Hi - I've been reading thread after thread on au pairs but still have a couple of questions, as it's our first time considering this.
We are looking for someone to do a preschool and school pick up on Mondays and Tuesdays (basically caring for kids of 3 and 5 for two afternoons a week) and a little bit of housework and babysitting so thought an au pair might be a good idea. Live in London, double room and bathroom shared with kids etc. Not a glamorous bit of london (SE).
Put an ad on au pair world, expecting a few people to be interested. However, I guess because of the economic situation in Europe and the fact that I said we speak some Spanish we've had over 400 applications. It's really hard to work out how many to contact (especially when so many seem so well qualified). I was very clear on what we needed so was surprised that so many people wanted to apply
So what I'm asking is - how did people whittle down applications and how serious are people who put in applications on these sites, in other people's experience? Some are obviously not right but so many seem fine. How many people should I be contacting for more questions/Skype chat?
Any advice on killer questions to ask/things to look out for would be really helpful - also if anyone can point me to a decent contract they've used that would be extremely helpful.
Many thanks in advance.