A very justified question as a youth: why should I choose to go abroad to become an au pair with an agency when I could do it for free? A few years ago, I would have agreed with you, but my au pair experience change my mind.
I went to England in 2019, for a 6-months au pair experience, through AuPairWorld like the most people, I think. Becoming an au pair was my last resort to improve my English 😬. I tried everything, but I knew leaving in the country where speaking English is required will help me to make my listening and speaking better.
👉 Read the article "My Au Pair Experience Review with AuPairWorld".
Let me give you 4 reasons to choose the services of an au pair agency like Butrfly.
Before I moved to England, I didn't know anything about au pairing, except I'll have to care for child(ren) 🍼. I heard that only from my family and not from an agency specialized on the subject. To know more about the au pair program or anything about my stay, the process, how to get ready for my experience, etc. I would liked to have someone who responded to all of my questions.
I know myself enough to know I prefer to talk to a person instead of email or read articles. Indeed, on internet we can find a lot of information but conflicting arguments 🤯 as well, not the best thing when you need information, is it?
Butrfly offer us time. The agency is available by phone ☎️ from 9am to 5pm Monday to Friday, and you can obviously contact the team via email or private message on Instagram. Plus, the team organize every two weeks a meet up for international au pairs, another one for French au pairs families and now, another one for French au pair (only once a month).
👉 A take-over is when au pair use our Instagram account. They share their au pair life by creating stories, they respond to your questions, they talk about struggles and achievements and so on.
It's still reassuring for au pairs to know the agency is in contact with families and the team had a talk with them, check their profile, etc. That prove the family's motivation to get an au pair, thanks to the time and the money invested in the au pair agency. Indeed, unfortunately, fake families exist, and they try to scam young people just wanting to live an experience abroad ✈️.
AuPairWorld is a great platform with a lot of profiles. In 2019, when I looked for a host family, I used filters (that is a good point because they have some interesting filters) I picked one family 👨👩👧👦, started to text with the parents, then had video calls to know more about their family, and so on. However, without the support of an agency to explain to me how to choose a family, I contacted one who didn't correspond me and matched with my values. That avoids me to enjoy fully my stay because I was not comfortable with my host parents. My stay became to be worst and worst 😨 two months after my arrival and until my departure.
Becoming au pair trough Au Pair Butrfly, that avoids you to be scammed and allows you to live an incredible stay with premium au pair families. Plus, thanks to our agency services, we help you find the right host family for you, and even if you find a non-premium family (no matter what, they paid the platform to have access to au pair profiles) we accompany you throughout the process to join your host family and during your stay.
As I already said earlier, the agency services accompany you from A to Z. Indeed, our aim is to help you to live a great experience. That's why we guide you to create a good profile ✅ to improve your chance to find a host family, Butrfly gives you a lot of advice during your appointment with Fanny (after completed 100% of your profile), during meet up, on social network, and our blog articles, etc.
I know AuPairWorld has numerous articles in their blog, it's a source interesting for au pairs and host families. But what they don't have, it's this human aspect 🙅♀️ that Butrfly has. We know our certified* au pairs and our premium host families, we understand your project, and we know what you need to be aware about.
After finding your family, Butrfly is in charge to manage administrative documents such as write the contract, we ask both parties to sign ✒️ it before doing the visa process. Indeed, a contract is really important when you are an au pair, it's a guide about what you have to do and what you can't, to avoid the family to ask you more and more.
When I arrived in my host family I found through AuPairWorld, I had not been signed any contract. Thus, they asked me to do many things. That's how I started to have to clean all the house in one week (plus the kitchen / living room every day), clean the fridge, all the cupboard in the kitchen, tidy rooms of the teenager I wasn't in charge of 🥵. But I think the worst thing was when the parents reduce my pocket money from £80 to £30 a week, around 35 euros.
Indeed, the decrease of my income was a big problem for my social life 🍻 and to visit the country 🚆. I didn't say anything at this time because I wasn't aware about the rules of the au pair program and nobody could guide me in this situation. Why did I not try to find another family? I don't know. I had my au pairs group there and my boyfriend there, so I preferred to suffer instead of losing them.
At Butrfly, with your au pair package, we follow you throughout your stay in your host country by sending a questionnaire 📧. If we notice an issue, we act to solve the problem and if that doesn't change anything, we manage to find you another family.
AuPairWorld is a good platform if you:
Our services as an au pair agency is the solution for you if you:
That was my opinion about au pair agencies. If I had to repeat my experience, I think I would go through Butrfly, even if this hard trial allowed me to get mature and learn a lot about myself and the outside world.
Find the Edwina's opinion (Au Pair Oh Paris) right below 👇.
A certified au pair is a complete profile. The person had a 20 minutes interview with our team, and has answered personality questionnaires and situational exercises. We add notes on their strengths. A check symbol is displayed when the profile is certified.