How do I become an Au Pair?

Before wondering about that, ask yourself these questions. Do I love children? Do I want to be away from home for a year? Am I comfortable with living in a stranger’s home for a year? Am I adventurous? Am I open minded? Am I flexible? Am I between the ages of 18 and 26 (these ages do differ from country to country, this is for the USA) ? Am I single with no children? Am I in good health and a non-smoker? If you answered yes to these, I think you should know how to become an au pair. (Bear with me, this is a long one)

It’s not easy. If it was, every girl (or even boy) would be an au pair. People think that being an au pair is an easy job. You just have to look after kids right? Well, some kids are hard to work with. Others aren’t, but it doesn’t mean that it is an easy job. Host families trust you to look after their children. They are expecting you to take good care of them. If travelling is your motivation, it’s not worth it. Yes you get to travel, but most of your year you spend with the children. It’s not the same for everyone, I must add. Some au pairs have it easy and others have a really, really hard time. Not every family is the same, some treat au pairs really well, and others don’t. Just because one au pair has an awful time, doesn’t mean you will. Just because another au pair has a fabulous life, doesn’t mean you will. I am not answering your question, am I? Okay I’ll elaborate more about what happens when you are an au pair later. 

Let me tell you how to become one.

Please note that I am going to be talking about becoming an au pair in the USA mostly and also the process of becoming one as a South African. It might be different if you are from another country or you are going to another country. Firstly, you need experience working with children. I suggest getting experience with all ages as that will help with finding a family. You limit yourself if you don’t. That being said, it really is up to you. You definitely can have a preference. Not everyone loves working with babies or older kids and that’s okay. You do you boo!

After gaining experience(maybe even before or during), get your driver’s licence. Unless you are going to a country where it isn’t mandatory. Now apply for your Police clearance and passport(Maybe you can even try and get the passport before you start with everything). These takes time to get it. Once that is sorted, you can work on your application. I filled out my forms,wrote a letter, made a video and made a collage. I worked with an interviewer from my agency that helped me so much. She was awesome. She answered all my questions. Money is involved. I paid an application fee and a profile fee. Its always best to do your research. Make sure the agency is legit, ask previous au pairs and make sure the person asking you for money is in fact from the agency. There are a lot of scammers out there. 

After all your documents are done and your profile is up, you will start talking to families. Have questions ready. Agencies do give you a list of questions to ask the families. What makes a family like you more, is if most of your questions are about the child(ren) and not about car priviledges or vacation time. I’m not saying that you shouldnt ask about them, but let your questions revolve around the kids. You get 2 weeks paid vacation, which isn’t much, but that’s what you get. You also get one full weekend off every month. Not every au pair gets a car. Not every au pair gets a phone. Ask about the children, not only to impress a family, but for you to learn about the kids. You are going to spend a lot of time with them and you have to know if you are comfortable with watching them. Do your research. Now that you have found a family, you might have to pay that fee I was talking about. Again, it differs from agency to agency. 

You will now apply for your visa. Get all your documents together and apply for it. Most agencies help you with this. They will go through the process with you. It is important that all your information is correct. You don’t want to make any mistakes here. Once you have an appointment date. Stress a bit, maybe stress a lot. I’m kidding... don’t stress yourself out. Be confident. I haven’t heard of many au pairs’ visas being declined, but it happens. Don’t stress about it though. I was a nervous wreck, but that’s just me. Also don’t be late for your visa appointment, that was also me. Don’t be me. Now your visa is approved. They send your passport back to you. Two days before leaving you are going to get an International Driving Permit. You go to an AA (Automobile Association) and you have to pay a fee.  You pack your bags, you say goodbye to your family, ball your eyes out and you are off.

Almost at JFK. Excuse the picture quality.

Sounds easy right? I guess it kind of is. It’s hard when you don’t plan your things and if you struggle with money. It was hard for me. It took me years to finally do it, until I told myself I am doing this. It took loads of research, time and money. It is a very rewarding experience though, at least for me. 

I love NYC. I live really close to it. Before COVID-19, I use to go very often.

I don’t know the process now, you know COVID-19 has influenced many things, but I am sure most of the things are the same.

Hopefully this helps make it easy for you. Also remember these things take time. It’s not an overnight process.

Thank you to Simone Ramos and Ashlee Gutshall for your input❤️

xoxo CelesteDQ