Talk me through recruiting via Au Pair world

[Fairuza]

I'm in a non-city location and recruiting at a non-standard time (for October rather than August/September) so I'm giving myself plenty of time.

I have a profile on au pair world.
I've sent initial information out.
I've sent questions out.
I'm now talking to about 8 girls who have expressed an interest, answered my questions, and have weeded out some smokers/non-swimmers/fussy eaters/flakey types.

So, what do I do now? I'm going to do some skyping. How do you make job offers, and what kind of assurance do you get that they'll definitely come? Do you pay flights? Do you get police checks, check references?

Hi.

Definitely have the Skype chats first. You will get a really good feel for what the person is like.

I went through a phase of wondering if our preferred person wanted to stay with us or if she was chatting to other families. We had a funny email exchange where we told I told her she was my first choice and then she said the same. From that moment it was all systems go.

I asked her for references and a police check, all of which were fine. I then drew up an agreement/contract based on the one on Au Pair World. Although not legally binding, it was a good way of confirming in writing what was expected of her and what we would provide in return.

She booked her flights very quickly after the agreement was sorted and the start date agreed. We did not pay for the flights which I think is standard.

We then Skyped a couple of further times just to stay in touch and we also sent weekly emails just chatting and sending photos.

I was quite nervous that she may change her mind but thankfully all went OK.

She has been here one month now and it is working out really well. I wanted someone independent who would fit in with our big busy family and I am very relieved that it has gone this way so far. It is learning curve though!

Good luck!

Thanks - how far in advance of her start date did you offer the job and do contracts?

I try and do all the Skype interviews in one weekend, I usually start off interviewing alone and then bring the children in to say hello. The second time I interviewed i had did second interviews as I couldn't decide between candidates.

Once I've decided, I send them an email (something very upbeat) about how we'd love to host them and then if they'd like to come to us, I ask them to send

1. a police check
2. a copy of driving licence and passport
3. a reference from someone.

Once this has all come through I then ask them to book flight (they pay) and then I send through the letter of introduction - which is a sort of contract listing hours, duties etc.

So for my September start au pair, I recruited in April/May and then she had all the documents and the flights booked by the middle of June.

Sorry for the delay in replying. We offered her the position 11 weeks before hand but I had a baby on the way and wanted to be organised.

How has your search been going?

I think I'm going to offer the job to one girl we have skyped with, though we have also talked to another nice girl and I feel a bit like I'm stringing her along!

I felt a bit like that. Until I was sure that our favourite girl was coming to us I did keep in touch with another two. I also felt bad but I am sure that they were also in touch with other families.

If you have a good feeling about the girl you have chatted with that is great. If you have doubts maybe have another Skype before making the offer. We were as sure as we could be but until they have actually arrived you can never be 100% sure you have made the right choice. I just remind myself that no matter how strange it might be for me it is an even bigger step for the Au Pair.

Good luck and let us know how you get on.

OK, so we have a nice girl who we like and who wants to come to us.
She currently has a (non-childcare) job and also has had a babysitting gig.
Can we ask for references for both these? Police check?

Karoleann - do you ask them to send all those things via email?

That's great news!

I asked for two references and a police check. The Au Pair photographed both and emailed them to me. She worked for a nursery as one of her jobs and I googled it to ensure it was all ok. I did also have to use google translate to understand them but ultimately they were all fine!

Yes, you can definitely ask for references from both - they sound very relevant. You could also ask to speak to one of her references, but this would depend on whether you had a language in common.

I'm about to go back to work and have signed up on various au pair sites, I'm new to it so I'm not really sure on what questions to ask and how to decide? Any pointers or questions I could ask Iv had a few messages but not to sure

Kwhit: what websites did you sign up for? I haven't had much luck with au pair world (see my thread below)

Sazerashez I have signed up to au pair world, busy bee and just au pairs