Aupairworld - need a few tips

[LittleMissChangeMyName]

So we just registered on Aupairworld to find an aupair to start in the summer. I have received a couple of applications on the day I completed my profile last week but nothing since. I have just done some searching on aupairs fitting my criteria but a lot of them have received over 40 and more applications already. I am not sure if I am wasting my time contacting them. Somehow I thought we would get more applications. Any tips on using the site? Am I better off paying the money to an agency? The tasks are from my perspective pretty reasonable - doing the school and nursery run for 2 kids, preparing dinner for the kids, some light housework like doing the kids laundry. Nice bedroom in our family home zone 3 in London.
Should I specify salary on my profile? I have one nice family photo, do people put more photos on?
Any tips gratefully received - this is all new to me. We have always used either childminders or nursery.

I'd use an agency. It will save you all the stress and hassle. I use Pebbles. They literally just send me candidates and I say yes or no. Its so much easier.

I always put pocket money and perks on mine and 3-4 nice pictures, we currently have a beach one, one a disneyworld and one where the children have made a boat...things and situations that may appeal to certain au pairs and form a connection between you.

The first thing you should mention in your about us section is that you live in London near good transport links. I would put the pocket money in and also something positive about the au pair "joining your family".

Personally, I don't think its worth contacting au pairs who have 40+ responses unless you can offer something thats out of the ordinary. How many au pairs do you have on your easyfind? - if you have less than 100 or so, you may be being too picky. I think I'm fairly picky and I have 240.

We've just offered to someone for a September start (pending their documents) so hopefully I'm done for this year.

I know a few posters on here have had success with an agency, but its not been either my experience, or the experience of the host parents I know locally.

If you'd like second opinion on your profile, pm me with your name and I'll have a look.

Have you put tight parameters on the type of au pair that you want? The website limits who can see your profile according to your settings. So if you have a very tight age range, how long they want to stay or which country they come from then there won't be many prospective candidates seeing it.

My current au pair has been with us for ages so it's nearly two years since I last recruited from Au Pair World but I had loads of applications. My parameters were any EU country, aged 25 or over, male or female (I usually end up with a male au pair as I need a sporty person, preferably one who has coached a group or team of children). I would say about 90% of the applicants were Spanish, so if you haven't allowed Spain into your countries that would massively cut down the number of people.

Our first Au Pair from Au Pair World will be joining us in 3 weeks! She is a fabulous 23 yr old from Italy with a teaching degree. It took us three weeks in the end before we agreed with the Au Pair that we were both each other's 'favourites' and wanted to formalise everything.

Before adding our profile, I looked at other peoples to get an idea of what others were saying. In the end I added 3 photos and within my profile I was very specific about what the hours and duties were and also what we were willing to offer. I also described my family and our daily routine explaining how i hoped the Au Pair would fit in with us.

We offered pocket money plus travel card, gym/swimming membership and travel card for the bus. We also stressed that we wanted the AP to become part of the family.

I also selected quite a few countries but most applicants were from Spain and Italy. I was not inundated with applicants but there was enough to enable me to make a good decision.

The Au Pair has provided police checks and references and we have Skyped and emailed regular leading up to her arrival.

Good luck!

Thanks everyone. Yes, my search criteria is indeed very tight as I am very particular about the country.. I have widened the search now to include males - think it would be good for our DS - and got a couple of applications today but DH is not keen on having a bloke living here..
I am now in touch with a very nice sounding girl too so who knows she may work out...

My H was uncertain about having an au pair at all, and slightly more cautious about a male au pair, it's been fine though. The type of men who want to be au pairs are not very alpha, and I always try to go for people who are laid back and not opinionated. Of the three men and two women au pairs that we've had the only one who didn't go with the flow and fit in with the family was a woman (she was fine and tried her best but felt there was a 'right' way to do everything and you could see her bracing herself to hold her opinion in when we did it 'wrong').