A typical Pebbles Au Pair
All Pebbles’ Au Pairs are fully briefed about the Au Pair program
Their motivation
An Au Pair is a young person from Europe looking to learn English and discover a new culture. They will have some babysitting experience and coming to England to discover the culture, meet a new host family and improve their English. They will enjoy being around children but it’s quite rare they go on to work in the childcare industry as a career.
Availability
The shift in the Au Pair industry over the last few years means that many Au Pairs are interested in shorter term placements, up to 6 months at any point during the year.
Their Experience
An Au Pair is not a qualified childcarer and will not have the same level of experience or training as a nanny or a childminder. Although they must have some childcare experience and enjoy looking after children this will mainly be regular babysitting or tutoring. Some candidates may have experience working on holiday camps as an activity leader. A handful of the French applicants with have the BAFA childcare certificate.
Our French Au Pairs
Our Au Pairs are aged 18/19 years old with a few 20-21 year olds. A very small minority are experienced drivers. The Au Pairs’ English tends to be basic/pre-intermediate with a few intermediate. It’s very rare for our French Au Pairs to have advanced English.
Most Au Pairs tend to leave their country either after high school or after they have finished their studies. The Au Pair program suits school leavers and those who have completed HNC/HND or vocational diplomas (qualifications such as teaching, secretarial, flight attendant, catering, tourism, real estate, customer service etc).
Very academic students from the top universities and business schools tend to apply for programs which are more closely related to the career path they would like to follow. However, these candidates are often interested in summer positions such as the Summer Au Pair programs.
If you are a stay at home parent, have older children (10+) or will be around for the first few weeks to train the young person, you may wish to consider a family assistant which will give you more choice!
How does the profile differ for the Portuguese, Spanish and Italian Au Pairs?
We do not currently have any other nationalities on our books.
