{"id":4244,"date":"2021-06-30T12:54:50","date_gmt":"2021-06-30T12:54:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/s37407.p1377.sites.pressdns.com\/resources\/en-gb\/how-to-interview-an-au-pair\/"},"modified":"2021-06-30T12:54:50","modified_gmt":"2021-06-30T12:54:50","slug":"how-to-interview-an-au-pair-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.care.com\/c\/en-gb\/how-to-interview-an-au-pair-2\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Interview an Au Pair"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.care.com\/en-gb\/profiles\/au-pairs\">An&nbsp;au pair<\/a>&nbsp;is a foreign national who moves to a different country to provide childcare, while taking language classes and experiencing life in a foreign country. These caregivers receive accommodation from a host family in addition to pocket money.<\/p><p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.care.com\/en-gb\/profiles\/au-pairs\">Hiring an au pair<\/a> is slightly different than&nbsp;hiring a typical <a href=\"https:\/\/www.care.com\/en-gb\/profiles\/childcare\/nannies\">nanny<\/a> or <a href=\"https:\/\/www.care.com\/en-gb\/profiles\/childcare\/babysitters\">babysitter<\/a>. One important difference is the interview. Because the au pair lives in another country, you may be interviewing her via email, phone or Skype &ndash; rather than in person, as you would for someone living in the same country as yourself. As a result, there are some unique considerations you&rsquo;ll need to take into account.<\/p><p>Here are seven tips to keep in mind before and during the interview process:<\/p><p><strong>1. Learn about the interview process<\/strong><\/p><p>When you are <a href=\"https:\/\/www.care.com\/en-gb\/profiles\/au-pairs\">hiring an au pair<\/a>, it is a similar procedure to conducting a first stage interview with any other type of carer. Even though you are not able to meet face-to-face with the candidate, it is best to decide on an appropriate method of contact. Will you email prospective candidates? How many times will you interview a candidate? Do they prefer phone interviews or ones through Skype? (If you&rsquo;re not familiar with the technology, it may be ideal to practice beforehand).<\/p><p><strong>2. Prepare thoroughly and thoughtfully<\/strong><\/p><p>Help make the most out of the conversation with a little research and planning. Make a list of open-ended questions to ask the candidate that will provide you with a solid understanding of the au pair&rsquo;s past experiences and current motivations, as well as how he or she might respond in a number of hypothetical situations. For example:<\/p><ul><li>Why do you want to be an au pair?<\/li><li>What are some age-appropriate activities you would plan for my child?<\/li><li>What is your idea of how the parent-child relationship should function?<\/li><li>What are children like in your country?<\/li><li>What are you interested in learning about the United Kingdom?<\/li><\/ul><p>Be sure to think up some unexpected questions as well. Many au pairs prepare for interviews with scripted language that has been practiced over and over.<\/p><p>Assume a conversational tone and inquire about additional topics not directly related to the au pair&rsquo;s role, such as their interests and how they like to spend their time.<\/p><p><strong>3. Involve your child<\/strong><\/p><p>Your kids are the ones who will be interacting with the au pair regularly. Let them weigh in on questions to ask and have them participate in the interview.<\/p><p><strong>4. Be sensitive to communication barriers<\/strong><\/p><p>Remember that English is likely not to be the au pair&rsquo;s first language.&nbsp;Talk slowly and articulately, as speaking and understanding English are more difficult over the phone than in person. Be prepared to repeat or rephrase questions and sentences if need be.<\/p><p>That said, good communication is important to the relationship you&rsquo;ll have with an au pair. Make sure the candidate has a basic level of English to help him\/her communicate with your family and live in a largely English-speaking country.<\/p><p>Does your family speak another language in addition to English? It might be helpful to look for someone who has that language in common with you. It may also be a nice touch to practice a few words in the au pair&rsquo;s language, to help make things more comfortable.<\/p><p><strong>5. Stay alert to red flags<\/strong><\/p><p>For an au pair who is leaving family, friendships and a sense of cultural belonging, a move to the UK is a big adjustment. For your mutual benefit, it&rsquo;s important to suss out if <a href=\"https:\/\/www.care.com\/en-gb\/profiles\/au-pairs\">hiring an au pair<\/a> will be a good fit. Is it the right time and the right circumstances?<\/p><p>Again, this often comes back to asking the right kinds of questions, such as:<\/p><ul><li>Have you ever lived away from home for a significant period of time?<\/li><li>Have you visited the UK before?<\/li><li>Do you have a significant other back home? (A long-distance relationship may cause undue homesickness.)<\/li><\/ul><p>Another red flag to look out for are replies that sound overly rehearsed, such as &ldquo;I love children&rdquo; or &ldquo;I want to be a nursery teacher.&rdquo; Dig deeper into these replies to assess whether the au pair has a sincere passion for and dedication to the role.<\/p><p><strong>6. Be transparent<\/strong><\/p><p>While questions posed to the au pair are crucial to the interview, it&rsquo;s equally important that you provide as much relevant detail about your expectations and the kind of au pair relationship you&rsquo;re seeking. An au pair is leaving one country for another to work for you and, as such, the stakes are much higher than if you&rsquo;re hiring someone from the same town or city as yourself. Address family dynamics, children&rsquo;s ages and personalities, routines and schedules, what the au pair should provide (education, language and entertainment) and how you envision discipline to be handled.<\/p><p><strong>7. And expect the same<\/strong><\/p><p>Likewise, you should require the same transparency of the au pair. After all, it&rsquo;s better to communicate honestly with each other so that you both have realistic expectations.<\/p><blockquote><p>Read Next: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.care.com\/c\/stories\/15356\/caregiver-tips-how-to-have-the-perfect-inter\/en-gb\/\">How to Have the Perfect Caregiver Interview&nbsp;<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote><blockquote><p>Read Next: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.care.com\/c\/stories\/15338\/everything-you-need-to-know-about-hiring-an-a\/en-gb\/\">Everything You Need to Know About Hiring an Au Pair&nbsp;<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote><blockquote><p>Read Next: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.care.com\/c\/stories\/15823\/5-things-that-change-when-you-hire-an-au-pair\/en-gb\/\">5 Things That Change When You Hire an Au Pair<\/a>&nbsp;<\/p><\/blockquote>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>An&nbsp;au pair&nbsp;is a foreign national who moves to a different country to provide childcare, while taking language classes and experiencing life in a foreign country. These caregivers receive accommodation from a host family in addition to pocket money. Hiring an au pair is slightly different than&nbsp;hiring a typical nanny or babysitter. One important difference is <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.care.com\/c\/en-gb\/how-to-interview-an-au-pair-2\/\">Read more&#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1092,"featured_media":24862,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"enable_toc":false,"care_reviewed_by":0,"care_post_updated_flag":false,"care_updated_date":"","last_update":"2021-06-30","view_count":822,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"member-type":[42],"vertical":[84,80],"platform":[2],"class_list":["post-4244","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","member-type-all-en-gb","vertical-child-care-advice-en-gb","vertical-child-care-options-en-gb","platform-resources"],"acf":[],"created":null,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.care.com\/c\/en-gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4244","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.care.com\/c\/en-gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.care.com\/c\/en-gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.care.com\/c\/en-gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1092"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.care.com\/c\/en-gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4244"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.care.com\/c\/en-gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4244\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.care.com\/c\/en-gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24862"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.care.com\/c\/en-gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4244"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.care.com\/c\/en-gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4244"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.care.com\/c\/en-gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4244"},{"taxonomy":"member-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.care.com\/c\/en-gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/member-type?post=4244"},{"taxonomy":"vertical","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.care.com\/c\/en-gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/vertical?post=4244"},{"taxonomy":"platform","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.care.com\/c\/en-gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/platform?post=4244"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}