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

So Camadians, Australians and New Zealanders can come on a special tier 5 visa.

www.gov.uk/tier-5-youth-mobility/overview.

The only way other (non-eu) nationalities can au pair here is if they have a grandparent who was born in the uk and then they can get an ancestry visa

www.gov.uk/ancestry-visa

Our SA au pair came in that way.

Want2bSupermum

The last couple of mums who have posted on this thread are UK based - so rules for who is allowed to come to the US as an au pair aren't relevant to our hiring decisions.

As I understood, the question was can a US person come to the UK to be an au pair and the answer to that is no.

I don't mean to be rude - your information on what would be legal in the US is correct (or at least it sounds like it is from friends in the US .)

I've put a bit of mis-information on the thread above. To get an ancestry Visa, you need to be a commonwealth citizen, so Americans aren't entitled to get one.

I used au pair world. We had a bad experience which was no fault of aupairworld which is an excellent website just happened to get unlucky with our au pair. We have mostly had excellent au pairs, nannies and volunteers which I usually get from facebook groups.

If any one knows any one who wants to be an au pair in Sheffield or a volunteer helpa for free rent can you pass on my advert. I really need someone as am unexpectedly home educating and therefore am not managing to get much work done.

www.howzahelpa.co.uk/find/need-help-with-babysitting-pet-care-and-light-housework/

We used aupair world and it was great.

Be really honest about what you want. You will get lots of messages but you will be able to reject a lot straight off.

I used aupairworld as well to find an aupair last year and again for one to start in April when my current aupair leaves.

The process takes around 4 - 6 weeks depending on how quickly you are at responding to messages and conducting interviews.

We also had to make three offers before one accepted this time round. After we made the first offer the aupair took ages to sort out references and was not very good at keeping in contact with us so we gave up after two weeks. The second au pair we made an offer o asked for a week to think about it, then another week and then another week after that. The third au pair accepted the offer, completed the references and had her flights booked within 1 week of making the offer.

I usually start with an email with questions (via aupairworld message forum) and then arrange a Skype interview for those that bother to respond. Maybe around 30% reply.

In my first message I provide information on the family, the routine and the pocket money.

Here are the questions I ask:

1. What are your motivations of being an au pair?
2. How long do you want to stay and when would you like to start?
3. What are the things you wish to do and see in London, in particular whilst the children are at nursery during the day?
4. How often do you wish to travel home? Are there any specific dates you need to go back home for?
5. Do you have any friends or family in London?
6. What experience do you have of dealing with young children by yourself and what ages were they? Do you have experience of handling more than one child at a time?
7. Can you provide references for your childcare experience?
8. Are you comfortable with the responsibilities and hours we require you to work? In particular early morning starts and the walking required to take them to nursery?
9. Is there anything important we need to know about you eg do you have any allergies or dietary requirements we need to be aware of?

10. How often do you get sick? How do you cope when you are not very well? 11. Do you require a visa to come to the UK? What is your nationality? 12. What do you currently do with your time? How do you pass your day? 13. Have you ever lived alone or away from your family where you are responsible for your own well being such as grocery shopping, cooking, cleaning and laundry? If not what experience do you have of these activities? 14. Are there any further questions you have for us?

Just started on the Au Pair research... would love to see the list of Au Pair questions mentioned in this thread to get me started....
Really useful information! Thanks all!

hello, can i ask you as well to send me the qeustions please!! it will be very helpful thanks!

Hello Blueshoes would it be possible to get that list ? \i would be very grateful :)