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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Okay. You might be right and I appreciate the advice, but after all babysitting is not rocket science :D what I mean by that is that if you are naturally good with children it already takes you far. I would love to spend a year just for that but the reality is I have to start studying at some point :) Thank you very much for replying and I do believe you have a valid point there and I would love to do as you suggested if I would just have the time :) [/quote]

I'm the PP you're responding to and your response tells me even more that you're really not ready.  "Babysitting is not rocket science" - sure, but what is asked of you as an au pair is not babysitting.  It's spending 45 hours a week in charge of children, it's dealing with being away from home, and having adult conversations with your host family, and taking courses, and handling the multiple issues that come up including being emotionally mature enough to manage living with your employers.  Au pairing is not anything close to occasional babysitting.  So as I said, we look only at candidates who have a proven track record of managing a full-time job (because that's what being an au pair is), and we prefer candidates who have lived away from home or who have shown that they can commit to something long term (like school).  Being an au pair is really really challenging.  It's not a fun year in the US with a little non-rock-science babysitting on the side.

And honestly, I am in the matching process right now and there are 356 au pair candidates in Au Pair in America and over 600 in Cultural Care.  So I'm sorting through almost 1,000 applications of young people wanting to be our au pair.  So your promising me that you're a natural with kids gets you nowhere.  What makes you stand out is an actual proven interest in children, a proven interest in learning about the world and gaining life experience through working hard for it.  I also need you to drive my kids place and to know what to do in emergencies.  Again, you saying you saying you're "pretty used to driving" isn't filling me with confidence that I want to put my kids in the car with you.  I'm looking at candidates that have pedagogy degrees, that have been nannying for years, that have been going to university while nannying on the side - there are tons of these types of candidates.  So you saying that you really like kids!  And you're pretty used to driving and it's totally easy to take care of kids - not going to cut it.

If you really and truly want to be an au pair, as I said, spend the next year or two really gaining the experience that parents look for.  You don't have to have a full-time job in a daycare, but SHOW me that you like kids rather than just promising me that you do.  Go live in a different city for a few months so I know you can be away from home.  Save up and buy your own car so you can tell me that you've driven every day for four years.  Etc.  Don't get defensive because some of us aren't just taking you at face value that you're a natural with kids and thus we should choose you to live with for a year.  It's so much more than that.[/quote]

X10000

my top criteria for my AP are: childcare experience (babysitting alone doesn't make my cut), living away from home for an extended period of time and significant driving experience. If you don't have these I don't review the file. Too many candidates have them and DC is a highly desirable location for APs.  Follow the advice from the posters above and work on building your credentials (child for certified and first aid are good first steps) and your resume. Host families are approaching this more like a job than simply babysitting. [/quote]

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