OK I'm telephone interviewing an aupair this evening after she passed Uwila's List of Questions with flying colours... what do I have left to talk to her about?

[PrincessPeaNips]

Never done the whole au pair thing
She is almost 20, Californian, has done lots of babysitting work, and scored 100% on Uwila's long list of hideous questions. I've mentally hired her already. Just hiring her for max 10 weeks (summer) to be an extra pair of hands while I wait for new FT nanny to be free to start with us at the end of Sept.
Problem is - I have now run out of things to ask her.
Please help! What should I say? And should I talk to her parents? And how many referees? And should those be babysitting parents or academic or one of each or what?

I'm much better at hiring nannies.

No help but does this mean you got rid of othe nanny but have found new one? Marvellous! (you're pph, right?)

She's an adult, so I think it's off limits to talk to her parents (though I'm sure it would be super informative for you to do so).

Three referees - one high school teacher who has known her for years, one university teacher or a former employer if she's had any kind of regular job, one babysitting family. Send a list of questions for the referees to make their job easy. It's a real pain being a referee if you don't know what's wanted.

(Yes, I'm in disguise, with very small nipples as well as a very small head )

Yup, sacked the nanny oooooooh 10 days ago. Had one week solo (aurgh) and this week have my dh's lovely 23 yr old nephew (hurrah) but he has to go away and graduate next week (boo) and then bum around europe in a camper van for the rest of the summer(double boo)

he;s been superb and obv the children love having their cousin around.

have found nice new nannybut she can't start until sept. so thinking about a completely unqualified teenager for the summer instead

Oh you used my questions.

But, what do you mean hideous???????

I would mostly try to get to know her to see if she is the sort of personality you might want to have a chat with when you happen across her in the kitchen on a Sunday afternoon. And since she's from So Cal I'd want to know if she shays "Like, Oh my God totally...." in every other sentence.

lol at unqualified teenager and at like totally

Elusis, OH ARE YOU UWILA? I cannot keep up with these name changes, I'm in my forties now y'know

It's hardly a secret.

Hey I didn't say it was, no need to be snippy with me. I just don't know who anyone is anymore (quite reasonably, lots of changes since auction)

Thinking of morphing into yet another name because no one seems to be able to spell eleusis.

Eleusis
see, I can

Errrr.... was I snippy? Think you are a tad defensive. Is that what happens when you turn 40? (I wouldn't know)

Anyway, gotta go, got an interview. Glad to hear about nanny pph

hey? like peahead? your children? right? may end up totally talking like this? with questions at the end? dude?

lol OO

But, if you look at your 14:34 post you'll see that's not how you spelled it.

What shall I be next?

OO

I didn't know!! Hi uwila/eleusis.
Princess, anything I can do to check her out here in california for you? Where does she go to college? How is she getting to the uk? Does she have a ticket already? Prices are super high this summer. I think you should talk to her parents. Will she be drinking alcohol on her days off? Will you let her drive? What about insurance?

Hi Sofia. Yes, it's me!

Hello everyone!
She lives in la Jolla, is at the Univ of Calif at San Diego studying Arabic (interesting). I'm not TOO worried about the accent (you've got me thinking now) - she is just here for the summer, how bad can it be??

List only hideous because it is very long and if I was an au pair it would have me quaking in my boots! of course it is actually brilliant for sorting out sheep from goats etc (in fact lots of people didn't even fill it in so that says a lot )

sofiames - I should prob get a crim check should I? she can drive a stick shift (and is getting her dad to take her for more practice in a car he has). insurance is likely to be very expensive though...

she is getting her own ticket and funding it herself
I would go halves on her bunac card ($290, shocking) because I'm so law abiding I can't have her coming in on a visitors visa and then working for me, even though it is only for a few weeks, like 99.99999% of the population of the UK would do, sadly!

Hadn't thought about alcohol. I think it is up to her - I'm happy for her to drink wine in my house even if she couldn't do it in california - she is an adult here even if not there! Will do very stiff drinking and driving lecture, obviously
She seems very sensible but I know you can't tell.

im wiht oy on the booze
gert her hammered

I'll tell her if she is going to drink and drive, to do it south of the plain and my mate Coddy will let her off with a warning

anyway WHAT SHOULD I ASK HER?

a scneario
what she woudl do on a riany
d ay
what if the kdis defied her
what if a tantrum

Actually, part of the reason for the million questions is to weed out those who aren't really interested in the job (and to see if they can actually manipulate a Word document and send it back via e-mail). I figure if they take the time to answer all the questions then at least they actually want the job.

Anyway, think of vague scenarios and ask her what she would do. Like DD2 runs oout back door and door bell ring at same time when you are expecting an important delivery, where does she go? One of the kids has a fever, what should the thermometer say on degrees C (assuming you haven't got a Farenheit thermometer handy in your house). Has she EVER drinven on the wrong side of the road? HAs she ever been to England? (if not try to guage what she is expecting from this experience). What does her room look like at home? (because that is what your kids' rooms are going to look like this summer) What household chores does she do now at home? If she has a maid she might not know how to do laundry. And do you want your kids summer wardrobes ruined?

I can go on and on... Do you want me to talk to her? Can I tell her I only know you as "Princess Pea Nips"?

Do you/she feel confident about her ability to drive 'on the other side' of the road safely? What about differences in road rules? They don't have roundabouts in America y'know....