Finding a host family has a significant impact on your au pair year. Find out how to get a great match through group webinars, online resources, and coaching from your local Cultural Care office. Before hiring, families will want to know what living with their au pairs will be like. Here are four elements every Au Pair profile should include.
Aspects of Your Personality
One of the most important elements every Au Pair profile should include is facts about their personality including past experience and how you handle specific situations with children.
Host families often want au pairs who speak a particular language or have specific skills, but more importantly, they want an au pair whose personality matches their own. The right au pair will be supportive, flexible, and a team player in all family activities, including holiday celebrations and trips.
Online au pair profiles allow potential host families to learn about the candidate’s background, qualifications, and interests. It also includes a medical report completed in part by a physician, references, and an au pair evaluation based on the 16 Primary Factors and five Global Factors.
Families want to know that their au pair can properly care for their children. This is why au pairs need to be able to provide information about their previous childcare experience in their profile and interview.
In addition, they should also be able to explain how they would handle any challenges that might come up when caring for children. For example, how would they handle sibling rivalry or a child’s misbehavior?
Other hard skills that families look for in an au pair include good communication and time management. Au pairs must be empathetic and understanding, especially when working with children. It’s also helpful for au pairs to think on their feet and solve problems quickly.
Additionally, au pairs must be culturally sensitive when working with a family from a different country.
Amount of Childcare Experience
A host family wants to know that you have experience working with children and are prepared for the daily tasks of being an au pair. They want to know you can handle various situations, including a sick child or an emergency. This is why it’s essential to include a detailed description of your past au pair experience in your profile.
Ensure you include your stay’s start and end dates, how many kids were in your care and their ages, what responsibilities you had (feeding, bathing, diapering, etc), and any language courses you took. It would be best to discuss what you learned from your experience and how those skills can benefit you in the future.
Remember to be open and honest with your responses, as this will help you find a family that fits you best. This includes being open to advice from an au pair matching specialist and the input of your trusted friends and family. This helps ensure that your year abroad is a successful and enjoyable one!
Hobbies You Enjoy
Hobbies are another of the key elements every Au Pair profile should include. Host families may expect au pairs to care for the kids, but they also often ask them to do other chores and activities as well. Au pairs need to talk about what they want to do in their leisure time in their online profiles.
Au pairs can upload any documentation relevant to their profile, like certificates, references, or even a short video to introduce themselves to the host family. This way, au pairs can stand out from the crowd and give an excellent first impression to potential host families.
Adding photos of the au pair’s family, neighborhood, home, and pets is a good idea when creating a profile. This helps the family and au pair envision themselves living together. Au pairs can also include information about their favorite foods and hobbies to make the best impression on the family.
Families will appreciate au pairs with similar interests and are eager to learn more about the culture of their host country.
Your Location
Last on our list of key elements every Au Pair profile should include is your location. Families want to know if they can rely on an au pair to be punctual and communicate effectively. In addition, they need to be comfortable with how much time off they can expect au pairs to take.
Host families also often ask whether the au pair is comfortable with household rules and if they are willing to adjust to various lifestyle habits, such as eating patterns or clothing preferences. They may also discuss the au pair’s living arrangement and the area’s availability of public transportation options.
Being an au pair isn’t for everyone – it takes grit and bravery to save for program fees, interview many families from far away, and then get on a plane to live with strangers for a year! However, it can be an enriching experience if you find the right family.
Watch your emails and host family profiles, and don’t hesitate to schedule video interviews if you feel like it’s a match!