Information for Host Families

New to hosting an Au Pair or Old Hands - we have guidance and information

New to hosting an au pair or old hand - you should find useful information on these pages and from the downloadable materials.

Finding an au pair

Your family will be an au pair for what will probably be a significant length of time. It is critical that you plan and prepare for this. We guide you through the selection process, providing ongoing advice and support to give you the best opportunity to select the most suitable person you can find.

Comprehensive Information

Ina traditional two-agency approach, the au pair is screned b an agency in their own country. They may or may not be personally interviewed by the agency - this depends on the quality of the operation. After an au pair isscreened then their details are sent to afair number of agencies in the UK and possibly other countries that the au pair is interested in travelling to. At any one time then, a number of families from each agency may be involved in considering the candidate.

Our approach is to only have one agency. The same staff are working in the UK dealing with our families, as well as travelling to other countries and meeting our au pair candidates dface to face. This means we have a much more personalappreciation of each candidate.

Communication

Recruiting anyone for a 'normal' job is difficult enough; but when you are considering a foreign national whose first language isn't English, then it is critical to communicate effectively. Our selection and matching process means that the same person who met and interviewed the au pair, is also speaking with the family about the au pair role and their requirements. We are not working with other agencies in other countries, so the opportunities for information to be lost in translation, or not to be passed on properly because of other links in the chain are much less.

Families should speak directly with each au pair candidate they are considering, but it is common for a family to finish the phone call believing the au pair understands everything thatwas said, when in fact the au pair hasn't but doesn't want to draw attention to their English, so they tell the family they understand when they didn't.

This can lead to issues after the au pair has arrived. The majority of meaning is conveyed in non-verbal cues such as body language, and it is natural for people to sometimes say they have understood when they haven't, because they don't want to appear stupid. It is natural for people to feel they can't admit they haven't understood infomation clearly by telephone as they don't want the family to think badly of their English ability. The end result is the au pair saying that they have understood when in fact they haven't. We make sure that after each call, we check their understanding of what was said. We also can do this by 3-way assisted calling.

It’s all about communication, communication, and more effective communication Foreigners to whom English is a second language at large can comprehend English in writing first or better than verbal English. Therefore provide all of you written expectations to your aupair and discuss them with her. Don’t just hand a list to the aupair. She needs to have the one-on-one with you to be able to ask questions and get feedback about written details from you. You should prepare an Aupair schedule and Rules for Children and talk through them with your aupair a couple of days after arrival. The excitement during the first couple of days is very high, and often not everything is absorbed by the aupair. Therefore, I suggest to go over the Aupair Schedule and Rules for the Children 2 weeks into the program year. Often a third review after 1 – 2 months of both is a good idea, this give you the opportunity to amend the document with needed changes of items that are not up to par or acceptable by you.

• Info for families
• What is an Au Pair
• Au Pair Pocket Money
• Au Pair Placement Process
• Our Fees
• Terms and Conditions
• Guarantees
• Replacement Process
• Au Pair Training
• Family Hosting Guidelines

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