TheBestAupair Blog

What partners would you like to see on our website?

Wednesday, March 13th, 2013 at 6:28 pm

Comments (1)

When we created TheBestAupair.com, we brainstormed services that we thought au pairs and families would get value from. Because flights and au pair travel insurance are the two most expensive items to become an au pair, we thought these would be good partners to add to our website.

Many au pairs have received great value from our two current partners.

Now it is time to look at adding additional services that would be valuable for our au pairs and host families.

Here are a few product and service ideas, so vote what you would like to see, and also add new ideas in our comments. We will keep this post open for a few weeks, and we look forward to hearing what you think!

Some ideas we had were:

Visa services. We are not an au pair agency, so for those families or au pairs who want help with their visa, it could be helpful?
TheBestAupair merchandise. Who wouldn’t want to give their host family children a t-shirt or hat that said “I have TheBestAupair” with our awesome logo on it !
What about a special deal with a Magazine or other online site?
Local businesses in various countries that offer special deals to TheBestAupair members?
Discounts from language schools?

Vote now, or let us know your ideas!

We will give away 10 PowerSearch 1 month memberships to users with the best ideas!

What to know about your au pair driving your car!

Thursday, December 13th, 2012 at 1:59 pm

Comments (9)

A very useful job duty for an au pair is driving the car. The au pair can take the children to and from school, and to and from activities. It certainly beats the mad rush fitting in school pickup and drop-off with your work commitments.

So to take advantage of this useful au pair task, make sure you understand the following aspects of your au pair driving:

Driving skill level and conditions

None

You cannot drive a car.

Beginner

You have a relevant international driver’s licence, but have not driven a car very much. You are confident that you can drive in basic driving conditions once you have had some practice driving in your new host country.

Intermediate

You have a relevant international driver’s licence and consider yourself to be a safe driver. You are comfortable with driving in the conditions that are required by your host family.

Advanced

You have a relevant international driver’s licence and consider yourself to be a very good and safe driver. You have safely driven in all driving conditions required by your host family (e.g. at night, in the snow, on highways, with different road rules, on the other side of the road etc.)

Doing “test runs”

Whilst your au pair may be a very confident driver in their own country, we recommend that you do a few trial runs with your au pair prior to having them driving without you in the car.

We recommend that you drive them to the places you want them to do (schools, places where the children do sport or other activities etc.). If your au pair is required to drive in difficult or busy conditions, make sure they are completely comfortable with driving in these conditions before you allow them to do it on their own. This is also true for au pairs that are driving on the other side of the road that they are normally used to.

We have had a few au pairs drive our cars now, and they have each come from countries where they drive on the other side of the road. Following these guidelines, we have had a great result so far.

Car Insurance

Make sure your au pair is listed on your car insurance policy as a driver if required. Some car insurance policies allow “occasional” driving for non-named drivers. Make sure you understand the definition of “occasional” as each car insurance company will have a different one.

If your au pair has an accident, the policy holder is responsible for paying the excess. If you want to have some or all of the excess reimbursed to you from your au pair, then you need to have an agreement with them to do this.

Our agreement with our au pair is that if she has an accident whilst doing her job duties (the driving we ask her to do), then we will pay the excess. If she is using the car for personal use and has an accident, she is responsible for the excess. The reality is that this is legally hard to enforce, and you will likely need to rely on trust to have your au pair pay.

Want more information?

Check out: Car Use Guidelines and Au pair Benefits

Do you have any other ideas for successful au pair driving? We would love to hear them!

The 2 most important things to do to find your best au pair or host family

Wednesday, December 12th, 2012 at 10:05 am

Comments (1)

If you really want to be an au pair, or you really want a great au pair to work for you – do these two things:

#1 Create a great profile with photos

Families and au pairs who upload photos, and spend time writing a nice profile get 10-20 times more interest than those who don’t.

Think about it. If you are a great family, and you have taken the time to explain who you are, and what you want your au pair to do – you will attract an equally great au pair. If you are a great au pair, and you have also spent the time to explain you are – then equally great families will want you.

Take the time. Create a great profile – after all for both the family and the au pair – it’s a big deal.

For more information on how to create a great profile, visit:

Families: Family helpful profile tips.

Au pairs: Au pair helpful profile tips.

Unsure of the benefits of being or having an au pair? Click here to see a definition and some of the most common benefits for both host families and au pairs.

#2 Do webcam interviews

For the family, having an au pair in your house and looking after your children is a big deal.

Select someone who is a great personality match, and is also happy to do the job duties you need them to do. We believe over 80% of bad au pair experiences is because of the lack of a quality interview.

When you do a webcam, it is like meeting them in person. You can interact with them, and it is much easier to learn more about them, and ensure that you will be a match.

For the au pair, travelling to another country, away from your family and friends is a big deal. Being an au pair can be one of the MOST REWARDING experiences of your life.

You really get to learn how people live in other countries, you get some valuable work experience and you also get to learn some fantastic life skills that will help you for your future.

Select the right family for you. This is best done when you can see and interact with the family. It’s just like meeting them in person.

Au pair and host family resources

Premium au pairs and families get access to our Download Centre which contains some extremely valuable resources:

An interview guide with well over 100 questions. There is a version of this for the au pair as well as the family. ** MUST HAVE for even experienced au pairs and families
A family step by step guide that goes through everything from thinking about having an au pair through to them arriving at your house
An au pair step by step guide that goes through everything from thinking about being an au pair through to arriving at the host family house
An au pair contract
Reference check guide for host families
Sample au pair weekly schedules to help you think about the duties you want your au pair to do

Please note that access to our download centre is available with a premium membership. For only $50 AUD, it is inexpensive, and well worth the investment.

Do you think there are more important things to do? We would love to hear your ideas!

Promote your profile in social media

Friday, September 7th, 2012 at 11:25 am

Comments (4)

We have started promoting links to your TheBestAupair profile on social media (Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and Pinterest).

For your profile to be published, you must have uploaded at least one nice photo of yourself or your family and have written a great profile.

We have a large backlog of profiles to publish, so give us a little bit of time to catch up!

Scammer Warning

Monday, August 6th, 2012 at 1:32 pm

Comments (92)

Hello everyone. Please be aware of families who are requesting your personal information.

NEVER provide personal information including your passport details, your address, banking or any similar information – it is just not necessary for you to do so, and it is likely the family is a scammer.

Families or au pairs that are found to be scammers have their account blocked, and we update their profile with a warning message.

Professional scammers are very good at what they do. They create scammed email addresses, contracts and other documents that are NEARLY right.

For example, we have found a scammer on our site: Family Jody Brenek.

They paid for our premium membership, and have emailed many au pairs. This family even creates a fake email from the UK Border Agency. The email comes from ukborder_agency@info-ba-uk.com NOTE that it does not end in .gov.uk – which is the official email address.

What they do is get you to send money to their address for your own pocket money, and you never see it again. This family also promises to pay for your flights. It never happens, and you get robbed….

Please read our pages on scams and scammers: http://www.thebestaupair.com/en/information-support/a-to-z-index/s/scams-and-scammers.aspx

So if you want to have a safe au pair experience, please remember:

Make sure the family has loaded up photos on our website
Do a video skype with them to ensure they are who they say they are
Check their phone number is valid
Make sure you speak to their children as well on Skype to see they are who they say they are
Do at least one reference check on the family.

All this information is available in our Download Centre including interview guide, reference check guide and other useful information.

If you have any concerns about a family or au pair, please Contact Us PRIOR to sending any confidential information and certainly before you send ANY money.

Thank you.

Page 1 of 2 1 2 »