People who have never worked as an au pair might think that this is an easy job or a holiday where you get some pocket money just sitting around home, living in your dream city and watching couple hours after the families kid(s).
Well it's not as easy as it sounds i tell you that...
Nobody works as an au pair for the rest of their lives, (there is an age limit around 30..) it is just a phase in young peoples lives when they want to live abroad and earn some more or less easy money while finding what they want from their lives.
Let me tell you little bit about the whole process.
First you have to decide weather you choose to find the family all by yourself or you let an organisation choose one for you. With an organisation you have backup and an insurance if something unpleasant would happen, like you are in an accident or you just don't fit in the family. The downside is that you have to pay for them (ofc) for their services and you don't get to choose or meet this family before you are at their front door; the only thing you can do is make a CV of who you are as a person, what are your abilities and experiences, you can also say witch countries you prefer, what is your maximum limit of screaming kids, how many months can you be away from your friends/mom and weather you like it in peaceful countryside or in outgoing city.
Then there is option number two, witch is being fearless and independent (read: just poor) and finding the perfect family all by yourself from the internet. The good sides are that it's totally free to make a profile to a site (for example in Au pair world where i have found my current and previous families) and when you have found good candidates as your family you can speak with them as much as you want (like me with my fist family for 6 months and with second 1,5 years) and ask all the questions that pop in your mind. Downside is that you are all on your own if something bad happens that mentioned in the previous chapter.
When I decided that I want to work as an au pair I had already heard and read so many good reviews of "Au pair world" that I decided to create my own profile to the site and just try my luck, after all I still had 9 months of school left. In the first two months I had talked with many families from Ireland, England and Italy, witch were my choice of countries, but without luck of finding a good first time family. Then after new year the greek-finnish family contacted me of a job offer, but after many long conversations they decided that it's better for all if I find another family first, gain some experience and join in their family next year.
Then I had good talk with a family from Sicily, but that blew up after some weeks... Finally end of January the italian family found me and we started talking first with e-mails then in Facebook and Skype. It was still spring time, but the sun was shining when the family finally said the long waited words: will you be our au pair? And then I could really start breathing again. More from my year in Italy you can read from this blog starting from here.
My tips for a persons who would like to be an au pair:
- Tell about yourself truthfully in your CV/presentation, but stick only with the basics (you still want that families have the energy to read your paper).
- Couple of nice photos of you ad your hobbies are never a bad thing.
- When you have found a family you want to get to know better ask ALWAYS a Skype meeting!! That's how you will meet them "in person" before you decide anything.
- Ask as many questions as possible and don't be afraid that yours will be stupid, but please check some things out in advance so you actually have some idea of the job and you can think something to ask from your family; such as do you have to be able to drive manual/stick or how many hours i'm working a day/ a week and what seems to be really important do I have one or two day offs a week.
-Always be yourself, but respect the rules and daily routines of your new family.
And the most important:
- REMEMBER TO WRITE THE CONTRACT AS SOON AS POSSIBLE!!
There are as many horror stories about being an au pair as there is success stories. It is unfortunate to hear of someones bad experience, but it could be that there wasn't enough information exchanged before and during of that persons staying or that the person wan't suitable for the family/the job, but who can ever tell why these things happen! Mine was excellent even tough it was cut short, but hey, no can do! I have stayed with in good terms with the family and I believe that we have a long friendship a head of us even tough it involves a lot of travelling.
The reason why I started to write this was to write about the hardest part of this job, but as I started I noticed that the hardest parts are also the best parts, because this isn't just a job among others, it is (for a while at least) away of life.
For example:
If I say; the hardest part is being a long time away from all that is familiar like friends, family and the language, but actually the best part in that is to become more independent and learn new skills and languages.
If I say; the hardest part is trying to be yourself in a new family/job, but actually the best part is finding new sites of yourself with the new family/job.
To all who have been/are/will be working as an au pair.
Love, Salla.
-Always be yourself, but respect the rules and daily routines of your new family.
And the most important:
- REMEMBER TO WRITE THE CONTRACT AS SOON AS POSSIBLE!!
There are as many horror stories about being an au pair as there is success stories. It is unfortunate to hear of someones bad experience, but it could be that there wasn't enough information exchanged before and during of that persons staying or that the person wan't suitable for the family/the job, but who can ever tell why these things happen! Mine was excellent even tough it was cut short, but hey, no can do! I have stayed with in good terms with the family and I believe that we have a long friendship a head of us even tough it involves a lot of travelling.
The reason why I started to write this was to write about the hardest part of this job, but as I started I noticed that the hardest parts are also the best parts, because this isn't just a job among others, it is (for a while at least) away of life.
For example:
If I say; the hardest part is being a long time away from all that is familiar like friends, family and the language, but actually the best part in that is to become more independent and learn new skills and languages.
If I say; the hardest part is trying to be yourself in a new family/job, but actually the best part is finding new sites of yourself with the new family/job.
To all who have been/are/will be working as an au pair.
Love, Salla.
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