Choosing an Au Pair

First Time Host Mom Wonders: Are her Au Pair expectations realistic?

by cv harquail November 7, 2016

A new Host Mom writes to share her frustration – and concern- about an Au Pair who doesn’t quite seem to fit. Are the mom’s expectations too high, she wonders? Or, Does she just have an Au Pair who needs (even) more direction and motivation? I’d like to think that I asked all the right […]

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How Should an Au Pair Decide Which Family to Match With?

by cv harquail October 13, 2016

A PopularAuPair candidate faces an embarrassment of riches. Lots and lots of families are contacting her via the website where she’s posted her application. She’s got many to choose from as she accepts or declines invitations for interviews. But she’s not 100% sure of the criteria she should use. She explains: I’m a 20 year old American […]

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Don’t Evaluate Your Au Pair’s Performance

by cv harquail October 5, 2016

Occasionally I get emails from Host Parents wondering about “performance reviews” for au pairs. These emails ask whether anyone has a form they might share that helps parents evaluate Au Pairs on their performance of specific tasks. Or, they ask if we have a feedback tracking system, where parents can set goals for au pairs’ performance […]

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When Interviewing Au Pairs, What’s In Your First Email?

by cv harquail October 2, 2016

How do you present your Host Family when you’re introducing yourselves to Au Pair Candidates? It’s tough to strike the right balance between selling the appealing parts of your Host Family Situation so that you draw applicants towards your family, and being realistic enough to deter candidates who’d be a really poor fit with you […]

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Interviewing Au Pairs, Have You Parents Ever Offered a Host Family Reference?

by cv harquail September 25, 2016

Does anyone offer a reference to the Au Pair candidates they are interviewing? While every Au Pair candidate lists at least two references that Host Families can email or call, I’ve never heard of Host Parents offering references to Au Pair candidates. This seems to be a vestige from the days when it was assumed that Host […]

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How Do You & Your Partner Coordinate When You’re Interviewing An Au Pair?

by cv harquail September 21, 2016

Host Parents who have partners have lots of choices about when — and even whether — to involve both parents in the Au Pair Interviewing process. I’d love to know, among our readers, what the most common patterns are of getting each other involved. Obviously, if you have a spouse or a parenting […]

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Matching With An Au Pair: What Kinds Of Photos Really Help an Application?

by cv harquail September 7, 2016

As I’ve been writing the forthcoming ebook of AuPairMom’s Secrets for Interviewing Au Pairs I’ve been thinking a lot about the many small details in applications that seem to make a big difference to Host Families. The CameraReadyAuPair, below, must have been reading my mind, because she’s asking some of the same questions I’ve been […]

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When a Host Family Doesn’t Keep Their Word, Get Ready To Rematch

by cv harquail September 1, 2016

au pair problems, au pair advice, choosing an au pair

When Au Pairs or Host Families have unique situations, it’s smart to negotiate ahead of time to be very, very, clear about what you need. Being specific about scheduled hours, transportation, unique food/nutrition needs, kid care tasks, and so on helps both parties make sure that they are finding the right match. This MastersStudentAuPair (whose […]

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Is An Au Pair Right For Your Family? Not if you need a Housekeeper …

by cv harquail August 22, 2016

When people ask me whether an Au Pair might be right for them, I sometimes forget to ask them what kinds of help they *already* have, that they are aiming to replace. If a family currently uses a childcare center or a home-based center, then switching to an Au Pair offers more schedule flexibility, care […]

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“Matching With” Versus “Selecting” an Au Pair: What’s your perspective?

by cv harquail August 12, 2016

Writing about the AuPair interviewing process, I’m getting a little philosophical. I just wrote this section (below) about the difference between “selecting” and “Matching with” an Au Pair. Am I crazy? Do you make these sorts of distinctions? Is this how you frame the process yourself? What am I missing? I’d love your ideas. “Matching […]

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