Has anyone used Au Pair World?

[lovely123]

Hi There,

I am an experienced au pair host but usually go through agencies or personal recommendation from my au pair who is leaving.
However I have just discovered au pair world and wondered if anyone could share advice, experiences, tips etc

Thanks

I am in London suburb zone 5 and for 25 hours I am offering 90 pounds plus basic phone (5 pounds per month) and bus pass, but we need bus for school run.

I considered offering to pay the English classes or gym but decided the offer was good enough. My current aupair saves at least half of his money and does not sit at home all day.

Let's not put up the price to the sky. I think those offering 120+, do not realize that there is also extra cost in food, electricity etc.

I have had about 30-40 applications within 3 days, but one of our boys is problematic, our house is modest and we aren't even British. Oh I am looking for a male by the way.

I offer £90 for 35 hours a week in London. I somehow still get hundreds of applications. There is no point offering the moon at the start because the quality of the girls is quite variable even after due diligence. Better to get someone in at a decent (but not generous) rate and if they prove to be good, add the perks on.

You can also get away with paying a little less in London because it is generally more attractive for aupairs to live in London and the cost of the board, which is built into the entire package, is pretty high in London because rents are high.

blueshoes have you thought that maybe the quality of the women you recruit is variable because you pay so little?

We have only had amazing au pairs.

hibble, actually not. I wish I could fix it with pay, but it is not such a simple issue as paying £30 a week more. Perhaps you are easy to please.

We have been paying 80 p/w for 20-25 hours and we've only had one marginal au pair (who came via another route apart from the agency and AP World); all of stayed a year and we are still in contact with them. We are paying 90 next year but I 'm sure could have recruited just as easily on 80. However, ours don't do any morning hours so maybe this is why tyhe schedule is attractive. But local friends APs do mornings as well on the same pay so I don't really think so. And they stay teh same length of time.

What Blueshoes has said is correct although it may seem counterintuitive. We once advertised at over 100 p/w and it was the hardest year to recruit. I have this theory that if you are paying over the odds the APs start to get suspicious that the job isn't as described in some way or that the 'part of hte family' element is non-existent.

blueshoes have you tried paying market rates?

I'm not sure what the 'easy to please' comment is meant to mean.

There is truth in the saying 'pay peanuts, get monkeys'.

We find paying the extra gets the girl who's willing to go the extra mile. If that makes some people suspicious, we're probably better off without that kind of girl in our lives

£30 a week can add up though, an extra £120 a month, plus a perk of some kind. For us, it's worth paying to get the best candidate. We require before and after school care though, so the full 25 hours are worked. Perhaps if you only needed 10 hours, then you'd pay less because the au pair could go out and get an evening job or something?

I think it may be more about the time with the family part- it's not that they're looking to supplement with more earnings. I mean- we've never had any 'monkeys' in seven years and all have 'gone the extra mile'.

I question an aupair who takes on the role for money. There are far more lucrative options for their skill set, like nannying or waitressing. It is much more about the fit with the family. My best aupair lasted 2 years and moved with us 2 twice and we are still in touch.

I am paying market (not mn market, if you believe these boards) otherwise I will be losing my good aupairs left right and centre. As I said, an uplift can always be arranged once the aupair has proven herself an invaluable asset.

Even if I offer £30 more a week, what does the 'best' candidate mean? I always think I am getting the 'best' candidate, out of the hundreds that apply for the role. It is not as if I had to lower my standards, nor will I. It is only after the aupair comes through the door that you can really suss her out IME.

Yes, the good aupairs go the extra mile .

I agree with O'Vienna there is not direct correlation to how much you pay them and I have had aupairs for almost 9 years.

Everyone has their way. i offer excellent terms because I want to, and also if a girl sees a job at £120+ a week with gym membership, or the same job at £80 a week; in my mind, what is she going to go for?

Also, I go for Australian au pairs so English first language and I use an agency, who ask a set 'minimum wage'. If I was a girl's family, I think I'd prefer her to go somewhere with minimum requirements.

It's interesting what you say about an uplift though. And it isn't a bad idea, I'll be taking that one on board. Equally, you're right about mumsnetters being a bit pearl clutchy about the whole au pair thing... Didn't you know it's slave labour and we should all stop being so cheap and hire a nanny per child, plus a housekeeper so that nanny never has to deign to clean a dirty dish?!

I think it's different if you are trying to attract a native speaker for sure. There's mure 'in it' for our au pairs from the get go (they leave fluent in a language they need for work) and also require much more oversight and support. I suppose we have this cost implicit on our relationships with them in that regard.

blueshoes you said yourself that some of your au pairs have been below par.

As with any job, candidates will choose the job with the best terms (to include pay and family etc) when there are several available. In my experience, the best candidates have several offers to choose from. For the sake of a few pounds, I would not want to miss out on a good child carer for my children. I have had several au pairs, so am not at all 'pearly clutchy', but do believe in fair wages and treatment. What you are paying is extremely low.

hired the pearl clutchy was not aimed at you in the slightest. I was talking about the General MN consensus on AP's

No offence intended.

If my DD was going to be an AP I don't think I'd be happy with her using AP World. The agency I use insists on interviews on both sides, proof of ID, quals, a minimum wage requirement, and also a fee on both sides, which I think puts off the potential loons.

I have used AP World and whilst we were lucky, the girl I had said she was approached by a few rather strange people. Whilst there is a report button, she said if she did it again; she'd go with an agency because there's a contact in the country in case it all goes tits up.

wondering none taken I have seen some of that on MN!

I agree that au pair world could potentially leave au pairs in a vulnerable situation. I do send my id when we have recruited someone to reassure them, as well as inviting dd on one of the interviews (so they would at least know we are a family), and also put them in touch with our outgoing au pair.

I'm pretty sure I used it 3 years ago. I only use an au pair in the summer now for two months to cover school hols. The au pair from the previous year recruits for the following year. They all come from a science uni in northern France and, touch wood, they're always fab. PM me if you need further info.

hibble, of course some of my aupairs were below par. That is why I don't pay over the odds for someone whom I cannot truly vet until they are on my doorstep. As of the point of offer, they are excellent in my eyes and appear to be the right fit. But they show their true colours after a few weeks.

I will admit my hiring process is not perfect (whose is?). I am an employer at my work as well and my company pays over market. Are we immune from poor candidates? Of course not. I would not for the sake of making a point insist my aupairs were all peachy. Some of them were average. Their personalities meant they were always never going to be setting the stage on fire. Some were lazy or intellectually challenged but were personable and enthusiastic at the interview stage.

I have no doubt that all of them could have got excellent families. I was not compromising on apparent quality.

You want me to admit that if I paid more I would not have below par aupairs. I say from my experience I have yet to meet the perfect employment strategy for aupairs. I had a run of very good aupairs at the start and thought I was doing something right. Then you get a run of bad aupairs and realise it is not an exact science and a lot of luck. Believe what you like.

blue yet you have not tried paying market rates, have you? You are paying a pittance.

If you increased what you paid in line with other families you would most likely find you get better au pairs. Paying a market rates is not paying over the odds. I'm personally rather surprised that you cannot see a link between underpaying and quality.

"Market rate" is a question of opinion. Perhaps if you stop frothing you can see that I disagree with what you think of as market rate?

I agree with Blueshoes, the market rate is around £80-90 for 25 hours a week. My standard offer is £80 a week for 25 hours a week. If the aupair works out then I increase to £90 after 2-3 months. I don't offer any perks. For 30-35 hours I pay £100 and increase to £120 after 2-3 months. I have had aupairs now for over 9 years, my current aupair has been with us over a year, the previous one stayed nearly 3 years, the one before that 18 months and the one before that 14 months.

I dispute that I am paying less than market rate or a pittance. What I do offer though is a friendly household, I don't quibble what they do in their free time, I don't set curfews, I stick to their job descriptions and I treat them with the respect I would like to be treated and my children do the same too. I'm pretty sure that is why they stay.

I use an agency, go for slightly older girls and have always had girls from Eastern Europe, mainly Romania. It has been a fab experience and we are still in touch with most of them.

blueshoes you are the one who seems to be frothing at the suggestion that you pay a decent rate. £90 for 35 hours is extremely low, and you have admitted that your pay is low, but you don't want to increase it. I see that trying to get you to see a link between below par au pairs and paying a pittance is like flogging a dead horse, so I will give up now. Personally I would never be comfortable paying a child carer so little, and would not want my children to experience substandard care as a result.

Hibble, sad to see you feel the need to attack my parenting by implying I would prefer my children receive "substandard care" with my "pittance".

Do chill - it is just a difference of opinion and a different way of hiring.

I get amazing aupairs too. And I get rid of the poor ones pretty damn quick. My children are not being raised by wolves hth.

HibbleDibble how much do you suggest we should be paying our Aupairs? The standard rate suggested by the government is 75-120 per week. I think everyone involved is within that bracket. As long as the aupairs are treated well with respect and are made part of the family and the Au pair and children have an amazing time together, does a few pounds feally matter??? I start low and give AP a raise once settled and everything is well. I have had the most Amazing girls from AP world. Recruit carefully and thouroughly (social media is very important, befriend them on every site they use and google them) and make sure that the person you recruit is someone you like and will enjoy hanging out with. For example I tend to like people who are into music as I am, and reject people heavily into fashion (as Im not) . I get lots of interesst and apply to loads of girls rather than wait for applications to roll in. I also build up asocial network for the ap before she arrives as a few of my neighbours/friends have APs and they all get to know eachother. And do they all compare pennies and moan if they are not paid the same? No. Are they all happy ? Yes!

Hibbledibble, if you pay over "market rates" for your au pair, you're venturing in to HMRC territory. Also with social media nowadays they all hook up together. I've heard of mums getting it in the neck for paying more than standard due to other au pairs feeling short changed.

Ten years ago I paid over the odds for a Polish au pair. She was lazy as hell and ended up up the duff without a clue as to who the father was.