How long did it take you to recruit your au pair and how many

[HarrietTheSpy]

sites/agencies, etc were you using at the time?

TIA

You are not the only cynical one Jura - I searched for the posters name as soon as I saw that post too.

If I was a genuine poster who had found a fab website I wanted to share, I would probably mention the reason why it is better.
I don't think you're overly cynical Jura (and well done on finding the Higgs Boson by the way! You must have very sharp eyes.)

Did you use very expensive equipment for moving the sofa cushions, in order to justify a massive research grant?

I have found a very nice Hungarian with the second agency I tried! Currently arranging her travel

If you tell me the name of the agency I promise I won't call you a troll . Please help, I'm sure you've seen my moans elsewhere.

We used Brick au pair agency which is based in Sheffield and mainly does the north and midlands, though they say they will consider posts countrywide.
They just do Hungarians and they speak Hungarian so they interview the prospective au pairs themselves. We've been impressed so far though obviously we'll see how it goes! They seem very specific about what the au pair will need - eg how good public transport has to be - but I get the feeling this is because they've had experience and know what is likely to make a successful placement.
We wanted to go through an agency because it's our first time of having an au pair.
I did look a bit at websites but because we're in the north and in a village, and the vast majority online seem to want to be in a city preferably London, it seemed like a good idea to go via a local agency. I like having references to look at too.

Pricey? Have spent a lot of time in Hungary so would be very open to this. Did interview a rather serious Hungarian girl last year who reminded me of Emerence (in the Door - Magda Szabo). COuldn't hire her. But no reason not to revisit.

£300-ish for a one year post. Which seems to be the standard fee for all the agencies I looked at. They ask for £35-ish when you pick a candidate but nothing to see the profiles.

btw the man at the agency said they have quite a few good smoking candidates if you are ok with a smoker! (We weren't.)

I had a look at that website - when I did a standard search I got nothing (as opposed to 100+ on APW or 50+ on NAP), when I widened the search (only requirements non-smoking driver, no restrictions on dates or duration) I got 6, of whom 3 had last logged on 4+months ago and 3 of whom had miraculously (overly cynical?) registered that day.

I won't be going back.

I have got all 3 of my au pairs through au Pairs by Pebbles. They specialise in French APs which suits us. The agency has been pretty good, and although the first girl wasn't great from the stories you hear she could have been a whole lot worse.
We've found all the APs in less than a couple of weeks and haven't read through reams of CVs. Maybe we're not that choosey, but it's worked for us.

Any luck yet Harriet?

Kathy
Thanks so much for asking. Rough going still. Have now just signed on for Almondbury to see if we fare any better with them. Although they are sending me candidates from the US and Russia, who of course aren't eligible for the working holiday maker programme. So, it looks like another dump of names, rather than the carefully selected pool of people, yada. But I guess I can call them and vent a bit about the search, a service Au Pair World doesn't offer!!! They'll love being just at the other end of the phone for me!!

My next step is Gumtree and giving your people a call, to see if they'd do London.

Hi harriet.. any joy.. Ive just bitten the expensive almondbury bullet too. Seem to be inundated with possibles. nightmare searching through them all. ive written one generic email and sent it to those im interested in. one girl has contacted me but she doesnt appear to have any experience with babies. now i have a job.. start in the next 4 weeks and no childcare.. AAHHHRRRHHHHHH
oh and my id doesnt work on the logong page.. typical

Okay, we clearly have the Plague. I have had a total of TWO responses from au pairs from there. We are not one of the 'elite' families though, ours is well down the list.

They did sent me the details of a GUY with no experience in childcare whatsoever (DCs will be 4 and 9 mo when I need someone). But he speaks the same EE language I speak, I think that's why. DH was like: get him over to organise the shed!!

I got a corker from [another site] the other night. I am convinced it's a spoof. Claims to be looking after triplets full time in Surrey, describes the mother in deeply unflattering terms, said she wouldn't be able to get a reference but could spend the day with someone (this is why I think it's all bollocks). Oh, and she wants to find a family which allows her to bring men back to her room - "They're JUST FRIENDS."

Chloe
The floodgates have now opened. I think the agency has to forward stuff onto people. Good luck with your search - wish us luck please!!

you have all my luck... i may need some returning too! I keep hoping australia is a great location someone must want to come. I think my only request is a non smoker... not that hard surely! Im not sure however what the difference is between au pair duty childcare and the term babysitting
any idea?

Our agency describes babysitting very specifically as meaning the au pair being in the house after the children are in bed, rather than any active childcare, though obviously she would deal with any issues that arise.

Not sure how general this definition is though.

thats what i figured... thanks

kathy, for the standard 25 hours + 2 nights babysitting, I would agree that to be fair to the aupair, the babysitting should be as the agency describes. However, I specifically vary the standard understanding by making it clear in my emails that I am unlikely to require 2 nights' babysitting a week (ds' bedtime is too tricky for an aupair to handle), but instead may occasionally require her to take the children to the playgym/park on a pre-arranged Sunday morning. My aupairs seem ok with that.

Hi Harriet, wishing you luck.

I hope you haven't already answered this below, but you have not having much luck with aupairworld?

I wouldn't go for a moany aupair, however justified she is in moaning. It is a character trait that is likely to grate over time. I have seen some pretty interesting stuff said about their host families in the aupair's profiles and steered clear of those.

Chloe
I think you will get loads of responses for Oz. There are lots of British au pairs on Almondbury who I reckon would be interested. Are Yanks allowed to come to Australia? Almondbury seems to have lots of Americans.

Blueshoes, our experience of Au Pair World has been mostly time wasters - we email, call, send picturs, nada - or unsuitable for whatever reason. It might be we are way too picky though. I was thinking maybe I wasn't accounting for the age factor enough, when evaluating what some of them were saying too us, putting on their profiles. ie. that would be BONKERS if you were 30, but at 17...it's just a maturity thing??? DH is a Deputy Head of a secondary school, so much more recently familiar with that age group. It's difficult to decide, and I think a big problem for me is doing it all remotely.

I've used 2 agencies - Peekaboo and Childcare International. Both have been really good. Both agencies have sent me details of girls that were very good on paper and interviewed well. However, what has impressed me more with Childcare Int is the pack they send to the au pairs and families to explain the roles and responsibilities of an au pair, alongside some guidance on living with a family. When I read through it - I thought if we'd had the information for previous au pairs it would have saved lots awkward/difficult conversations with girls explaining things.

They also seem to set up better evenings for the girls, which aren't just social, but also gives them some information on personal safety.

They are on the more expensive end - but in terms of value for money you're spending on somebody living in your home for a year - and a better integrated, happier and more responsible au pair = happier more secure household overall :-)

Thanks for the recommendation moeaw. I will look into that. In terms of the evenings,that sounds great, I'm assuming you're London based - we are, but Greater...I wonder how they might get on with aps not centrally located?