matching with an au pair

Ghosted by our Au Pair Candidate — was it something we did?

by cv harquail June 5, 2019

“Dear Au Pair Mom– We are a new prospective HF looking for an au pair for the first time. We are targeting mostly Europeans and our main criteria is good driving. We’ve had interviews with a few candidates. We were close to matching (or so we thought) with a candidate from Germany who said all […]

9 comments Read the full article →

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

by cv harquail August 12, 2016
7604470670_18218429cf_m

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 […]

15 comments Read the full article →

Au Pairs With Manageable Health Issues – Would you match with them?

by cv harquail February 17, 2016
2634188382_c251883db9_z

Two different young women — potential au pairs — write with the same question: How do Host Parents feel about matching with Au Pairs who have manageable health issues? By “manageable”, we mean — well understood, medicated or controlled successfully for a long time, not likely to interfere with caregiving, and not likely to flare up […]

54 comments Read the full article →

Saying No to an Au Pair Candidate: Ideas for Kind Email?

by cv harquail January 21, 2016
choosing an au pair

MassHM wants your text. Would anyone like to share their “no-go” email? I hate this part and need to have an easier way to get through it. I don’t want to say “You’re not the right au pair for us” or even “No, thank you” in a way that hurts a candidate’s feelings. I’ve found […]

14 comments Read the full article →

When It Makes Sense to Cancel Your Au Pair Match

by cv harquail November 16, 2015
nancynance

Sometimes with big decisions we feel some “buyer’s remorse”.   Maybe you should’ve gotten a station wagon instead of a mini-van? Or the size 12 instead of the size 10…? Often, the buyer’s remorse just goes away. Other times, you take the jeans back to Target and exchange them for a larger size. Whatever. That’s […]

52 comments Read the full article →

When Matching with an Au Pair, Which Signals to Trust?

by cv harquail August 28, 2012
baby using skype, talking to au pair

Each matching cycle, au pair host families get more and more information about au pair candidates to use when we’re making decisions. Where once we had blurry photocopies of handwritten applications sent through the mail (yes, really!), we now have digital files, translated reference letters, online photo collages, au pair application videos, facebook searches, instant […]

24 comments Read the full article →

When Au Pairs Prioritize Location

by cv harquail April 23, 2011
beach girl.jpg

“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 […]

54 comments Read the full article →

Matching with an Au Pair: How much info to share about an Atypical Host Parent Situation

by cv harquail June 14, 2010
finelittleday blogspot com.jpg

Today’s Truth: Some of us are typical host parents, some of us are atypical host parents, and all of us are trying to be better host parents. I’ve been wanting to write about atypical parenting situations for a while now, but a conversation over the weekend has raised a particular situation where we can consider […]

25 comments Read the full article →

Interviewing Au Pair Candidates: Every Question You’ve Ever Recommended We Ask

by cv harquail March 23, 2010
blue skies ahead cathynichols.jpg

Host Mom Melinda sent us all a wonderful present. Melinda went through many, many posts on AuPairMom where we’ve recommended interview questions — AND she put them all together! This will be a huge, long list. It includes some questions you’ll see on agency sites, plus several questions *exclusive* to all of us here. Thank […]

50 comments Read the full article →

How to Assess an Au Pair Candidate’s Driving Experience

by cv harquail March 23, 2010
201003221642.jpg

Our second au pair had a lot of driving experience back in her Eastern European country. She’d been driving for 3 years, almost every day. Sounded great. This, along with her other great qualities, lead us to match with her. Zoom ahead three months, as we settle her into the Toyota to go out for […]

11 comments Read the full article →

← Previous Entries