Another vote for APIA -- we had some pretty significant issues with our first AP, and our LCC as well as the main office were incredibly helpful. I also really like their website the best for information on prospective candidates. Even though candidates can be talking to a number of families at the same time, that doesn't bother me -- what I like is that you can review *all* of an applicant's materials, including interviews, references, etc. before deciding whether to contact her/him. Although I have heard great things about InterExchange, I really didn't like that I couldn't see the full portfolio until I clicked a button that then let the applicant know I was looking -- when I am still window shopping I don't think it's fair to the candidate at all to get her hopes up only to get rejected. I'd rather make sure I'm truly interested before the communication starts, and in order to know that I'm truly interested, I want to see ALL the available documentation. I also found the candidate pool at InterExchange very limited.

I think it's very important to interview your local LCC because she may make or break your experience -- particularly if you or your AP runs into any issues. And I think it's important to consider the size of the cluster your AP will be in and how many clusters of APs with that agency there are in your area -- the bigger the potential friendship pool for your AP, the easier a time s/he will likely have in finding supportive friends.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
All that said, I get the feeling that about 75% of the candidates on both sites really shouldn't be au pairs. They have very limited experience, don't really know what they're signing up for, and seem to think it's going to be a year of fun with a family spending a year being cruise director for you oh and with a little babysitting. No matter the agency - you have to interview like crazy.

Agreed, last round I must have watched at least 50 videos/read through profiles to find even 5 I thought worth talking to.

+1

It takes a great deal of work to sort the wheat from the chaff. I'm more dissapointed each year with how poor the choices have become. Not looking for Mary Poppins, just don't want to end up with Holly Golightly.

We have had APIA for 4 rounds of APs and really like our LCC. I agree with PP who said LCC is the make-or-break in a lot of cases.

We aggressively negotiated the pricing on renewals matching a massive discount promotion they did only briefly a few years back each year subsequently. It had to go through layers of permission but I think they realized we would have tried CCAP if they didn't maintain our original pricing.

Honestly I have no complaints with APIA though I agree that there is anxiety having APs interview with so many families at once.

Anonymous wrote:
All that said, I get the feeling that about 75% of the candidates on both sites really shouldn't be au pairs. They have very limited experience, don't really know what they're signing up for, and seem to think it's going to be a year of fun with a family spending a year being cruise director for you oh and with a little babysitting. No matter the agency - you have to interview like crazy.

Agreed, last round I must have watched at least 50 videos/read through profiles to find even 5 I thought worth talking to.

Honestly I think so much of it depends more on the LCC than the agency. We've done both Cultural Care and Au Pair in America. Had a miserable experience with CC and a great experience with APIA - but mostly because of the difference in LCCs. After four years of hosting, we had a surprise rematch (you'll never think it will happen to you until it does!). Because of this, I would never ever go with a smaller agency. When we rematched with APIA, they had at least a dozen au pairs in rematch that fit our needs, and they were incredibly helpful. We'll never use another agency because of this experience.

All that said, I get the feeling that about 75% of the candidates on both sites really shouldn't be au pairs. They have very limited experience, don't really know what they're signing up for, and seem to think it's going to be a year of fun with a family spending a year being cruise director for you oh and with a little babysitting. No matter the agency - you have to interview like crazy.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is Great Au Pair a "brokerage" for all the agencies? We are using them and are on our first au pair who is a rematch from another family, and we love her, but we really dislike the LCC and the agency. What is involved if we wanted to switch agencies when/if we extend the au pair?

GreatAP is a third party web site where families and APs can sign up for a small fee to connect with one another directly. They have become an approved agency 1-2 years ago so they also provide J1s. Some people, like us, only use them to find the right candidate and then we go through our regular agency.
I'd love for someone else to confirm but my understanding is that your existing AP cannot switch agencies for year 2. I just asked my LCC bc I am looking for an extension AP in her second year for the fall, and was told the AP has to stick with the agency she originally came here with.

Yes you are correct. APs cannot switch agencies while here.

Anonymous wrote:Is Great Au Pair a "brokerage" for all the agencies? We are using them and are on our first au pair who is a rematch from another family, and we love her, but we really dislike the LCC and the agency. What is involved if we wanted to switch agencies when/if we extend the au pair?

GreatAP is a third party web site where families and APs can sign up for a small fee to connect with one another directly. They have become an approved agency 1-2 years ago so they also provide J1s. Some people, like us, only use them to find the right candidate and then we go through our regular agency.
I'd love for someone else to confirm but my understanding is that your existing AP cannot switch agencies for year 2. I just asked my LCC bc I am looking for an extension AP in her second year for the fall, and was told the AP has to stick with the agency she originally came here with.

Is Great Au Pair a "brokerage" for all the agencies? We are using them and are on our first au pair who is a rematch from another family, and we love her, but we really dislike the LCC and the agency. What is involved if we wanted to switch agencies when/if we extend the au pair?

We have been with Cultural Care for the past 4 years, and have had a great experience. Mostly, because our LCC is very involve, and keeps in touch. The au pairs are supported, and this helps. She helps with our matching, and any issue that arises.
Happy to share our experience with your family.

Longtime HM here. We have been with Au Pair in America, Cultural Care, and AU Pair Care over the years.

I would absolutely NOT recommend Au Pair Care. We had a horrible experience with them. They grew very quickly a few years ago, and there were serious lapses in their screening. We also found they could not keep their LCCs. For example, we had FIVE in one year because the people they hired kept quitting. So you can imagine how much help they were (not) when and if we needed something.

We used APIA for three years and really liked them. Our LCC was outstanding. I do not like their matching approach - APs can be interviewing with many (5? 7?) families at once, so if you're a family who wants to take your time and get to know a candidate, it can be difficult when candidates are just desperate to match and will match with anyone. Don't get me wrong - we liked the agency well enough to put up with this, but it was a feature I found annoying. I also like the DISC personality test, and APIA doesn't do that. Finally, we have found APIA about $500 more expensive for HFs after all the discounts, so that is something to take into account.

We have been with CCAP for four years in our nine of hosting. Price-wise they are about 500 less than APIA, and I like their matching process (HFs can consider multiple candidates but APs aren't family-shopping). The downside to this is that you need to make sure any AP you consider has ample opportunity to look at other HF applicatinos to really know that you're a good fit for them. I usually send candidates on to greataupair.com (if we're the first family to contact them, which we often are since we match so early), to make sure they see all that is "out there" and available to them.

The exclusive matching thing doesn't matter too much during regular matching, but during rematch, it made a huge difference for us. We never went through rematch with APIA, but we did with APC and with CCAP, and I just say that with APC, I felt so much pressure to pick NOW that I missed something crucial in the rematch application and ended up in rematch again. With CCAP, since we could take our time (a few days) and be very careful and deliberative, we ended up with a much better rematch candidate.

We will stay with CCAP now because they bring male APs over, whereas APIA doesn't, but otherwise I would look at both of these agencies. Definitely interview the LCCs for both in your neighborhood.

One last thing: the size of the local cluster really doesn't matter anymore, now that the APs all connect over facebook so agency doesn't matter for them. The size of the AGENCY does matter, though, as a PP said, if you end up in rematch (which can happen through no fault of anyone).

Good luck!

The agencies basically offer the same services, but with slight variations. I would suggest you reach out to the big agencies in your area and speak with the local coordinators. This is the person who will be on the front line if you have any problems with the program, so it's important to be comfortable with him/her.

For what it's worth, we are with InterExchange, which is a smaller agency. It is a non-profit, and the fees are generally lower than APC and CC by about $800. My coordinator has been in her role for 20 years and was a host mom before. We have received excellent service in the 7yrs we have been with them.

The drawbacks of InterExchange, in my opinion, are the search on the web site is not that great. It requires a lot of reading/digging to find right candidate. Also because it is a smaller agency, they have less families/candidates, therefore options are limited when rematching (which we went through once). On the other side, their vetting process seems very thorough.

I have a good friend who was a coordinator for APC and speaks very highly about the agency. I would consider going with them if the candidate I really wanted were with them.

I would not go with CC, based on my past experience with a candidate we found online and eventually switched to IE. I was surprised that her profile was available online for families to review, while she had not yet passed her physical and criminal check. I was told that they run those only once the AP has a match, to make sure these documents don't lapse between the time she does the physical/background check, and applies for her visa. Perhaps someone can confirm that? CC also always prices at the top of the list both for families and for AP applicants.

It's a State Dept regulated program and in the end they are all the same with regard to their function. There are things people love and hate about each one (sometimes the same things one loves, another hates). Not all cover every area, so where you are may limit your choices. Only two (?) have higher level (extraordinaire) programs. Some offer Educare. Some recruit in China, most don't. Some have male APs, not all do. Their fees generally end up being equivalent. All have a bevy of discounts. All have similar but not identical matching processes. All have LCCs/ADs of variable quality. In the end, there is very little that distinguishes any of them from the other.

I believe Cultural Care and APIA (Au Pair in America) are the biggest. Au Pair Care is also large. I would stay with those, due to the large network of Au Pairs (for a built in social network for the APs and good rematch pool.)

APIA is good and has the advantage of size (large candidate pool, large rematch pool, well established in communities).

Any that are good and reputable?

Any to stay away from?

Thanks!