ending up being an au pair was my gateway to the world back in 1998. I had no money as well as no experience traveling solo, however I was identified to discover a innovative method to begin my adventures. I’ve been an au pair 5 times now, in 4 different countries as well as gathered a great deal of info I will show you.
Becoming an Au pair is just one of the many travel jobs we’ve written about on this blog. We’ve likewise tried, evaluated as well as earned money from lots of online jobs (the finest of which was starting this travel blog which now totally pays for our travels). Don’t miss the extensive guides below to assist you make money online, on the road or on the side to ensure that you can travel longer!
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In this article, you’ll discover exactly how to ended up being an au pair, what you can expect to get paid, as well as some pros as well as cons of this type of travel job.
Sisällysluettelo
What Is An Au Pair?
What An Au pair Is Not
Benefits Of ending up being An Au Pair
Payment & hours Of Work
Maksu
How To discover an Au pair Position
My personal Au pair Experiences
Tiivistettynä
What Is An Au Pair?
The word au pair is a French term that implies “equal to”.
An au pair is typically a young female (although in some cases households are available to hold male au pairs) who wishes to travel, discover a new language, check out a new culture as well as delight in herself in a new country.
She will be held by a regional household as well as will be thought about as well as treated as part of the family, in exchange for a few hours of childcare as well as light home responsibilities each day.
Becoming an au pair is a cultural exchange.
Being an Au-pair in Thailand
What An Au pair Is Not
When searching for a hold family, make sure you thoroughly talk about what your responsibilities as well as obligations will be.
Some hold households exploit their au pairs, pushing them into doing long hours of work, particularly cleaning around the house.
You are not expected to care for the parents, clean up after them or iron their clothes. As an au pair, you’re there to care for the kids only.
I had an experience in London, where my hold mom asked me to iron her husband’s shirts, as she was feeling as well exhausted (she was pregnant). I agreed to do it once, although I discussed that it was not in my task description.
The next day she came with a bigger stack of clothes to iron, as well as the day after she desired me to do their laundry, which produced a dispute as well as I ended up leaving soon after. An au-pair is not:
A cleaning lady
Halpatyövoima
Sisäkkö
Benefits Of ending up being An Au Pair
You most likely won’t’ ended up being rich by working as an au pair, however there are numerous benefits to the job.
Therefore, it’s extremely essential that both celebrations (the hold household as well as the au pair) are satisfied with the plans they make.
Au pairs have all costs covered, so all of your pocket-money will be for you to utilize nevertheless you want.
Your hold household will offer you with 3 meals a day, a personal bedroom, potentially a language course, a public transportation pass as well as even cover your airplane tickets.
Make sure your hold household will cover the minimum legal requirements, however always seek a household who is prepared to go above as well as beyond with the perks.
Those are typically the ones who won’t try to exploit you.
Remember that for the families, having an au pair is very, extremely affordable. Nannies would expense them 3 times more, so don’t be timid when searching for great perks!
I ended up being an au pair since I wished to travel as well as had no monetary capability to do so. I was likewise thinking about improving my English skills, conquering some personal independence, as well as satisfying new people around the world.
Becoming an au pair seemed like the most rational method to begin as well as because then, I have never stopped traveling.
My bedroom in Switzerland with personal trampoline!
Payment & hours Of Work
Every country has its own policies as far as working hours are concerned.
Within Europe, an au pair typically works around 25-30 hours a week with a day off, typically on Sundays.In my experience, essentially all weekends are free, implying lots of time to check out your new hold country.
In the United States, an au pair is expected to work about 40-45 hours a week with a day off, as well as yes… you may only get someday off!
In both cases, you may be expected to babysit a couple of nights a week. This ought to be organized in advance with your hold family.
Maksu
As an au pair, you won’t have official legal condition as an employee, however rather, you’re thought about a short-term household member who receives pocket money.
Salaries vary a great deal depending upon which country you select to work in.
Some offer bit pocket-money as well as it practically doesn’t make any type of sense to work there, unless you truly want to experience that country as well as culture or discover the language.
Others, however, can be a bit much more attractive as well as you’ll be able to save as well as travel some more.
If you’re an au pair in the USA, you’ll get $195.75 USD minimum per week, in Canada you’ll get roughly $330 CAD per week, while in the UK, you can expect 80 – 85 GBP per week. Check this site for much more info on au pair wages.
How To discover an Au pair Position
There are numerous methods to discover an au pair position.
The many suggested (safe) method is with an agency, which will fee you a charge to match you with a prospective family.
The drawback of this is the fee. The upside is that the hold household is vetted by the company, as well as if things go wrong, you can modification hold families.
Have a look at recommended, reputable sites like Au pair world or Au Pair.com.
Sadly, the bad experiences I had came with hold households I discovered on company websites. And, in my experience, if you have issues with one family, the next won’t be so keen on hiring you.
Another method to discover au pair positions is by browsing on forums, on the internet groups or on the internet companies that won’t fee a finder’s fee, or, you might put a little ad in a cafe, or regional newspaper as well as wait to be contacted.
The drawback of this, is not understanding if you’re being scammed or if you’ll be safe, so a great deal of previous contact, including Skype calls, is extremely recommended.
If you’re an active Couchsurfer, location an ad in one of the au pair groups. That’s exactly how I really ended up in Switzerland. I will be utilizing this technique from now on, as many households have a full profile, references, as well as people who have vouched for them, as well as hey… it’s free!
Back in 1999 with my American family
My personal Au pair Experiences
I’ve just completed my short-term au pair task in Switzerland.
I was lucky to have the very best hold household in the world as well as to be able to online in the most costly city in the world – Zürich- with ALL costs covered.
My hold mom paid my flights as well as drove me around, showing me amazing parts of Switzerland which I would most likely never believe of visiting.
She went above as well as beyond to make me feel happy. I had a personal master suite bedroom with a big balcony all to myself as well as views over the mountains as well as Zurich city.
While being an au pair in the USA I had a similar experience.
My hold household was fantastic as well as I really felt like part of the family. during this time, I had the chance to check out part of the east coastline with other au pairs as well as new friends.
In fact, my hold household as well as I ended up being such great buddies that I even returned a few times for short-term placements. Sixteen years after this experience, we’re still in touch as well as care for every other deeply….but things are not always so positive.
I’ve been an au pair in London twice, as well as both experiences were incredibly negative.
Curiously, many of my London-based au pair buddies were likewise having issues with their families. I’ve discovered that numerous British households tend to utilize their au pairs as inexpensive labor as well as ended up treating them as maids.
Most of my au pair buddies had incredibly impolite as well as disrespectful kids to offer with, as well as the parents always stood by their children’s side, producing a great deal of friction as well as conflict.
Exploring Zurich – Switzerland in 2014
In one more situation, I was about to pack my bags as well as fly to San Francisco, California for this summertime as an au pair.
There was a household who had been sending me invitations as well as things looked quite solid. I was incredibly exMainittu, vaikka yhtäkkiä he hylkäsivät tarjouksensa, koska olen kasvissyöjä.
Siksi on niin välttämätöntä vaihtaa paljon sähköpostiviestejä ja todella ymmärtää vielä yksi ennen kuin hyväksyt au pair -työt.
Tiivistettynä
Au -pariksi tuleminen voi olla yksi tyydyttäväimmistä ja turvallisimmista menetelmistä matkustaa maailmaa, kun taas kaikki kustannukset kattavat.
Tämä on myös upea valinta aloittelijoille soolo -naismatkailijoille, joilla on elämää suurempi kuin elämä, mutta tuntevat silti epävarmuuden ja haluavat astua maailmaan yksinään.
Ehdotan varmasti, että päädyin Au -pariksi. Se on loistava tapa ansaita rahaa, tyydyttää uusia ihmisiä ja löytää eri kulttuureista.
Kirjailijan bio: Yara Coelho vaihtoi talon mukavuuksia 16 vuotta sitten tiellä. Hän on matkustanut maailmaa sekoittaen kaltaisia kasvisruokaa, vaihtoehtoista elävää ja vähän vaikutusta matkustamiseen. Hän on kirjoittanut sekä Travel ja inspiroiva blogi, Heart of A -yritys.
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