I usually start my APs in the winter, late January. I start looking in mid-October.

I think it also depends on the time of year and the country you target. Most want to come in the summer, so you have a big pool available in Feb - March - April for girls who are graduating school in the summer and want to start right after. On the other hand, we've looked for Feb. in the past and its hard to find anyone until November.

Anonymous wrote:Our au pair always planned to leave after her first year because she is going to attend university shortly after her year finishes. We are still 5 months from then, but just starting to look for our next au pair. I'm getting the feeling that most of the candidates want to match now and arrive in the next few months. When do you start looking? When do you aim to match? And why?

We have always matched just a few months ahead of time, mainly because we can't get our act together in time. We don't recommend it. Our friends who interview APs 6 months in advance seem to have much better luck. They can take their time sorting through candidates, deciding not to choose a match that doesn't feel right, and the pool contains the "planners" - young people who have THEIR act together and are planning for their next year. This seems to result in good APs for them. On the other hand, I have heard from many others that it's too hard to find an AP that early because most APs in the matching pool are looking to start ASAP. But I think we are going to try to look for the "planners" this time around.

Our au pair always planned to leave after her first year because she is going to attend university shortly after her year finishes. We are still 5 months from then, but just starting to look for our next au pair. I'm getting the feeling that most of the candidates want to match now and arrive in the next few months. When do you start looking? When do you aim to match? And why?