interview questions

Finding an Infant Qualified Au Pair Who Can Manage Twins

by cv harquail July 5, 2017
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NowWeAreThree HostMom thought she had the whole family ready for twins, with her mom coming to stay for an entire year to help with childcare (what a mom!).  Sadly, her father got unexpectedly sick, so her mom can no longer come. This mom’s got to find a new childcare plan. What questions would you ask, and what […]

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Interviewing Extension Au Pairs: Special Questions?

by cv harquail August 3, 2016
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A companion question to the post on Interviewing Rematch Au Pairs: Special Questions? With Extension Au Pairs, the number one question I’d have is — Why aren’t you staying with your current host family? I can think of a million perfectly acceptable reasons for wanting to have a different family for an extension. Seeing a different […]

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How To Evaluate An Infant-Qualified Au Pair Candidate

by cv harquail December 27, 2015
au pair, infant-qualified

For many of us Host Moms and Dads, our first Au Pair arrives shortly after our first baby. Twice in one season you become a new parent– first of your own baby, and then of your Au Pair. I look back on those times now and think how absolutely naive I was about both new […]

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Interviewing: When An Au Pair Has Special Experience To Offer

by cv harquail March 6, 2014
cat bird susie ghahremani

Every au pair has his or her ‘thing’ — a hobby, a life experience, a skill or two, a great sense of humor  — that sets them apart as an individual.   In most matches, this stuff is the icing on a cake. For some families though, these skill could help make that au pair […]

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My Au Pair Application Isn’t Completely True. What should I do?

by cv harquail October 8, 2013
truth lies

We host parents absolutely depend on an au pair’s application to get an accurate and complete representation of that au pair’s background.   Part of the reason why we use Au Pair Agencies rather than websites or Craig’s List is to have a professional (usually, a field person hired by an Agency) interview the au […]

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Au Pair Applications: What would you *really* like to know about an Au Pair Candidate?

by cv harquail March 17, 2013

There are only so many questions you can ask a potential Au Pair candidate in an interview. It took us only a few posts about interviewing candidates to come up with over 318 questions! (Well, maybe not that many. But it was a lot.) Even if we were able to ask that many questions, there would still […]

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Interviewing: What questions should Au Pairs ask Families?

by cv harquail August 18, 2010
Julie on Flickr - Photo Sharing!_1254076862843.jpeg

Potential Au Pair Laura writes with a question about how to interview host families…. any ideas for her? Hi, I’m from England and I am in the process of applying to be an au pair in the USA. I have not yet spoken to any host families, but will be soon. Any tips on what […]

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How to find a great host family: Part 1

by cv harquail April 16, 2009
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Although this isn’t a blog for au pairs to get advice on being an au pair, sometimes it’s just nice to have the opportunity to share advice, especially when it comes to helping an au pair clarify her needs and expectations before she begins her host family search. Hello! My name is Casey, I’m from […]

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