Choosing an Au Pair

Your Family’s Au Pair Selection Process: Emails and Information before an Interview

by cv harquail May 16, 2011

It’s critical to send potential au pair candidates some information about your family before you call them. You want offer enough information about your family so that you and the prospective au pair can tell easily whether it’s worth pursuing a potential match. In addition to sorting out potential mismatches on objective criteria like number […]

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When Au Pairs Prioritize Location

by cv harquail April 23, 2011
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“Location, location, location” — that’s all that matter in real estate. And for some au pairs, that’s all that matters in their match. I understand that au pairs have ideas about where in the USA they’d like to live (e.g., California, Florida, and New York), and that they want to maximize the adventure of the […]

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Slim Pickings: Making the best of an ‘off season’ au pair search

by cv harquail February 4, 2011
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The pool of au pair candidates (and host families) is deeper at some times of year than at others.We host parents have a sense that Spring (end of school year) and Late Summer (just before start of school) have relatively deeper pool of candidates. And, many of us prefer these times to match with au […]

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Classic Case: Can you change a Princess?

by cv harquail February 2, 2011
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A Host Mom writes: Hello! I am writing because I have a bit of a princess situation on my hands — a princess situation with nuance. I am looking for advice on how to try to make this work. Our new AP, 19 years old, arrived about a month ago from a Western European country. […]

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Candid, awkward issue: Choosing Au Pairs who are obese

by cv harquail January 26, 2011
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AuPairMom is a place where we host parents (and au pairs) can talk about issues that only other host parents and au pairs can understand. Often, these issues are tough ones that touch upon cultural differences, style differences, political differences, and deep personal preferences. Every now and then, we get a topic that we want […]

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How can an Au Pair candidate hasten a match?

by cv harquail January 11, 2011
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Yesterday we got this email from an au pair candidate who is very excited about finding a family. She asks: How could I be selected as an au pair as soon as possible? I offered her a little advice, and I’d love to hear what you all might suggest… Hi I’m Shannon from (Southeast Asia), […]

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A Series of Bad Matches: Is it you, or your au pair Agency?

by cv harquail December 14, 2010

No one is responsible for a great host parent-au pair relationship. Or, rather, no one person or entity is responsible for great host parent-au pair relationship. That responsibility is shared between three parties: 1. The Au Pair her- or himself 2. The Host Parent(s), and 3. The Au Pair Agency. Because we host parents know […]

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Will a Host Family Take Me if I Struggle with English?

by cv harquail December 3, 2010
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We got this question from a potential au pair — Aupair mom, It is nice to find a place like these, at the moment im I am in the early stages of my application as Aupair in America. i have been reading a lot of posts, and it have been very interesting and helpful. To […]

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Finding an Au Pair for a child with Special Needs: Willingness is not enough

by cv harquail October 15, 2010
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When I first noticed that au pairs could indicate with a simple check mark whether they were “willing” to match with a family with host kids with special needs, I was surprised. I was pleased that there was an easy way for au pair candidates to indicate, without embarrassment, whether or not they felt they […]

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Regulations & Additional Training for Au Pairs of Children with Special Needs

by cv harquail October 15, 2010
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The guidelines of the US Dept. of State regarding au pairs states that : Au pairs may not be placed: In families with a special needs child, as identified by the family. The au pair can work with a special needs child if s/he has identified prior experience, skill, or training in caring for special […]

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