Where can I find an aupair?

[OneLieIn]

We are looking for a new ap to come and live with us. What websites or agencies have you used that have worked out well?

We have advertised on gumtree and apworld, but just keen to cover all bases.

we used Aupairka agency, very fast service, they provided my family with lovely au pair.

to advertise try:
childcare.co.uk
or getaupairjobs.net or advert in locall sphop if you live in town/city

good luck

abacus aupair agency is very good. reasonable rates and very good service.

There's also greataupair and easyaupair.

and the inevitable aupairworld.net

There is a big difference between the approach of advertising yourself via a web site like apworld or gumtree and using an agency.

If you advertise yourself then the pros are:

1. It is a lot less expensive (this does depend on how much you value your own time)
2. You can ensure the information in your advert is as accurate, comprehensive and thorough as possible
3. You are in control of the process and in the early stages you can move it along by responding to candidates without having to wait for a 3rd party to get back to you with a short list (although you'll still be waiting for each individual candidate to reply to your messages etc)
4. It is possible to find just as good a person among all the people available (in my opinion though there is a lot of dross to sift through).

The cons of advertisng like this are:

1. The more detailed the advert you write, yo uare giving away a lot of very personal information about yourself and your family to anyone who reads it.
2. You need to invest A LOT of your own time (to filter through applicants, write to them, ask them supplementary questions etc).
3. You will meet a lot of time wasters (some seem to use these web sites like another social networking site)
4. When the au pair arrives you will have to give more time over to helping her to settle, take her to places/meet new friends etc. (you don't have access to the same network of other au pairs although there are places to help)
5. If the placement doesn't work out then you may have to start the process all over again (i.e. if the person doesn't turn up etc.)

Looking at specific websites to advertise, then my feeling about gumtree or other sites that will appeal to more people who are already UK based... ...is that they are already in the UK - therefore if they are looking for au pair roles then why? Either first placement has gone wrong or they were here to do something else in the first place..

If you use an agency then the pros are:

1. You have access to candidates that have already been screened & interviewed (identity/qualifications/health/police/reference checked etc)
2. You also benefit from other people's assessment about them
3. You have ongoing support in case of issues, questions etc.
4. The agency will help your au pair settle in and put her in touch with a network of like-minded people organising social events etc
5. You should have a settling in period that allows you to choose a replacement if things aren't working out

The cons of using an agency are:

1. The cost - anything from a few hundred pounds up to £500 - £600 depending on the agency plus VAT for the bigger ones
2. Initially you may not see a response from the agency while candidates are being approached
3. There are no guarantees that they will have any candidates for you
4. There are no guarantess that the candidate they eventually find you will be 'perfect' but there is really no such thing as the perfect au pair..!

Some agencies are better than others. The standard of candidate they have will vary.

They can only offer candidate that they register themselves, or who they are sent by other agencies. We used to do it ourselves via Great Au Pair or Au Pair World as we preferred to deal directly with the au pair. With time pressures and past time wasters though, we now use an agency who register and interview all their own candidates so we can get a personal second opinion about each of them directly from the person who's interviewed them.

treeesa - out of interest, have you found any difference in the quality of candidates between those who come from websites to agencies?

Another place you could consider is asking your local language college if they know of any students looking for an AP position. Our first AP came via this route and was fantastic.

Looking for an au pair via a web site is like looking for a big pebble on a shingle beach. They are there but you have to sift around a bit to find them/uncover them amongst all the shingle.

Looking for an au pair through an agency is like looking for a big pebble on a pebble beach.

But quality wise a pebble from a sandy beach can be just as good as a pebble from a shingle beach...!

Hope that makes sense..!

I had some great candidates from websites in the past. Problem is they were popular with other families and I got gazumped a fair number of times.