No applications for au pair role... what am I doing wrong...

[fromheretomaternity]

I advertised a few days back for an au pair on Au Pair World and haven't had a single message or enquiry. I'm new to the whole au pair thing and wondering if I've made some kind of faux pas? or narrowed down the countries too much (Germany and Scandinavia)? or maybe left my recruitment too late? My ad is below - I've taken out a few location details here to anonymise. If anyone could feed back on it I'd be most grateful (ps not fishing for applicants - genuinely bewildered as to why we've had no interest):

Dear Au pair
Our family in London is seeking a responsible, energetic and caring au pair. You would be looking after our two lovely boys who go to the local school a few minutes walk away.

You will have a good-sized room in our house, with wifi, TV and a desk. We live in [area], a very safe and pleasant area of London, close to local shops, cafes and parks and a short walk or bus ride away from the tube, taking you into central London. There is a good local network of au pairs and many local language schools.

About us
We are a family of four - both Mum (42) and Dad (44) work full-time in central London. Our two boys are aged 7 and 4. They are energetic, fun-loving, funny and caring, and love football, our local park, and art; our oldest is learning the piano. They are very happy at the local school and have a good network of friends. At weekends we like to visit family, do trips out with the children and spend time at home.

We are a friendly and relaxed family and are looking for someone who will fit in with us, but also have their own time and space to be able to enjoy life in London.

Expectations
We are looking for someone aged 19-24 with a very good standard of English, experience in working with children, and a mature and calm attitude. Enthusiasm for caring for two lively, outdoor-loving children is essential. A driving license would be highly desirable, as would cooking skills; you must be a non-smoker. References will be required.

We would need you to work 30 hours per week, plus up to two nights a week babysitting; we are looking for someone who can be flexible with their time and occasionally help out a little at weekends. Duties would include getting the children to school in the morning; picking them up from school / after-school clubs and entertaining them after school, including play dates with their friends; and making their evening meal. We may need some overtime in school holidays. We would also expect some light housework such as the laundry (we have a cleaner).

We can offer full board and lodging and pocket money of £120 per week. Our ideal start date is 8/9 August 2015, and we’d like to find someone who can stay with us for 12 months.

If this sounds like it might suit you, please get in touch!

I think it sounds more like a nanny job - exp with kids, able to cook, driving licence? and aged under 24? sounds like a rare bird tbh. Maybe reduce your criteria a bit or look for a nanny and pay accordingly.
I know others will have told you, but 'au pair' means 'equal' to be treated like an elder daughter would be.

I'd make it clear that your 4 year old will be in school full time. Maybe they think they'd have him all day? How does just before school and after school (not including babysitting & weekends) add up to 30 hours anyway?

As a former and current Au Pair who has been using Au Pair world to find my host families, a few things would put me off with your ad.

Unlike most people on here, I find the 'dear Au Pair' and the description of your family very good and the fact that you describe your kids as 'lively' wouldn't bother me in the slightest as most people seem to expect boys to have much more energy than girls anyway.

The part that would put me off is the part about your expectations. You come across as 'pretty strict' (even if that's probably just the wording that's at fault) and this would be the first thing to put me off. Then you seem to have a lots of requirement that do not necessarily match a typical Au Pair profile as most girl would come to the UK to learn English and it would probably their first experience out of home (especially if you are aiming for younger Au Pairs) so their cooking skills might not be very high. Mentioning being able to cook for an Au Pair may mean that you expect her to cook meals for everyone etc... if so say that in the ad, if not, just add that someone that can cook pasta and chop some veggies is fine.

I find the 30 hours per week pretty average so it wouldn't bother me ( as I have worked 45+ for far less than that) but the possible working on weekends on top of (two) nights baby-sitting would put me off greatly. You also mention more hours during school holidays, will she be paid extra for this or not ? If so mention it.

Finally, you mention light housekeeping which is totally normal and expected yet the only example you give is laundry while the Au Pair is supposed to do child related house chores. I do the laundry of the entire family here but that's because it doesn't change anything for me to add the parents laundry with the one of their child. So instead as an example I would say '' like any member of the family we would expect you to give us a hand to keep the house tidy by cleaning after the boys (with their help) and doing their laundry, so nothing really heavy as we have a cleaner."

I really think it's all about wording really. What I am personally the most attracted to are families that show me from their ad that they are excited to have an Au Pair and ad a new member to their family (aka me) but in your ad you make it sound as a job and not something an Au Pair would naturally enjoy. If you enjoy camping or going hiking or whatever talk about it in your ad and tell the potential Au Pair that you would love it if she joined but isn't expected to if she would rather do something else.
Make it sound as you'll treat them as a new addition to your family and not as a simple employee... :)

If you don't require the Au Pair to speak a specific language to your kids then I would forget the specific countries as most Au Pairs will make friends no matter where they are from. (I am French and my friends here are German, Polish, Australians, Chinese etc... no Frenchie and I am perfectly fine. ) why do you only want Au Pairs between 19 and 24 ? ( out of curiosity as it's also limit your potential candidates.)

Sorry for the huge response but hopefully it helped a bit and help you find the perfect Au Pair for you and your family. :)

Op your ad is fine and you will get plenty of applicants, but be proactive and apply to the girls you like. Nothing wrong with looking for certain countries only, the Scandinavians are pretty fluent in English and come for the experience rather than the language. Dont listen to all the negativity on here, you dont need a nanny, its an au pair role and its perfectly acceptable working hourS. Good luck! Choose wisely and you willhave a great experience!

Ad is completely standard for an au pair EXCEPT the weekend part. I would take that out. I don't actually understand why you've not had many replies- we had hundreds. "Lively" boys might be seen as a euphemism for badly behaved but many au pairs' English isn't that nuanced, so I don't think so.

For people who haven't recruited on au pair world before, there are only two metrics to limit the number of applicants - age and nationality. Many still won't read the ad and the other (employment law friendly) requirements properly anyway. I don't disagree age and nationality aren't brutal metrics and it is interesting this is still allowed but otherwise you'd be deluged in most cases. I can't see how the site would be functional if you didn't have at least these metrics of control -they could use other metrics I agree.

There is no way, for example, on au pair world to click a drop down box which states: EU nationals only (to ensure they have the right to work here). You have to go through and tick all the nationalities that would apply. Au Pair World also allows applicants from countries who have no right whatsoever to work in the UK, which is also employer highly unfriendly.

THe site is not perfect by any means.

BTW - I don't think you sound strict at all. Odd reaction.

definitely put pictures up if you haven't though - there was something about au pairs who didn't send me photos that I found very offputting and I can well imagine an AP feeling the same.

I don't think it sounds 'strict' either, but I don't think it's fair to describe that as an 'odd' reaction. As someone who is an au pair with English as a second language that poster's views are valuable as to how the advert reads. A reaction different to yours isn't automatically 'odd'!

I am on AP World at the mo and have had over 90 applicants despite similar nationality restrictions and tighter age restrictions (18-21 only). We pay £30 less than you but ask for 25 hours only, plus provide a three day weekend. We do ask for two babysittings and specify one is at the weekend. Like you we require a very high standard of English. So basically what I am trying to say is I suspect its the hours and the threat to the weekend that is the problem. Most APs want protected time to exploe the city and even travel at weekends.

I have 2 boys, and our last 3 APs have been French males....all wonderful. Agree with most other comments, but I wouldn't narrow search by nationality. Agree with ages though.

Well I think it's odd and I'm entitled to my views too. I honestly couldn't grasp why.

You are of course entitled to your views. It just seemed a bit unnecessary to term it an 'odd reaction'. A bit spiteful towards someone who is generally a helpful poster and was only detailing how the ad read to her. Maybe she can come back and explain what specifically seemed strict to her? It could just be a misunderstanding of a word/phrase. English is her second language don't forget (as it will be for most of the au pairs reading the ad).

It wasn't spiteful it was just my opinion.

Sounds like you want a nanny housekeeper for £4 an hour? Is this normal? I'm looking for someone similar, but more hours and live out, and am expecting to pay £8-9 net! We have similar aged kids plus one 2 year old and the laundry (for the entire family) is a big job in itself.

I think the deal breaker is the flexibility/ possible weekend working. All my au pairs wanted a set routine, and despite me stressing flexibility never wanted to swap weekdays (they did a 4 day routine, 3 day weekend). The hours and babysitting are absolutely fine for what you are paying. I'd ditch the driving bit if you are in London, it will put a lot of them off, and also adjust your cooking expectations to boiling pasta. Anything else is a bonus. Good luck!

It's completely normal for an au pair Roseotta.
Au pairs live in, are part of the family, eat with the family, go on family days out etc. The cost for an au pair is much higher when you factor in the extra costs and many families pay for language school, provide an Oyster card and pay for a phone contract or gym membership. Mine did approx 20 hours per week over 4 days, which was light. The agency I used recommended 25 hours, two evenings babysitting, and pocket money of at least £80 per week (this was several years ago). We treated them like I would hope someone would treat my own daughter if she became an au pair, like one of the family. When the children were younger I had live out and paid £10 net. When they were older an au pair worked well for us.

Thanks all, I really appreciate you spending the time to have a look at this. I do now see I've been too much in 'I'm employing someone to look after my children' mode rather than 'I'm giving someone an opportunity for a fun year in London in a nice home'. I've had a couple of responses now after adding a couple more nationalities on but I think the whole ad needs a rethink (and that I adjust my own expectations too on things like dreams of going out for weekend coffees with dh... sigh). Basically I need to think more from the au pair's point of view. And I do want them to be happy and have a great year!

I've now registered with an agency as I was finding it all a bit daunting and also because I've started to worry about how on earth I would check out credentials of candidates living in countries where I don't speak the language. The agency hopefully can also help set my expectations straight. So I may see how that goes before plunging back to AuPairWorld.

Maybe you did cyclist. My point was that the ad didn't seem to suggest that sort of arrangement but rather was looking for an employee. Good luck OP, I agree with your last post, sure you will find someone lovely with a few tweaks!

Ovienna. I agree that 'strict' was the wrong wording as Outraged nicely reminded you, English is not my first language so I apologize.
So by strict I meant that her ad seemed very 'employer like' by that I mean that it came across as if she was only looking for a new nanny and not for a new addition to her family. This can be very off-putting to Au Pairs and she herself agreed that her ad could come across that way. :)

Now about the 'odd' comment I didn't find it spiteful at all (need more than this to offend me ) but unnecessary. When you read a book that you love do you find it odd if other people hate it ? I am pretty sure you don't and realise that everything can come across very differently to people and that's okay. So I can't see the need of 'calling me off' on that one (especially with the knowledge that english wasn't necessarily my first language), but each to their own I guess so no offence taken.

OP, you sound great and I am sure you'll soon find a lovely Au Pair to join your family !

PS: the perfect Au Pair won't mind giving you a hand for you and DH to have a coffee over the weekend as long as you don't abuse the privilege I am sure. :)

I was surprised how much was read into my post but that's the Internet. I could have written a lengthy explanation of exactly what meant but I didn't on this occasion so apologies if this hurt your feelings! it is interesting to hear a view from an au pair and helpful to the OP. I see what you mean now.

The other thing that occurred to me- and I def won't phrase this well- is that does the combination of higher hours, higher pay, and flexibility suggest that it's really a full time job by the back door and not a standard AP role?

I am not suggesting the OP intends this it's that our first AP ad was the least successful and had some of these features although no weekend work. When we went to standard hours, standard pay (25,90) it was very easy to recruit.

meli
I hope you have a nice family BTW!!! And a good year/years as an AP.

OP - do not expect an Agency to do much credential checking. IME they do nothing other than forward you a few CVs. I am afraid I found Agencies a total rip off and our best au pairs have always been from AP World.

I'm on AP world as well. I would open it up personally to all EU. Am getting lots of interest (and am not in London) from Spanish/Portugese girls, extremely qualified, because of the economy there. Some Italians. And a smattering of Scandinavians/Dutch.

I need a driver as we're outside London but as others have said you could get away with having a non-driver given public transport.

If they're doing before/after school during the week, some laundry etc, that's actually only about 25 hours isn't it plus 2 x babysitting. I think starting the hours with a '2' helps psychologically!

Other than that though I think it sounds fine!

I sat back for a bit and waited for the applications to roll in, and panicked when they didn't...it's worth spending an evening going through your matches and 'favouriting' ones you like the look of (they'll see you've done that), seeing who's favourited you, or even proactively emailing some who sound spot on. Just like internet dating!!!

Good luck . And don't DARE take any from my shortlist! .

OP - consider speaking to the German YMCA in London, they place au pairs in the Greater London area.
We had many recommendations for them, but didn't use them ourselves as we are outside London, but they did put me in touch with another agency who takes on au pairs not being placed in London.
I wonder if an agency would be better for you because they would tailor their search to meet your requirements, rather than you hoping someone is going is going to sign up to what you are asking for.
Your requirements sound reasonable to me.
I ask for German candidates as a first preference, as I speak German and it makes things easier for us in terms of communication - my first au pair had excellent English, but it still helped to be able to speak her language. My second au pair is much ropier on the English front, and I have to resort to German quite a lot to make sure she understands what is being asked of her.

Hi OP - I wouldn't go near an agency, the three I tried only sent completely unsuitable candidates and I don't think they were checking references properly. Unless you want someone straight away, most countries can easily get a police check done.

Anyway, my au pair is here with her 3 friends at the moment (she's SA) and I hope you don't mind, but I've shown them your actual profile on au pair world. (Two are French and the other Spanish).

None of them think that the hours are too long, but they said make it clear that the light housekeeping is included in the 30 hours. They all work the occasional weekend, but suggest that you put something along the lines of helping out at the weekend once a month.

The only other two comments were about whether both children were at school full-time and whether the extra hours in the holidays were for extra pay.

Also, none of them liked the photo! I tend to put a very smiley one of the family and then a few of the children doing fun outdoor things at the park, on the beach, birthday parties etc.

Also, make sure you go on au pair world regularly and then your profile moves up the rankings so that it'll be seen on the first or second page.