Preparing your Dear Family Letter

Be completely honest about yourself. Don’t say you love hiking when secretly you’re a couch potato. Some families are couch potatoes and would like an additional potato.

Really try and bring up all of your best qualities. If you have a talent or skill, mention it. If there’s something you’re really passionate about, say it. By pointing out these things about yourself you are helping your host family find you. A host family wants to welcome a new culture into their home but they also want a person who they will enjoy hosting. They will not select you if you have nothing in common with them. More about your salary, duties, working hours and duties.

This really saves you a lot of time and frustration if you put a little extra effort into your profile.

A wise man once said, “the less you say, the more they remember.”

Which is very true. Keep it short and sweet. Don’t waste words droning on about how much you want this or whatever. Just use key points to bring up the good stuff about you and then stop.

Example: Hi, my name is Jodie, I’m 22 from Africa. I love the outdoors, a few of my favourite activities are hiking, kayaking and horse riding. I love animals, I have three horses and a few other pets. I also enjoy literature and art, painting is my favourite hobby. Although I have no previous experience as an au pair, I have babysat for many families and am very good with children. I am a trained chef so will be glad to cook for the family. I would love to find a host family with similar interests. I look forward to learning about your lifestyle and culture and would be happy to share information about mine in return.

This is informative and light, families will read this and think yes or no. If it’s a yes, they’ll like my profile and I can then choose if I would like to contact them further. If I choose yes, then they will receive my email address and I can then communicate freely with them.

Presenting your Au pair Profile

Another thing that was incredibly helpful with finding a good family was adding photos. You have a limit of five photos on your profile. I think it’s the perfect number to keep things sweet and to the point. Use all five.

Don’t just fill them up with artistic and creative selfies. It comes across as narcissistic and immature. Parents don’t want to bring someone else’s self-obsessed child into their home. They want a nice, humble and open person. So try include pictures of you doing some of the things you have mentioned in your statement about yourself.

I mentioned my love of animals so I put a picture of me with my horse and my kitten. This immediately drew the eye of other families with horses. I am a trained chef and put in a picture of me at chef school. This just proves that my statements are honest. My profile picture was a selfie so they can have a good look at my face. All the rest were of me engaging in activities I mentioned.

This catches so many families’ eyes because it’s honest and visual. Really take advantage of syncing your pictures with your write up. This will open so many doors for you, and families with similar interests will come pouring in.

I do realise that on almost all the family profiles, they only have a profile picture. I don’t really know why, it must be an adult thing… but don’t worry, you will get opportunities to see photos of any families you speak to before you commit to anything.

Now, back to the honesty policy. Do NOT lie about anything on your profile. These host families welcome you into their home as the person you said you are. I know a girl who said she didn’t smoke so she would get more offers, she smoked on the down low but her family knew she was doing it. Eventually, she got caught and sent home for lying. They wouldn’t have minded if she smoked outside and out of sight from the children but the fact that she lied and snuck around behind their backs made them uncomfortable having her in their home.

Another story I know of is a girl who claimed to love swimming, she got a family that was very sporty, water sports was not mentioned directly but rather the term “outdoorsy and active” they took her to a lake to ride their jet skis only to find out that she cannot swim at all. It caused problems because she couldn’t supervise the children swimming so the parents had to do it, defeating the point of hiring her.

Even if you feel it’s a flaw, like the smoking example, say it. The host families need to know these things. It is indeed a huge step as the au pair to live in a strange home, but consider how big it is for the host family too. You’re a stranger and they are trusting you to live with them in their sanctuary.