Au pair life: 10 Things you should know

Source

Today I'm going to talk about some things you should know about being an Au pair. As you might know I'm currently an Au pairs San Francisco. I have also been an Au pair England, for the summer, after high school. Both experiences were different, one with  and one without an agency, and I want to share some things that you should know before becoming an Au pair.

1. Go with an agency

I would definitely recommend going with an agency, wherever you go. When I went to England as an Au pair, I went without an agency. I found the family trough an advertisement in a local newspaper and met the mom and two of the kids in person before I went there. I wouldn't say I had a bad experience, but going with an agency might have made things easier or me. I was 17, without a drivers license, and the family lives in the middle of nowhere, so it was hard for me to meet other people. This was also one of the reasons I went home after two months. An agency is there to help you if there are any problems, but there are also monthly meetings with other Au pairs in the area. 

In the United States, you don't have a choice and you have to go with an agency, otherwise it's ILLEGAL. There are a lot of people who come here with a tourist visa, for example, and then work here as an Au pair for a few months. I definitely don't recommend doing this, because it is against the law, and there can be serious consequences for you and the family. You can be deported and not be allowed back in the US, there can be fines and you can be put in jail before they can put you on a flight back to your home country. Everything is put on a record, and it will be very hard for you to come back to the US.

Yes an agency will cost you some money, but it will definitely be worth it in the end. There are rules you and the family have to live by and if you have a problem with the family the agency can always help you. You also get to meet other Au pairs trough the agency and you will get a training the week before you go to the family. Also you don't have to pay for you health insurance, which will save a lot of money especially in the United States. 

Source

2. Make sure you ask lots of questions

When you are talking to a potential host family, make sure you ask lots of questions. One of the rules before matching is that you have to have at least two Skype conversations before you can match. This has a good reason; you need to make sure you and the family have similar views on things. I think one of the reasons why a lot of Au pairs go in rematch is because they underestimate the interviewing process. Yes the family interview you, but you interview them at the same time. You have to live with this people for a year, so you'll better make sure you have similar views and can get along. Off course it's always different trough Skype than when you are actually there, you will never know how honest people are, but asking questions is key. Not only about the children but also about the area they live in, their religion, what they expect from you, if you will have a curfew, what kind of things they eat, what they like to do in their free time, etc. Some of these questions might seem strange, but they will help you understand the family and you will feel like you already know the family a little but when you get there.

Source

3. You're not going to save a lot of money

You might work as an Au pair with the intention to save some money, while living in a new country, don't count on that. My intention was the same, but when you get there you will realize you want to see as much of the country as possible and want to have fun with friends. All of the sudden the money you make doesn't seem like much and it will be hard to save money. It's not impossible, but off course you're not in a new county to stay home all the time, so enjoy your time and try to not spend all your money ;)

Source

4. Make friends

One of the most important things when you move to a new country, is to make friends  as soon as possible. You can event start before you arrive, there are a lot of Facebook groups for Au pairs, and you can try to find some other Au pairs in your area. When you get here you should get some contact formation from the agency from other Au pairs. And off course you can meet up with the people you found on Facebook. It's important to do this as fast as possible after you arrive, so you won't feel lonely, and the best thing is they will understand how you feel. Making friends also brings me to the next point....

5. Hang out with people that don't speak your language

This is important, especially if your English isn't very good. I don't say you can't hang out with anyone from your own country or speak in your own language, but if you do that all the time, your English will not improve. I know multiple people who always complain that their English is so bad, but in the mean time they mostly hang out withy friends that speak the same language and they don't speak English together. One other thing that I think is really rude, talking your own language in a group if people where not everyone knows the language. For example you go out for dinner with a group of people and two people speak German together, while the rest of the group doesn't speak German. I don't have a problem with talking in your own language a little bit if there is someone that speaks the same language as you, but you can't just ignore the rest of the people and don't speak English for the while night if you're with a group of people. Off course German is just an example, it might as well be Spanish, French or Swedish.

6. Take your time to adjust

When you move to another country where you don't know anyone, and you basically live with strangers, you need to give yourself time to adjust to your new situation. It's going to take some time to feel like your host families house, is also your home. In the beginning it will feel weird to just take something from the fridge for example, but trust me after a few weeks you don't even think about it anymore. Having friends and other Au pairs to talk to really helps, because they went trough the exact same thing, and you can always ask for advice in one of the Facebook groups. Just don't give up if you're homesick after 2 weeks and don't feel comfortable, it will get better, you just need to get trough the beginning.

Source

7. Communicate

Also talk with your host family if you feel homesick or if you have any other problems. This will strengthen you're relationship and they will be able to understand you better. You don't have to share everything with your host parents, but if you're feeling unhappy you should definitely tell them, and maybe they can do something to help you.

Source

8. Classes are not that easy to find

When you sign up with an agency they make it seem like you can take any class you want and that you will have a great experience, I experienced the contrary. In the United States the host family has to pay up to $500 towards a class for you. This might seem like much, but it isn't. Here in San Francisco your cheapest option would be an ESL (English as a Second Language) class. Which is really boring if your English is already pretty good but this class is free. If you want to take a credit class, it is $250 per credit, and that's at the city college, where it is the cheapest. Most classes are 3 credits, so that $500 isn't going to cut it. Also you need 6 credits or 72 hours to obey the Au pair contract, so if you would take two 3 credit classes it will cost you $1500, Which leads to my next point...

9. Agencies aren't always helpful

After I got here I was looking for classes, which was really hard, because I didn't want to take business or English. It was either really expensive or not available, so I contacted the agency, the only thing they told me was that it had to be an credited educational institution. Which didn't help me at all, so in my first year I ended up taking the ESL class because I needed to take something to get my hours and I couldn't find any other options. 

We also have a monthly meeting and ours are always very boring, we just sit in the mall for an hour and that's it... But I know there are other groups that have more fun meetings, to example they go to sports games or ice skating, so it really depends on your agency and group you end up with.

A lot of times you will get mixed messages, one person will tell you something and then when you ask the area director they tell you something else. Then you contact the agency and they tell you something else again.... It's complicated sometimes, so there are times you have to do your own research.

Source

10. Know the laws

The last thing I would advice you is to know the laws in the county where you're staying. For example the laws about immigration and visas are really strict, and you don't want to mess with that or you can get in big trouble. Off course laws differ from country to country and sometimes even from state to state. It's important to know some of the most important ones, so you don't get in trouble. Don't hesitate to ask the agency about it, or you can do it in one if the Au pair Facebook groups, where it might be a bit more comfortable.

I hope this helped some of you who are them about becoming an Au pair, if you have any questions just ask me. This is mostly based on being an Au pair in the United States, but I think you can pretty use this wherever you want to be an Au pair.

Do you want to become an Au pair, or if you already are an Au pair, how is your experience?