Au pair interview questions..?

[AbieH]

We have a lovely au pair at the moment, but she's going back to France in a few weeks so I'm advertising for a new one and will be interviewing soon. The problem is that this au pair, Élise, is the daughter of my French exchange from years ago, so I never actually interviewed her- I'd known her her whole life.
So now I have no idea how to go about interviewing a potential au pair, as I've never done it before! She will be living with us full-time, obviously, and looking after my daughters so I need to find out if she's actually a normal/decent/kind/intelligent human being but I don't know how to figure that out! Tips/question ideas? Thank you x

If you PM me, I will send you our questionnaire....it is something like this....

What is your full name?
What is your date of birth?
What is your home address?
Can you start in xxxxx? This is the start date we need
How long do you plan to stay with us?
Why do you want to be an au pair?
How would your best friend describe you?
What are your hobbies/interests?
Have you looked after children before? Please tell me about this (how old were they? What did you do? What did you like about it)
How long have you held your driving licence? How often do you drive? How confident are you driving? Do you have any penalty points or endorsements? Have you had any accidents?
What experience do you have of housework? Are there any areas of housework you are not happy to do or areas you are not confident in which you would need extra supervision?
What do you plan to do in your spare time when you are with us?
What is your current level of English - conversational and written? Can you, for example, chat on the phone, understand simple instructions?
Do you intend to take English language lessons when in UK?
What food do you like? What food do you not like? What is your favourite meal? Can you cook? What do you cook?
Do you have any allergies/health concerns? Describe your health in the last year.
Please give a brief description of your family, who you live with, your role within your family etc.
What sort of family would you like to stay with? What would make your stay in our town a happy one?
What do you plan to do after your stay?
What will you do to make friends in xxx?
Have you stayed long periods of time abroad before?
Can you swim? Would you be happy to take our our children who can swim to the pool?
Do you have any friends/relatives in the UK? If so, where do they live?
What references are you able to provide? Please include their relationship to you and contact details including email address.
Can you send us a Certificate of non criminal record?
Is there anything else you would like to tell us about yourself? Or any questions for us?

Please attach a few photos of yourself, maybe with your family and together with any children you might have looked after in the past.

We hope you can answer all of these questions. It is a lot, but we think it is important that we can get to know each other now and both be sure we would be a good match for each other.

And be v specific on the job description, can send you ours if you like.

Be aware that most au-pairs do not speak fantastic English, so you may have to cut your interview short. Try to use very simple questions for them to understand...
Do you drive daily in your home town?

Do you think you will be able to drive in London?
What do you like most about looking after children?
What is your difficulty with them?
Would you be able to look after our children at home if they friend over for couple of hours?
Have you ever lived alone?
I see you have a dog, how do you feel about leaving him at home?

As open ended questions - not one they can answer with a simple yes or no (unless it's do you smoke!!! or can you work in the UK w/o a visa!!)

Thanks, that's very helpful! Fingers crossed we find someone good :)

What are your friends doing at the moment?
What do your parents do?
Describe a typical weekday in your home...
Describe a weekend day in your home...
Do your family sit down and have meals together?
Do you have to help with housework, describe how...
Is there anything you don't eat?
What are you plans for the next few years?
What hobbies do you have that you'd wish to persue in the UK?
Describe how you play with children (if you have young ones)?

Also skype au-pairs. It's amazing how much body language tells you and also gives you a much better idea of a person's English level. Having someone who doesn't understand anything you say can drive you pretty crazy.

Cjn's questions about their own family routine are good.

One thing we have learned in the past three years is that the au pair is coming to live as part of the family,yes, but YOUR FAMILY. The idea is not that things are going to be done exactly/expectations are the same as if she were still in her own home.

This year I also told the au pairs they should think of themselves as a 'young aunt' NOT an 'older sister' for the DCs. You need to get across that they need to see themselves as one of the adults in the house.

Skyping is really important. We ruled out a girl who was great on email but the chemistry wasn't tehre in person. I have also had phone calls but an unconfident au pair can find this more intimidating than skype - the body language is good for both of you.

I wouldn't hire anyone I hadn't phoned or skyped with - you never know if someone else is replying to their emails - not in a sinister way but because they need help with their English.