Comments on: Matching: What should a potential au pair tell you about herself?

By: Mom23

Mom23 — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 13:39:22 +0000

As others have said being brutally honest about what you want is important. I think that one of the major reasons that things did not work out with our previous au pair was that we had fundamentally different perspectives on how one should live life.

We live in a diverse major urban center in a historic neighborhood. We also believe in minimizing our carbon footprint. We have one car because we believe in public transporation where possible (we live within walking distance of Amtrak, and two subway lines, plus buses). We don’t like the kids to watch much T.V. so we don’t have cable. I also tend to be frugal, buying store brands, etc.

Our au pair was very materialistic. She wanted name brands, to see celebrities and to live in a big modern house. None of this is necessarily bad, but if we had known this we never would have matched with her. It is just not our style. We just realized much of this after she left.

This time we have done better and have a caregiver who shares many of our fundamental values.

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By: aussiegirlaupair

aussiegirlaupair — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 07:53:21 +0000

When I was a aupair as i said before I was in a small town in RI.( I didn’t make any requests.) where i spent the majority of my time. I loved the fact that I knew nothing about the town or even RI I had a fabulous time and loved the town that I lived there. I loved going to a place where I had no expectations and when i got there and the family had a weekend apartment in NYC it was a bonus. I figured I had 2 weeks holiday and a month at the end where I did get to go to California

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By: Another Aussie Au Pair

Another Aussie Au Pair — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 00:17:20 +0000

I suppose they don’t have much in common except glamorous/exciting stereotypes. Good point!

I didn’t actually choose either, I specified another city altogether for different reasons. I don’t see anything wrong with having a preference as long as you know why you want to go there, but if you don’t or you’re open to other locations then maybe it would be better not to specify.

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By: Dorsi

Dorsi — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 23:42:19 +0000

I think the problem is when people say “California or New York” it is clear they have a very shallow view of America. California and New York have very little in common. If you like big urban centers with great public transit, four seasons, then you would like New York, Boston, Chicago, etc. If you like warm weather, laid back lifestyle, and a culture heavily focused on cars, then you might like Southern California, Texas or the Southwest. People who say that they want CA or NY mean “I know very little about America except stereotypes about famous places.”

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By: Another Aussie Au Pair

Another Aussie Au Pair — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 20:17:09 +0000

(First post – I’ve been lurking around here for weeks!)

I also specified a preferred city and did my searching on websites to pre match with a family and met a great one in the city I wanted – I don’t think it’s necessarily a bad thing either, but I do understand how it may be better not to specify if you are just being matched by the agency and you are open to other locations. Just saying!

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By: former au pair

former au pair — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 17:08:25 +0000

i am a former au pair and my whole reason for becoming an au pair was because i wanted to live in a specific city. i did join an agency and asked them to look for matches in that specific city but i was also looking on my own at webpages like greataupair, etc. when i finally found a family in that city that was interested in me, i said yes right away after speaking to the hostmom one time on the phone and emailing with her for only a week. 2 weeks later i was on an airplane and it ended up being the best 2 years of my life. i am not saying it was all because i got to live in my preferred city (i DID get along perfectly with the family and especially my hostmom) however, i do think it mattered a LOT because i was so excited just to be there and everyday turned out to be an adventure. dont know if it would be as successful if i had been placed somewhere else (even though i now tell my former host family that i would move to them no MATTER where they would live). i am also coming back next year to work for them.

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By: PB Mom

PB Mom — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 03:29:25 +0000

I think it all depends on what the pool of applicants looks like.
We just finished matching for our 12th au pair. For this time around, I looked through about 15 applications, called 6 for the first phone interview, called 3 for the second interview then called 2 for the 3rd interview where the kids spoke with the potential au pair. Our next au pair is coming from France in November.

The fewest I’ve looked at was 2 applications. I called them both several times and had the kids talk to both. We picked the one from Germany and that was the best au pair we’ve ever had!

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By: aussiegirlaupair

aussiegirlaupair — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 00:04:34 +0000

I had my interview with the agency yesterday very exicited although its still awhile away July next year! I will be a repeat aupair with the program. I did make the request for not NY and RI as that is where I spend my first year(the family moved between the two). I would like to see a different part of the country but would be open to those places again if the Family were the perfect match.

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By: NewAP Mom

NewAP Mom — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 15:56:38 +0000

Last time we hired the first girl we interviewed. This time I looked through about 50 applications, sent about 10 emails, and interviewed 4 or five girls. We also talked to the girl we interviewed for three hours before making a decision. Although our new au pair hasn’t started yet it seems like we’ve made a much better choice this time, too. I think either way you can get lucky, but if you’re a little choosier (and follow the selection advice on this site) I think you can swing the pendulum of luck in your direction.

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By: PA au pair mom

PA au pair mom — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 03:07:13 +0000

Last time I selected the second candidate presented. This time I was much more choosy and looked at 19 candidates’ applications and did 4 phone interviews before selecting an au pair. I must say that I made a MUCH better choice this time.

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