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Nanny GPS: Become an Au Pair

Becoming an Au Pair is one of the easiest ways to find work abroad and an ideal chance for you to gain experience overseas. As an au pair you will not only grow as a person but you will also have the opportunity to gain important experience for your future. Perhaps you intend to pursue a career in childcare. Then what could be better than spending a year looking after children from a different culture? You may want to work in International Marketing but need to improve your language skills. Living with a family in a foreign country is a fantastic way to learn and develop your language skills. The Au Pair job also opens many new opportunities for travel, meeting new people and learning about new cultures, as well as acquiring legitimate work references.

An Au Pair is typically a young person from abroad, living with a family, to learn the language and helping with childcare and domestic work, in return for board and accommodation. The family also pays the Au Pair pocket money.

The Au Pair generally becomes a member of the host family and the family support the Au Pair during their time living with them.

Duties of an Au Pair

The Duties of the Au Pair are agreed by the Au Pair and the family during the selection process and these duties can differ greatly between families depending on their childcare priorities. In general terms an An pair's working week consists of anywhere in between 18 - 45 hours depending on the needs of the family.

The host family will provide a room, pocket money and at least one day of rest per week. Usually an au pair is employed for a specific amount of time, which can be from as little as 1 month to up to 36 months. The au pair lives 'as a part of the family', whilst providing basic childcare and domestic chores. The family advertises their childcare job on my.nannygps.com which clearly outlines they type of person they are looking for and the activities important to their childcare job. For example, tasks could include the following:

Escort children to and from school and social events, such as swimming.
Cook food for the children.
Play with the children.
Carry out light housework, which is related to the care of the children, such as ironing and cooking or providing meals.
Help children with school work.
Baby-sit on occasional evenings.
Provide children with classes in your own language.

Benefits of Being an Au Pair

There are many benefits of becoming an Au Pair which include:

An affordable way to live abroad and experience a new culture, learn a new language or become fluent in a language you are already familiar with.
Free food & accommodation.
Au Pairs generally have their own room, in many occasions your own TV, the use of a car and the chance to accompany the host family on exotic holidays.
In exchange for your working hours you receive pocket money according to your duties, the country you are living in, your qualifications, your package (i.e. room, hours worked, access to car, internet etc) and your agreement with the family.
Family support and help with adjusting to living in a new country.
A great stepping stone for setting up in a new country and seeing whether you want to live in that country long term. I know many Au Pairs that decided to remain in the foreign country and went on to work in different areas once their language skills were proficient.
A great way of entering into childcare as a career option and working towards becoming a Nanny or working in other childcare settings such as teaching, day care etc.
For many a childcare job is simply an easy transition to the world of work and a way of acquiring a higher standard of living in one's early working years.

Who can become an Au Pair

Anyone who has an interest in working with children can become an Au Pair. Generally Au pairs are aged between 18-28 who want to spend time in another country, look after children and provide domestic work within the family. Depending on your country of origin you may be restricted to working in some countries so it's important to check visa requirements before applying for jobs.

Search our database today of childcare jobs to learn more about what our families are looking for. Create your own profile and start applying for jobs - it's easy to find your first, or indeed your next, au pair job on my.nannygps.com