair.com/au-pair-visas-and-regulations

4. Once you have decided on an au pair that you like, we recommend that you skype him/her a minimum of 3 times before agreeing to an au pair stay.  These skype calls will give you and the au pair the chance to tease out any possible issues and discuss and agree duties and expectations.  It also gives you a chance to get to know the au pair.  Remember this person is going to be living with you so you should ensure that you are both going to get along.  By talking to each other a few times this will help to gauge the au pairs personality and how you are all going to get along when she comes to stay.  For more information see http://kangarooaupair.com/family-information.

5. Do a reference check.  Make sure to speak to your au pair's referees before agreeing to an au pair stay.  Have your questions written down before speaking to the referee. This will ensure that you down forget to ask any important questions.  Remember you will probably only speak to the au pair's referees once so make the most of it!

Due to language barriers some families are unable to carry out reference checking themselves. In this case Kangaroo Au Pair can provide a reference checking service. We have an international staff base who can carry out reference checks in Spanish, French, Portuguese (including Brazilian au pairs), Italian and German. This would entail a comprehensive reference check in which a thorough list of questions would be asked. You would then be supplied with a complete reference check report that would hopefully help you to decide that this au pair is suitable to come and be your family au pair!

If you would like us to carry out a reference check on an au pair please contact us on 020 7060 4877 (UK) or 01 532 8540 (Ireland).

Good luck with your search!