Tips To Getting a Host Family Interview

You’ve just received notice that your au pair profile is online! Congratulations, all the hard work you put into gathering your childcare documentation and writing your essays has paid off - host families can finally start selecting you for interviews. Some au pairs match right away - within a week of putting up their profile they’ve had several interviews and have selected their arrival date with a family in the United States. But for other au pairs, it can feel like you’ve been online for months without many interviews. This blog is for you, a great au pair who despite being online for a little while just hasn’t connected with the right family yet. We know it can be frustrating, but here are some tips to help you get the interviews you deserve!

Review Your Profile

Like any interview for employment, you have to put your best foot forward. That doesn’t mean hiding your personality – host families want to learn about you – but it does mean presenting yourself in a way that shows you’re coming to the U.S. for childcare and cultural exchange.

Do include pictures that highlight you, but MOST of your pictures should be with you and the children you've spent time with. Try not to upload only selfies either - show yourself participating in activities you enjoy and what you like to do with the children you've taken care of. Do you do arts and crafts with kids?  Do you feed them at meal time? Read them stories? Use your pictures to tell a story to host families about how well you interact with children. Make it easy for host parents to imagine you caring for their kids!  

Consider Your Timing

One of the biggest reasons host families select au pairs is because of their preferred arrival dates, which may not always align with yours. Important events for host families like heading back to school or planning a vacation, can mean they can’t choose you because doing so would impact their childcare schedule. This doesn’t mean that you have to change your preferred arrival date as sometimes au pairs need to take care of things in their home country before they can travel, but do try to be as flexible as you can knowing that this is a reason host families may or may not choose you for an interview. If your timing changes, make sure you log into your au pair portal and update your dates!

Try Not to Compare Yourself With Others

If you and your friends all decide to become au pairs together, and then they all match before you do, its normal to feel a little confused and sometimes jealous. But every situation is different so try not to look at their success as a failure for you. Your time will come!

Listen to Your Partner Agency

AuPairCare will most likely tell you to connect with our local partner agency in your home Country for profile reviews and matching tips. They have worked with many au pair applicants before and know what makes a good profile. Plus they have the ability to look at all the pictures you want to use and help you make the best choices. Compare the two images below - which one of these do you think communicates that you are excited to come to the U.S. for a cultural exchange program involving children?

Be Patient

This is the hardest part, especially if you’ve been online for a few months. You wonder if your video is good enough, if your profile is showing to families, if you chose the right pictures. The truth is, it may not be about you, but about the host family. Perhaps you're an au pair that speaks Spanish at a time when there are lots of other Spanish speaking au pairs interviewing (which can make it a little harder to stand out). Or maybe it's the winter in the U.S. which can be a slower time of year for all au pair matches. These are just some of the things that can impact interview requests, but they don’t mean your profile isn’t great or that a match will never come. It just means your future host family hasn't found you yet. Keep communicating with your partner and checking your emails. Your time will come!  

As always if you have additional questions reach out to us on social media. Good luck!

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