FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS FOR THE HOST FAMILIES

 1.   Why AupairHunter?

2.   Why have so much selection criteria? 

3.   What are our responsibilities as a Host Family?

4.   The Host Family is not responsible for: 

5.   What is the difference between an Au Pair, a mothers help and a nanny?

6.   Why have a Show Case?

7.   What is a Mothers help?

8.   Is an Au Pair a Temporary family member?

9.   How do I explain to our Au Pair the House Rules?

10. Why include a video?

11. Why become a paying member?

12. What if we can not offer a private room, can we still have an Au Pair? 

13. How does it work for the families? 

14. Can we request a specific nationality?

15. Who can see my personal contact data?

16. When is the best time to register?

17. Can we request a Male Au Pair? 

1.  Why AupairHunter?

AupairHunter is the professional online Au Pair database for demanding host families and Au Pairs.

There are many Families and Au Pairs, but to get the right one that really fits to your needs and at reasonable price, can not be offered so easily.

AupairHunter was created to offer a high quality service for demanding Host families and Au Pairs.   We only offer serious profiles and act as one of the most professional and prestigious Online Data Base Search Engines for Au Pair and Host Families.

We will not overload our clients with hundreds of Au Pairs or Host family profiles.  We value your time.  AupairHunter compares the profile from Au Pairs and Host families.     A match will be made bearing in mind, the personal requirements and detailed demands of both.

AupairHunter offers a tailor-made service.  You do not lose your time analysing a never-ending list of Au Pairs or host families.   We offer a realistic personal match.  In a shorter and more efficient time, you have selected your Au Pair or host family.

AupairHunter stands for quality tailor made service.

 2.  Why have so much selection criteria?

Well it’s simple.   The Fact that host family, and Au Pair are going to live together without knowing each other at all, it is extremely important that you can at least choose and define the profile you believe would fit to your needs. 

Your time is important to us.  We, at AupairHunter want to save you from looking at hundreds of profiles, knowing that there’ are only a few who would really match.   So why not save your time and effort, define exactly what you are looking for with the different selection criteria, and receive those profiles of Au Pairs or host families who really match with you.

There is not only one way to find your candidate as many others offer.  We leave the doors open to choose many different ways of selection and enter in deeper detail, to offer a much more realistic selection.

Getting the right person  enables you to have a great time together.

3.  What are our responsibilities as a Host Family?

• Treat your Au Pair as a member of the family.  With respect and a little patience.
• Offer your Au Pair a private room
• Meals are included e.g.: breakfast, lunch and dinner.
• Pocket money:  You should establish a weekly or a monthly payday.
• In some countries the host family is obligated to include the Au Pair in their insurance (also a health insurance and the car insurance if the Au Pair makes use of the family car).     *(also see Visa and regulations)
• The Au Pair can make normal use of the phone.
• In USA the host family mostly pays the Au Pairs language courses.

4.  The host Family is not responsible for:

• It is not the responsibility to cover the Au Pairs extra wishes e.g. sweets, cigarettes etc…
• International phone calls or talking excessive with friends.
• In most European countries the Au Pair pays her language courses.

5.  What is the difference between an Au Pair, a mothers help and a nanny?

Actually, yes there is a lot of difference:

• An Au Pair usually is a young adolescent, taking some time off, before attending university.  Their main goal is to live in a foreign country, being part of the family (host family), learning another language and getting to know another culture.  This is a temporary position from a couple of months to max. approx. 2 years. 
• A Mothers help, mostly is a young girl, with more experienced than an Au Pair.  This position is more like a nanny job, but without a nanny-qualification, and not necessarily in another country or with culture exchange. A mothers help works approx. 40 hours a week, and has more household duties than an Au Pair. 
• A Nanny is a real full time position (live in or live out), not necessarily in another country, and (mostly) without the cultural exchange background.   A nanny has a qualification from an appropriate college.

 6.  Why have a Show Case?

 With your personal ShowCase, you literally draw attention to you.   It is a very quick, direct and proactive way of showing your interest, either for an Au Pair job, or as a Host family looking for an Au Pair.

The great advantage is that from every match perceived, the ShowCase will always appear first.  So basically, if your profile matches, you do not have to stand in line.

 7. What is a Mothers help?

A mother's help is usually a more mature candidate, mostly female with more experience in child care, even though there are also younger, less experienced mother's helps.   Her duties include child care and she can also be expected to do heavier household chores.  She works for a maximum of 8-10 hours per day for 5 1/2 days per week.   She can also be expected to baby-sit in the evening if the parents have to go out, when children are asleep for a maximum of 5 nights per week.   Her salary ranges from 120 € per week to 250 € per week depending on age, experience and the country where the host family lives.

8.  Is an Au Pair a Temporary family member?

Yes.  And you should treat your Au Pair as a family member, with respect and patience.  Introduce him/her to the nearest neighbours, and friends of the family, make sure that the children's school and doctor know that you have an Au Pair.

9.  How do I explain our Au Pair the House Rules?

A good and open communication between the Au Pair and the host family is fundamental.  Everyone has his own way of doing things.   We strongly recommend during the first days after the Au Pairs arrival that you do the housework together.   Be very specific about your expectations.  The same applies for childcare.

Explain how the household appliances work e.g. the washing machine, dishwasher, air conditioning etc.

If your Au Pair prepares the meals for the children, be clear about what your children may or may not eat.

Tell your Au Pair if and when friends are allowed to visit.

If your Au Pair smokes, make a mutual agreement where and when this is allowed.

10. Why include a video?

You surely know the saying: “a picture says more than a thousand words”.  A video will even say a lot more than a picture.

AupairHunter wants to offer you this innovative service, in order to give your profile this extra dimension and attraction.  

A short story gives you a closer feeling of reality.  If you see a video of your Family or Au Pair, this can give a better understanding of behavior and also about the level of their language, personality.

In case you do not exactly know how to upload your video, or are having trouble with the upload, don’t worry, here are a few suggestions.

11. Why become a paying member?

Once you have registered for free, and maybe already found a few interesting profiles of Au Pairs or Host families, it is time to contact your favorite selection. 

Only a paying member can view the contact details of the profiles that match with each other.

12. What if we can not offer a private room, can we still have an Au Pair? 

Of course you can.   In theory the Au Pair has the right on a private room, but not every family can fulfil this.    As in every agreement or contract, the most important thing is that both parties mutually agree and accept the conditions.

13. How does it work for the families? 

Welcoming an Au Pair can be a great experience as a host family.  It's an opportunity for the children to be exposed to a new culture and language.   Your Au Pair can teach the children about his or her own culture and country.   With AupairHunter you can easily find the right Au Pair and enjoy a nice experience.  See also how it works.

14. Can we request a specific nationality?

Certainly you can.   However, the more flexible you are in your requirements the more Au Pairs you will be able to select from.   

15. Can anyone see my personal contact data?

Certainly not.    AupairHunter’s reputation is seen as most serious, professional and discrete.    This reflects also in the confidentiality of the personal data we process from our clients.    We handle your personal data with absolute care and confidentiality.

This means that your contact data only will be visible for those members to whom you gave us the authority to do so.

How it works:  to the members who are interested in contacting you, you reply through our internal message system giving AupairHunter the confirmation to show or not show your personal contact data.   Basically you will only be contacted by those members to whom you gave us your consent.  Members who are interested in each other can then see their personal contact data.

You will not waste your time with hundreds of non matching Au Pairs or host family profiles, not knowing where to start and who to choose.   Not to mention the time it would require to analyse all profiles to your satisfaction.

This rule works both ways.   You can only view the contact details of those members who are interested in contacting you.

Experience has proved that only good matches are successful.   Both the Au Pair and host family deserve a fair chance to find what they need and have a great time together.  Therefore AupairHunter offers you a tailor-made service.

16. When is the best time to register?

Anytime is good to register as a Host Family or Au Pair.  Usually it can take a few months before you find The Family or The Au Pair that matches perfectly with you.   We also have placements that take only a few weeks (depending on where you want to go, experience, age, special personal requirements).    The most popular time to start is at the beginning of a new school year (from September until July) or before the summer holidays, in case of a summer holiday-Au Pair.  But there are quite a lot of families looking throughout the year.  It depends on the needs of the family.

17. Can we request a Male Au Pair?

Ofcouse you can.  There are lots of Families with only boys, or single arents who prefere a male Au Pair.   It could take a little more time to find the right Au Pair, because there are more female than male Au Pairs.