Need help finding a new au pair!

[Anonymous]

I will be hosting my fourth au pair this summer and am having a hard time finding an au pair to even talk to. I have only one child who only needs before and after school care and the au pairs I spoke to said the following statements to me

They cannot get up early in the morning
They are lazy and my one child is too much for them
They are not drinking age and they are unsure what they will do here in there off time
They like my family because they don't want to work here just hang out
They don't like my family because there is nothing to do

I am registered with 2 big agencies and these statements are coming from one and the other the girls said they have families already

Any advice would be appreciated

[Anonymous]

Are you with cultural care? I find they will talk to you more often since they are on hold with just you...I had this issue with other agencies but found 2 amazing people through cc because they take be time to read my app and see that although some aspects are not ideal others Are

[Anonymous]

These girls were through cc

[Anonymous]

Ok, first what are your initial filters? I would suggest no 18 or possibly 19 year olds. Gets you to a more mature group immediately.

What countries are you interested in? I will say it's still a bit early for the bulk of the Latin American girls who want to come in the summer. Lots of Germans and Italians though. (I just matched, so I have a fresh perspective.)

Are you looking at the videos? I feel like you can get a good sense of maturity through the videos and photos alone.

[Anonymous]

I am open to all countries as long as their English is good and they have at least 1 year of driving experience. Most of the girls have been European and at least 19 to 20 years old that I have looked at. I don't understand how they can tell me they are lazy or do not want to get up early. Why would you be in this program? I feel like emailing the actual company with these responses

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am open to all countries as long as their English is good and they have at least 1 year of driving experience. Most of the girls have been European and at least 19 to 20 years old that I have looked at. I don't understand how they can tell me they are lazy or do not want to get up early. Why would you be in this program? I feel like emailing the actual company with these responses

You should! I always give feedback. Are a lot of them French? I have found the French girls to be so weirdly rude and arrogant when interviewing them. I always want to like them! And then they ask me stuff like, "What do you like most about my application" or "I don't like to walk outside when it's cold, so can I drive the kids to school?" as their first questions. Boggles the mind.

Keep going. Read and reread that letter. I do think the mature girls are able to get their personality to come through on the letter and video.

[Anonymous]

Are you looking for a June arrival or an August arrival? If you're looking for August, you're too early. There are more candidates coming, I promise. If there's a way to tell how long applications have been on the website, take a look at that - you may see that some of these candidates may have been there a few months and may be too picky for their own good.

I can't believe someone told you straight out that she doesn't like to walk in the cold, can she drive the kids to school instead. She should be putting her best foot forward and you should be trying to figure out which parts are true because it all sounds so good at this point. To put it bluntly, you may be looking at the "leftovers" right now. You need to look at candidates as they come in instead.

Try to figure out when your agency "drops" new applications on the website, and check then. Then you'll be looking at the newest applicants.

We've had great success with 19-20 year old au pairs (five of our seven have been that age) but also with northern Europeans. They're used to the cold, by the way, and love to walk We do try to find candidates with some work experience after their version of "high school".

Good luck! For reference, we need a mid-August arrival and don't plan to start looking until about April.

[Anonymous]

I think you should sign up with APIA and InterExchange as well to scan their candidates if you are not getting great candidates through CC. Both agencies should waive the registration fees. There is no reason to settle for a less than stellar candidate simply because the agency you are currently with doesn't have great ones. And I would definitely let your agency match coordinator know about the ridiculous responses you are getting as well as your inability to find a great candidate in the current pool.

[Anonymous]

A candidate actually said "I am lazy"??

[Anonymous]

I am not the OP but I just read a candidate's letter on CC and the candidate admitted to being lazy and having a hard time with her temper. This was IN HER LETTER TO THE HF! I'm all for honesty but perhaps a little self-reflection is in order. Working with kids may not be the job for you if you are an impatient hothead!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am not the OP but I just read a candidate's letter on CC and the candidate admitted to being lazy and having a hard time with her temper. This was IN HER LETTER TO THE HF! I'm all for honesty but perhaps a little self-reflection is in order. Working with kids may not be the job for you if you are an impatient hothead!

That's pretty funny.

One of my criteria is that they need to have held a full time job before - even if just for a summer. A lot of these girls have never applied for anything like a job before and just have NO CLUE. They include only the photos that show them in their favorite poses, but none of which include children. They take days to email back or are 20 minutes late for a skype interview. They will learn with time, but I don't want to be the one who has to break them in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am not the OP but I just read a candidate's letter on CC and the candidate admitted to being lazy and having a hard time with her temper. This was IN HER LETTER TO THE HF! I'm all for honesty but perhaps a little self-reflection is in order. Working with kids may not be the job for you if you are an impatient hothead!

That's pretty funny.

One of my criteria is that they need to have held a full time job before - even if just for a summer. A lot of these girls have never applied for anything like a job before and just have NO CLUE. They include only the photos that show them in their favorite poses, but none of which include children. They take days to email back or are 20 minutes late for a skype interview. They will learn with time, but I don't want to be the one who has to break them in.

HM of seven au pairs here - let's not clue the agencies in TOO much. We should actually be HAPPY to see this honesty up front and not learn about it first when they're in our houses! If we complain too much to the agencies, this will soon be "whitewashed" out of the Host Family Letters!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am not the OP but I just read a candidate's letter on CC and the candidate admitted to being lazy and having a hard time with her temper. This was IN HER LETTER TO THE HF! I'm all for honesty but perhaps a little self-reflection is in order. Working with kids may not be the job for you if you are an impatient hothead!

That's pretty funny.

One of my criteria is that they need to have held a full time job before - even if just for a summer. A lot of these girls have never applied for anything like a job before and just have NO CLUE. They include only the photos that show them in their favorite poses, but none of which include children. They take days to email back or are 20 minutes late for a skype interview. They will learn with time, but I don't want to be the one who has to break them in.

HM of seven au pairs here - let's not clue the agencies in TOO much. We should actually be HAPPY to see this honesty up front and not learn about it first when they're in our houses! If we complain too much to the agencies, this will soon be "whitewashed" out of the Host Family Letters!

Good point!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am open to all countries as long as their English is good and they have at least 1 year of driving experience. Most of the girls have been European and at least 19 to 20 years old that I have looked at. I don't understand how they can tell me they are lazy or do not want to get up early. Why would you be in this program? I feel like emailing the actual company with these responses

You should! I always give feedback. Are a lot of them French? I have found the French girls to be so weirdly rude and arrogant when interviewing them. I always want to like them! And then they ask me stuff like, "What do you like most about my application" or "I don't like to walk outside when it's cold, so can I drive the kids to school?" as their first questions. Boggles the mind.

Keep going. Read and reread that letter. I do think the mature girls are able to get their personality to come through on the letter and video.

Wow. Way to stereotype. I have nothing but great luck with my 6 french APs, and none of the nonsense you described. There are shallow candidates in every country! I am surprise you can't spot them by their letter and video, as you suggest.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am open to all countries as long as their English is good and they have at least 1 year of driving experience. Most of the girls have been European and at least 19 to 20 years old that I have looked at. I don't understand how they can tell me they are lazy or do not want to get up early. Why would you be in this program? I feel like emailing the actual company with these responses

You should! I always give feedback. Are a lot of them French? I have found the French girls to be so weirdly rude and arrogant when interviewing them. I always want to like them! And then they ask me stuff like, "What do you like most about my application" or "I don't like to walk outside when it's cold, so can I drive the kids to school?" as their first questions. Boggles the mind.

Keep going. Read and reread that letter. I do think the mature girls are able to get their personality to come through on the letter and video.

Wow. Way to stereotype. I have nothing but great luck with my 6 french APs, and none of the nonsense you described. There are shallow candidates in every country! I am surprise you can't spot them by their letter and video, as you suggest.

I'm stereotyping based on real experience! I really would love a French AP - I speak the language and spent many months living in Paris. Maybe I just attract all the nut job french girls.

This is an actual email I got recently:
"I saw your profile and honnestly I wouldn't like to take care of children from 5-7 years because they ask so much attention and explain to them so much things. I prefer older children because they do not ask so much and there is less care needed."

While I get that she wants older kids, but saying 5-7 year olds are too much work is really insane to me.