Anonymous wrote:i want to add sweden, denmark, finland, as good driving countries with very rigorous licensing.

+1
Especially if you need driving in the snow.

What everyone else stated. How often they drive--every day, or 1-2 times/week? Who services the car? How long have they been driving?

FWIW, my Colombian au pairs have been far better drivers than my Swedish au pair----which defied some of the conventional ways of thinking around this. It all depends.

This is one reason I screen for candidate age 21 and over. More time behind the wheel.

i want to add sweden, denmark, finland, as good driving countries with very rigorous licensing. we had a young german who was unworkable at driving, probably due to the factor PP mentioned about being very green.

i look for someone who says they drive daily (and as a pp said, line that up with how they describe their days), and has for a year or more.

Anonymous wrote:Still, at some point, experience is key -- you can't "fix" a lack of experience with 5-6 driving lessons. Either they have it, or they don't.

Totally agree that a good indicator of driving skills is how often is the AP behind the wheel. Someone who commutes daily by driving will have far more miles under her belt than one who drives occasionally. It is not a guarantee because you can drive all the time but drive badly but chances are higher that you get better the more you drive. It would be unrealistic to think that getting 5-10 hours of lessons will miraculously turn a new driver into a competent driver.

I ask for lots of specifics about driving ability. Whose car do you drive? Do you get it serviced yourself? Where do you drive on a daily basis?

I really don't think most au pairs "lie" about their driving. Some may embellish a little. I find mostly they are judging themselves by the standards of their home country -- which may be significantly lower than ours.

One other thing I've done... I had a candidate from China who sounded "OK" on the driving, but great in other regards. I dug into her experience, it was somewhat limited. I told her that I had rematched with another au pair for driving reasons, and I really didn't want her to give up her job, etc. and fly half way around the world to come be my au pair, only to get sent home. So I told her I would extend her an offer to match as long as she understood that it was key to this job, and also if she agreed to spend significant time between matching and arrival (6 months) focusing on getting more experience.

FWIW, she didn't work out, and I had to send her home.

But -- I liked the theory of the stern warning about what would happen if I didn't agree with her that she was a suitable driver. I think it made the parting a bit more understandable to her.

But if driving really is key to your job -- I would stick with Swedes, German/Austrian, French... western Europeans. Their road system is very similar to ours, and in general they train their drivers better. Still, at some point, experience is key -- you can't "fix" a lack of experience with 5-6 driving lessons. Either they have it, or they don't.

Anonymous wrote:APs don’t often understand city driving. Just like anyone at a job interview, they will fudge facts to get the best family/location. They think they can learn to drive in a week. Can you blame them?

Best advice: Be upfront about driving before match. Nicely, calmly explain. Advanced driving skills are necessary because keeping kids safe is highest priority.

Then say, we will acclimate you in first week or so, but we will rematch if you can’t drive in an American city. That’s a dealbreaker for us.....but you’re great whatausay?

That might help weed out inexperienced drivers. Cause there are real consequences.

It’s a crap shoot though. One of the known issues with APs.

Take them out driving. Observe skills. Rematch if unsafe. No hesitation.

It is not a must that we have a driver so during interview, we tell them that. It takes the pressure of off them wanting to please and say whatever we want to hear and we get a more truthful self-assessment of their driving skills. They will admit that they will need practice. If they think I absolutely must have a driver and they want to match with us, they might over-sell their driving in order to close the deal thinking that they can cross that bridge later and underestimate how much practice they really need to be able to drive here.

APs don’t often understand city driving. Just like anyone at a job interview, they will fudge facts to get the best family/location. They think they can learn to drive in a week. Can you blame them?

Best advice: Be upfront about driving before match. Nicely, calmly explain. Advanced driving skills are necessary because keeping kids safe is highest priority.

Then say, we will acclimate you in first week or so, but we will rematch if you can’t drive in an American city. That’s a dealbreaker for us.....but you’re great whatausay?

That might help weed out inexperienced drivers. Cause there are real consequences.

It’s a crap shoot though. One of the known issues with APs.

Take them out driving. Observe skills. Rematch if unsafe. No hesitation.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Remember that in Germany you’re not even eligible to get your full license until you’re 18

Not your full license but many start lessons at 16 1/2 now, take their written exams at 16 3/4 and their practical driving exams a month before they turn 17. They can then drive with an adult (30+) in all of Germany and Austria for a year before exchanging their preliminary license to a regular one. Also, you can of course get a license to drive a moped at the age of 15. If you look at APs from more rural areas you might find some who have been driving in regular traffic from much younger than 18.

As far as I know 18 is the limit for a full license in all of Europe with only some countries offering learners permits at 17 (Spain, Belgium, Austria...) with similar restrictions as in Germany. The only European country I know of where you may drive earlier is France (but there might be more, I don't claim to know the regulations in all European countries). [And a wee bit of googling tells me that 18 is also the age limit in Japan, Russia and most of the Middle East. If you want younger you'd have to stick to the UK/Ireland/OZ/Canada it seems]

However, it doesn't matter that much when you get your license but that you actually practice driving. Having your license at a young age doesn't help if you don't actually drive regularly. I'd rather have a 19 year old German with 2 years of driving experience on a German Autobahn and in German city traffic than a 22 year old AP from Asia who bought her license at 20 and hasn't driven since.

And Id rather have a 22 yr old German who drives daily to commute.

Anonymous wrote:Remember that in Germany you’re not even eligible to get your full license until you’re 18

Not your full license but many start lessons at 16 1/2 now, take their written exams at 16 3/4 and their practical driving exams a month before they turn 17. They can then drive with an adult (30+) in all of Germany and Austria for a year before exchanging their preliminary license to a regular one. Also, you can of course get a license to drive a moped at the age of 15. If you look at APs from more rural areas you might find some who have been driving in regular traffic from much younger than 18.

As far as I know 18 is the limit for a full license in all of Europe with only some countries offering learners permits at 17 (Spain, Belgium, Austria...) with similar restrictions as in Germany. The only European country I know of where you may drive earlier is France (but there might be more, I don't claim to know the regulations in all European countries). [And a wee bit of googling tells me that 18 is also the age limit in Japan, Russia and most of the Middle East. If you want younger you'd have to stick to the UK/Ireland/OZ/Canada it seems]

However, it doesn't matter that much when you get your license but that you actually practice driving. Having your license at a young age doesn't help if you don't actually drive regularly. I'd rather have a 19 year old German with 2 years of driving experience on a German Autobahn and in German city traffic than a 22 year old AP from Asia who bought her license at 20 and hasn't driven since.

Remember that in Germany you’re not even eligible to get your full license until you’re 18, so an 18 or 19 yr old will have almost no driving experience.

As I understand it an "international license" is just a translation of the country driver's license. So it confirms that she has one, not that she has a lot of practice. However, one thing to understand is that the process of obtaining a driver's license can be far more rigorous than in the US (which varies from state to state). In Germany, for example, it is more time consuming and expensive than in the US and requires more demonstration of skill. Here in VA, it's basically driving around a block, stopping, signaling. The best you can do to verify experience is get someone who lives in a fairly heavily trafficked area who drives to work or school everyday. (Her story regarding her daily life should match her story regarding driving regularity and traffic. We had drivers from Germany, Austria, England, Poland, all were fine. Most Scandinavians and Swiss are also good drivers in winter, for obvious reasons. Just be sure they are used to a reasonable amount of traffic and have appropriate parameters around how they may use the car.

Depending on the country, you could try looking for someone with an international license or is from Northern Europe. That’s really all I can recommend.

Ask away, but you won’t know of their actual driving ability until they show up and drive around town with you.

It seems common that APs willfully lie or are completely ignorant about their actual driving ability. What specific questions do you ask to weed these out? It does not seem sufficient to ask 1) how often or 2) where/what roads/what conditions.

We stress that we need a “strong driver” and this means daily drop off/pick up from school in city/traffic conditions plus using a minivan. Our latest one expressed nervousness to the LCC about the minivan, then we found out she could barely drive a straight line at 10mph in a regular car. WTF?