Au-Pair! needed in 4 weeks time!

[starrystarrynights]

As usual, have left things to the last minute and am on holiday thinking that I need to organise an Au-Pair as soon as possible.

Our last 2 au-pairs were already in the UK and were recommended by friends/colleagues so the process of hiring one is new to me.

We are needing an au-pair to join us from the first wek in September.

I'm assuming that I've left it too late for Au-Pair World etc? If so, is there a process that you would best recommend? i.e. UK agency/Gumtree? We are in South West London so any advice on suitable agencies would be much appreciated please!

Many thanks

I have also just started looking for an aupair for September. I went through an agency called aupairka. Their website is www.aupairka.co.uk
Excellent service so far. In less than a week, I have 4 aupairs from a wide range to interview set up already. They have been very helpful and professional.
Try them or try childcare.co.uk and search under aupairs, there are hundreds registered.

Good luck

it isnt too late for apw or gap, unless you are unlucky. there should be people looking for september start on there. also try gumtree and nannyjob.co.uk

Where are you? I know an Irish girl (early 20s) who is looking for an au pair post in London for Sept.

Not too late for au pair world - personal best is 12 days from first contact to arrival including interviews and taking up references, not ideal but she turned out to be one of our best au pairs.

Thanks everyone for your responses - I'm glad to hear that we should be ok for a September au-pair. I'll get on the case asap .

Constantly Cooking - we're in Balham. Perhaps we could exchange details if the Irish girl you know is interested?

When your au pair arrives, if you are looking for a social network for her, our au pair is Dutch, 22, and we are in Streatham Hill. Please CAT me if you would like to put them in touch with each other.

CC - I am looking for an aupair for Sept/Oct so if the lady you know is still looking please CAT me. I am in Herts/North London borders.

Thanks

I will also be looking for a new aupair for the first week of September. I use aupairworld website.

I haven't done anything yet but maybe I should. I have hired out-of-season on far shorter time frames eg 2 weeks. This will be in season so expecting to be able to go from start to aupair's arrival in 3-4 weeks max.

I suppose I should get cracking ... sigh.

I am looking for au pair+ from September too.
I registered with aupairka agency(www.aupairka.co.uk) on wednesday, by today i got 3 applicants and tommorow interview with them. Very profesional and fast service till now.

Thanks everyone - DTLW - I'll be in touch, thanks for your offer .

Final question re au-pair world etc - I'm assuming that you only speak on the telephone/e-mail au-pairs in their home country and don't actually meet them face to face before they arrive in the UK. That sounds a bit scary to me as have always met or previous au-pairs face to face before. Have you found that these au-pais have lived up to their CV's etc?

Thanks again

I have an au-pair from au-pair world. She is here for 6 weeks, only 3 left . She was only one of two that I actually 'chatted' with on msn and email though I shortlisted some profiles. She arrived within 2 weeks and has been utterly fab. I will miss her. I know I have been lucky and just went with my gut instinct though did checks refs too obv.

From registering and putting up a profile, I had about 15 or more replies within 30 minutes. Worth a try definitely. I would recommend her but she has to go home.

starry, 'tis standard to only have email/telephone contact when recruiting aupairs, unless you go for aupairs that are already in UK, which is not such a bad idea.

I try to go for aupairs with previous aupair experience, preferably in the UK or with an English speaking family that I can follow up references with over the phone.

My 2 most fab aupairs had previous aupair experience in UK and wanted to change families for a change of scene. The families gave them glowing references.

My other aupairs (some with, some without previous aupair experience) also had glowing references but weren't so good, one outright dud. Not sure how she hoodwinked her reference tbh.

I have never really met aupairs face-to-face, even if they were in UK. References are key for me (but not foolproof), as is previous aupair experience, preferably in UK. Plus how responsive the aupair in replying emails, standard of English and personality.

Hi, I´m also looking for an au pair for September. I use a good website www.nannygps.com. You can add your family profile free and search the database for available au pairs. I got some suitable candidates already. I generally ask a few questions via email first and then telephone interview. Works for us. At this stage I really know the type of au pair that suits our family and have been very lucky with the au pairs we´ve had.

We interviewed our au pair via Skype, I wasn't sure how realistic that was but when she got here she was just the same as over the computer and she said we were too.

I just hired an au pair. We made contact via greataupair.com, exchanged several e-mails (including a rather large questionnaire), then had a chat on skype with the kids. Skype was really good for assessing the lever of English and as close as we could get to actually seeing each other.

She arrives in a few weeks, so I'll have to get back to you and how good she is. (although my expectations are very high based on interviews)