The main reason why I ever started aupair-ing is because I absolutely adore travelling, and this was such a great opportunity to do so. My job as an au-pair consists in looking after the family I chose to work for's children as well as doing some housework for a maximum of 30 hours a week, the rest of the time is off. It is very important to discuss what your tasks are when you speak to your potential host-families and make a wise decision, because if things are not arranged beforehand, they could ask you to do a lot more than they should once you move in with them. Keep in mind it is your right to work for a maximum of 30 hours a week, if you work more, you're considered an Aupair Plus and should be getting paid quite a lot more. Your working hours would usually be from the time the children wake up to 9 when they go to school, and from 4pm until their parents return home, unless you're looking after younger children, in which case you need to come to an agreement with the family. Two days a week off are another one of your rights but you will be asked to babysit every once in a while.
When it comes to salaries, you should be getting between £60 to £100/110 per week plus food and a room for you to live in. Each family will offer differet pocket money rates, also depending on whether you work less than those 30 hours a week or don't do any housework, or work the whole 30 hours and do loads of housework. Do not accept less than £60 though, considering the amount of free time you get you will be going out a lot and even if it's just for a coffee, once you've paid for your transport, your beverage and maybe a sandwich if you get hungry on your way home, you will be left with nothing by the end of the week.
The language is another fact a lot of people seem to be worried about. I have lived in Finland myself and trust me, I don't speak a word of Finnish. They did speak some English but a lot of the time we just had to make an effort to understand each other, and it was amazing. Maybe because I was looking after a young child who would communicate with me in the way any other baby would, it was easier, but that just means you need to keep an eye on families with young children OR find a family who wants you to speak your native language to them. At the moment, I'm about to start working for an italian family in Notting Hill and they want me to speak Spanish to their children. It surely will take you longer to learn the language if that's your purpose when you decide to be an aupair, but if you make friends with the right people you should still learn it.
Making friends is another very important thing. If you don't socialise, you'll get bored, lonely, and will want to go home. Here, the Internet is your best friend. Personally, I'm not a fan of making loads of friends who are also aupairs, mostly because I'm not planning on going back to Spain for good anytime soon, yet most aupairs do want to go home sooner or later, and that would mean I'd be making friends then losing them over and over, but most certainly, the quickest way to meet people is going on Facebook, looking up "aupairs in *whichever city you live in*" and surely there will be a group you can join and talk to people in the same situation as you. Once you've got someone to hangout with, you can make lots of other friends.
Finally, there are two ways to find a family that suits you-- 1) you can pay an agency to find it for you or 2) you can use Aupair World and find a family that suits you yourself. Personally, I have never been to an agency, I find it easier to do it myself on the Internet, but it's up to you. I would only get someone to do it for me if I were travelling somewhere really far like America or Australia.
And one last thing I think is appropriate to say: please don't become an aupair just because you've got nothing else to do- you won't enjoy it, your host-family won't enjoy it, and it'll just be a waste of time and money for everyone involved in the process.
I really hope this was helpful and if you have any other questions don't hesitate to ask in the comments or message me!
Much love,
Vanessa xx
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