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Discuss everything related to paid childcare here, including childminders, nannies, nurseries and au pairs.

How do I find a spanish au pair?

8 replies

Fiddledee · 10/01/2011 16:39

I would like to hire a spanish au pair from the summer period really ready when my children start school/pre-school. How do I find one?

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kitkat1967 · 10/01/2011 20:11

I have one who started last Friday - from au-pair world website. It was very straight-forward to organise - started looking in December.

Fiddledee · 10/01/2011 21:06

thanks kitkat will have a look

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polkaspots · 10/01/2011 21:23

OOh I would like one too! I keep checking my local Gumtree.

GoldFrakkincenseAndMyrrh · 11/01/2011 07:33

Great au pair and au pair world are the 2 big sites for applicants wanting to come to the UK. Lots of summer applicants though so look carefully at dates!

When you write your ad be very specific what your requirements are (hours, experience, driving license) and what the job involves. If you want someone to speak Spanish with you or your children you need to make that clear as it will put some people off. If you've thought it all through then it should be a breeze and you'll be able to answer any questions an au pair asks.

For example they might want to know if your start date is flexible, whether they'll get holiday (yes, 5.6 weeks/year but you can dictate when that is), how much they'll be paid (typically £70 for 25 hours work but you want to stay under the limits for tax/NI)), what their accommodation will be, whether they will travel with you, whether they can have friends/family/boyfriend to stay, whether they can have a second job (they can but it does cause extra hassle for you) etc.

If you can find someone to translate your ad into Spanish that should cut down the number of, say, German applicants who apply for every job they see in England as it should hopefully be clear you're targeting Spanish applicants!

Bucharest · 13/01/2011 11:43

Thanks!

GoldFrakkincenseAndMyrrh · 13/01/2011 12:05

Bucharest - First Choice au pairs is an agency mentioned frequently, as is Abacus au pairs. The second isn't particularly hot on the legal side of things though.

I've offered to help a couple of my students with the process/ when they find a placement with things like making sure I've explain they're entitled to a contract etc and offering to explain anything about the job they don't understand.

I personally think agencies don't do anything you can't do yourself and some provide very damanging, incorrect advice, so I'd avoid them.

esuntra · 29/01/2011 02:42

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Veronikaash · 29/01/2011 09:52

Aupairka agency provide Spanish au pairs too

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