Starting the Au Pair process

I think the first part of this process it's the most confusing of all. Once you get a host family you can ask a lot of your doubts to them, and once you move to the new country, you can also question your new au pair friends.

However, at the begining of your au pair life, you have no one to appeal to, unless you have a friend that has been an au pair before you. When I started my au pair experience over a year ago, I did had that friend, but after meeting with a lot of au pairs, I realise not everybody did. That's why I'll try to solve the principal doubts an au pair has in the outset of this experience in this post.

• Where do I look for a host family?

There's a lot of agencies that will help you look for a host family. I will mention the most popular ones.

1. Au pair world: it's the most popular one. Most of the au pairs in the UK and Ireland found their host family through it. It's also useful if this two countries are not your only option.
2. BAPAA (British Au Pair Agencies Association): if you're only interested in families in Great Britain.
3. Au Pair Ireland: the same for Ireland.

Besides this principal agencies, there's a lot of au pairs that find their host families through adds on Facebooks pages.

• How much should I ask for pocket money?

If you're going as a live in au pair (you're going to live in their house), never accept less of 100 pounds or euros per week. That's the usual au pair rate. Besides, the family should not only take care of providing you a home, but they also should buy food for you. Make sure you inform them in case of allergies or specific diets.

On the other hand, if you're going as a live out au pair, things get a little bit more complicated. The family will have to add to the pocket money the rent and bills of your flat. You can inform about the prices in the area through rent pages that you can find online, both for the UK and Ireland.

• What it's expected from me?

As an au pair your duty is to mind the kids while the parents are at work or go out for dinner or similar. However, some families take advantage of the ignorance of some au pairs, and they are asked to do heavy housework for the same amount of money. It's reasonable to help with the kids stuffs and to clean the things you use, since you also live there, but an au pair it's not a maid. If you're asked to do intense housework, you should ask for more money.

Also, you should say no from the begining if you're not willing to do something, because you can get stuck with a responsability you didn't wanted just because you were trying to be nice. There's a lot of families looking for au pairs, if one doesn't want you there will be others that will, but you should not be afraid of refusing to do something.

This are the principal questions that most au pairs have at the outset of the process, I hope I've been helpful. Don't stop following, there's more useful post to come.