VIDEO: Tips para entrevistas con Host Families

Besos, Amelia.

¡Primera semana!

No tengo mucho tiempo de describirles lo que me ha pasado, estoy preparando un video y va a ser A-SOM-BRO-SO, mientras tanto les voy a compartir algunas fotos de mi despedida y mi llegada a NYC con las demás chicas de Au Pair in America :)

Comida de despedida con mis amigas

  

Última salida de antro con mis amigos
  

Mi hermana y yo en el antro

¡Bye México!

   

¡Hola New York!

  

Calles de New York

Las latinas en el Top of the Rockefeller

Haciendo escorpión en el Top of the Rock

Compras en Times Square

Estatua de la libertad

Las latinas <3

  

Time to say goodbye

Mis Host Kids

Eso es todo por ahora, después subo video.

Besos, Amelia ;)

Entrevista a Au Pair sin agencia

Tuve la oportunidad de intercambiar correos con una chica de Chile, ella es muy linda y fue Au Pair, pero SIN AGENCIA de por medio, yo no me podría imaginar mi viaje sin agencia, veamos que tiene ella que decir al respecto ;)

Nombre: Tina Perrera

Edad: 20 años

Nacionalidad: Chilena

¿A qué país te fuiste?

- Inglaterra (Londres)

¿Cuántos niños cuidaste?

- 2 niños (una niña de 1 año y un niño de 3 años - todavía los llamo mis pequeños "hermanitos")

¿Cuánto tiempo trabajaste como Au Pair?

- Estuve un año en Londres.

¿Por qué decidiste ir sin agencia?

- Estaba viendo la opción, pero para decirte la verdad, me resultó demasiado caro. Además no me convenció el servicio. Había escuchado de otros au pairs que habían ido con agencia que una vez en el país con la host family quedaron sol@s, sin apoyo de la agencia. Todo lo que habían prometido antes, ya no existía. Además, parece que muchas veces hicieron el match muy mal. No sé si no se tomaron el tiempo suficiente para buscar una familia adecuada o como funciona su proceso de buscar familias para au pairs, pero a veces he visto que el "coordinator", pusó a los au pairs en la primera familia que encontraba, si era bueno o malo el match no importaba, porque solo ganan dinero por match. Este sistema me dio miedo. Quería buscar mi propia familia, por mi cuenta. Me gusta tomar mis decisiones sola, soy bastante independiente en este sentido, así que decidí ir por este camino y busqué mi familia online por mi cuenta.

¿Como se puede encontrar una familia online?

- Hay varias opciones. Puedes usar foros, como spaniards.es para buscar familias. También hay grupos de facebook (aupair London por ejemplo), donde se pueden encontrar familias. Creo que lo más común es usar páginas web que están especializadas en poner familias y au pairs en contacto. La más conocida es aupair world, pero hay varias otras. Yo por ejemplo encontré mi host family a través de aupair-village.com. El proceso es bastante sencillo: Subes tu perfil (con foto) y hablas sobre ti, por qué queires ser au pair, que te esperas de tu experiencia au pair etc. Allí las familias te pueden contactar - tú no pagas nada. Hay algunas páginas que te cobran, pero en general yo iría con las páginas que son gratis.

¿Qué tomaste en cuenta al entrevistar a las familias?

- Bueno, la primera entrevista me fue mal! Estuve muy nerviosa y no había preparado nada. Luego, me tomé un tiempo para pensar - que es importante para mi. Apunté cosas importantes: como voy a vivir, que edad tienen los niños, que trabajos voy a hacer y en que horario, como se organiza el tiempo libre? Puedo invitar amigos a la casa? Hay problemas con salir de noche? Cuanto me pagan? Voy a tener coche? Pagan el transporte público? La escuela de idiomas? El seguro? El vuelo? Que se esperan ellos de su au pair? Que forma de convicencia buscan?

- Es super importante preguntar todo todito, aunque quizás una tenga un poco verguenza, pero si no tienes todo claro desde el principio, a lo mejor vas a tener problemas luego.

Y una cosa que aprendí: Practicar la entrevista antes con alguien, por que te vas a poner muy nerviosa durante la entrevista en otro idioma, y ayuda MUCHO ya haberla hecho antes con alguien de confianza!

¿Cuales son los riesgos en buscar una familia online?

- Creo que son los mismos riesgos que con agencia: Por todo lo que investigues y preguntes antes, la realidad puede ser diferente. O a lo mejor, te das cuenta que no puedes hablar sobre problemas con tu familia. O que lo que habían dicho no corresponde a la realidad. O que simplemente no cuadran bien. Eso puedo pasar siempre, y creo que todos y todas corremos este riesgo cuando nos tiramos a ser au pair.

¿Qué consejos tienes para encontrar una buena familia sin agencia?

- Hay que tener muy claro lo que quieres sacar de tu experiencia au pair. Quieres ser más independiente o enfocarte en la vida con la host family. Quiero cuidar niños muy chiquititos o grandes? Cuanto más precisas tus ideas de la familia que queires, en cuanto mejor el match.

¿Qué ventajas y desventajas tiene irse de Au Pair sin agencia?

- Las ventajas son que eres más independiente, puedes elegir tú la familia que quieres y es mucho más económico. Yo también encontré el proceso de busqueda mucho más rápido y fácil. Las desventajas pueden ser que si no te va bien con la familia, no tienes una agencia cual que busque otra familia - y hay que buscarte una nueva por tu cuenta. Además, muchas veces, las agencias tienen redes y encuentros au pair en la región que te pueden ayudar en el principio.

¿Qué recomiendas a las chicas que desean irse sin agencia?

- Hay que tener confianza en lo que quieres! No te comprometas a cosas que no quieres, solo por encontrar una familia rápido. Creo que eso es lo más importante: tener paciencia. Muchas chicas se desesperan si no encuentran una familia online después de 2 semanas y le dicen "si" a cualquiera. No hagan eso! Tengan claro lo que quieren y tengan paciencia - ya van a encontrar su "perfect host family"!

¿Que puedes hacer si tienes que hacer un re-match, pero no tienes una agencia para apoyarte?

- Puede ser que tienes que empezar de nuevo a buscarte una familia online. En mi experiencia, si ya llevas un tiempo en un lugar, a lo mejor ya conoces a otras familias o otros au pairs y es más fácil encontrar una nueva familia o hacer un re-match. Por ejemplo, una amiga que quería cambiar su familia terminó en la casa de otra au pair que había conocido. Este au pair justo había terminado su año y la familia estaba buscando una nueva au pair - allí llegó mi amiga. Así que muchas veces no es tan complicado encontrar una nueva familia.

¿Puedes dar un pequeño resumen de tu experiencia?

- Creo que por mi personalidad tomé la decisión correcta en buscar mi host family por mi cuenta y encontré la familia más maravillosa del mundo :-) Tuve un año muy bonito, no siempre fácil, pero aprendí muchísimo y ya vuelvo este año a visitar a "mi" familia!

¿Si volvieras a irte de Au Pair sin agencia qué tomarías más en cuenta?

- Preparar un año au pair toma más tiempo de lo que piensas, sobre todo si no tienes una agencia que te ayuda con los tramites del vuelo, de la visa etc. Me informaría mejor para poder viajar más tranquila. Así lo hice todo muy apurada y tuve mucho estrés antes de irme - eso no es necesario si lo preparas mejor antes.

¿Tu te vas con o sin agencia? ¿Te ha ayudado en algo éste Post?

¡Comenta, quiero saber tu opinión! 

Saludos, Amelia.

:)

VIDEO Matching process

Perfect match… you got here late

When I started to research with the girls of my town about more or less how long it had taken for them to find their perfect match, they would tell me things like:

-I saw 5 families; I matched on the second week, hehehe

-I went with the first family, did the match on the third day, huhuhu

- I saw 3 families; I made the match on 15 days, hihihihi

Well… not me, I took TWO MONTHS to do match and 9 families sent me mail, I managed to see 6 of them on Skype and 2 Au Pairs going out of them.

During this process almost go diabetic; each time that my cell phone sounded warning that I had a new mail, my heart started to beat as fast as Usain Bolt.   I used to say AYSENORDIOSMIOJESUSCRISTODELADIVINAMISERICORDIA as my godmother Lupe does, have you heard that Eminem is the fastest speaker? Because these are lies... my Pupe beats him when she prays. 

Anyway, returning to the theme... I'll tell you step by step what happened with each family:

1st. Family from New York

2 girls of 10 and 7 years, the 7 years girl was adopted and had attention deficit (ADHD), mom was judge and dad systems engineer.

We talked about two days (Sunday and Monday), the first day took us almost 2 hours and the second 40 minutes, everything was going very well, the second day I even spoke with the Au Pair that was going out, she told me that she liked me very much, they told me that they were not talking with anyone else and I felt a lot of illusion.

We agreed that on Wednesday we would give a response.  On Tuesday they sent me an email saying that they wanted to make a match with another girl that would fit more with what they were looking for. 

I cried, but just a little, like 1 hour (lie XD, but I did get sad.)

2nd. Family from New Jersey

1 girl aged 11 with mental and speech delay, divorced parents, mom was a teacher in Brooklyn (1 hour and a half, almost 2 hours)

We talked and everything was very good, she needed an Au Pair urgently, it was a very good opportunity that because I had a lot of free time (8 am to 3 pm) taking care of the little girl needed some work, but it was not very heavy. The last Au Pair stayed for 3 years, she completed a Bachelor's degree and got married, she made it big. 

What made me reject this was that lady had a boyfriend and he was coming to sleep in the house 2 days on weekends and I don’t know… I've never been fan of men, I didn't want to give the benefit of the doubt, it didn’t feel good (I hope it isn’t that way) besides that mom would hardly be at home because she had to drive 4 hours a day and I least I wanted was to feel alone.

3rd. Family from Atlanta (YOU MUST READ THIS)

3 children, a girl of 9, other girl of 7 and a boy of 5, mom was a lawyer, teacher and some days worked at home and the dad did something with computers (the truth I don't remember)

I ALMOST go with them; we only talked by phone and mail (mom explained to me that they liked to talk first by e-mail, then by phone, and at the end by Skype) the one that I did see by video-call was the Au Pair. At the beginning everything was great with them, it seemed that they were a nice family, but what made me feel awkward was that the mom was very controlling (in terms of the house and children) one day she sent me a 30-page document explaining me what I should and should not do, she asked me THOUSANDS and THOUSANDS of questions, but on the other hand they gave the Au Pairs many freedoms, like let them go to concerts or go to parties and even invited them to Super Bowl games. They were very excited with me, almost daily they used to send me whats app with images of children, home and pets.

What happened to me with them was that they asked me if I wanted to be their Au Pair and I said yes, but they never send me an official mail, this made me feel unconfident, I asked when we would make it official and told me that they needed to check my date of arrival between other excuses, THEY HAD ME LIKE THAT HALF MONTH, they gradually ceased to answer me, until I spoke with a Matching Counselour in the United States and GUESS WHAT. 

They told the offices of Au Pair that they were NOT yet ready to make match, that they were interested in me but they wanted to continue to see more options. I was all excited and engaged and they still wanted to "see more options"... For obvious reasons I didn't go with them. 

If a family wants to attach you in the same way, keep on seeing families, regardless of anything.

4th. Family from New York

2 children, a boy of 8 and a girl 4, I do not remember that the parents did for living. 

I could not talk much with them, they told me that they were interested, but at that time I was hooked and thought I was going to go with the Atlanta’s family, so I told them that I already had a family, after two days I sent them a mail and told them that my match was not sure, I asked them to give me an opportunity to speak with them. 

They told that they wanted to see me on Skype, they were going to tell me what time was best at the next they, but they didn’t answer me anymore, I MISSED THAT CHANCE :( 

5th. Family from Pensilvania

1 4-year-old girl, mom worked in human resources in a hospital and dad, I do not remember but he traveled much. 

On this occasion my agency contacted me and told me that the family was looking for a Mexican Au Pair, through good experience they had with the compatriots, the agency contacted MANY girls, then the Au Pair who was coming back to Mexico made a filter so the Host Mom would only interview the best ones. I passed the first test that was to be interviewed by the compatriot, thank God I do have experience with children (cause there are many girls who do not) and that helped me a lot for them to see me as a reliable person. In the second interview with the Host Mom, everything was great, excellent. However I didn't want to feel sure about it cause I knew that there was much competition. 

The lady sent me an email saying that she liked talking to me but that she had chosen another girl who had more experience driving. Either way, the only thing left for me was to practice more (I had to...)

6th. Family from New York

2 girls 5 and 3 years, gorgeous girls, mom was Dr. and dad I cannot remember XD, but he was going to live in Miami for work. 

The family was very very nice and spoke Spanish, because dad was from Colombia, during the whole interview everything was very good, they were the only family that told me that they could not lend me a car because dad was going to take it... but either way it was not necessary cause I could take the girls to school by walking, it was 3 blocks away. The bad thing was that mom had a very OUTDATED SCHEDULE and that didn’t help me at all, if you go to the school, you need a fixed schedule and this family could not give it me.

7th. Family from Vienna

2 boys of 12 and 10 years old, I can’t remember what the parents did. 

With them there I had NO communication at all, Au Pair in America notified me that they were interested in me but they did not send me any email, so I took the initiative and sent them one, saying that I had read their profile and that I was interested in them, that they could contact me anytime (May 7th) all of that was at 11 am, they answered at 9 pm saying that they wanted to talk to me on Skype, I answered right away and waited all day following for their call (May 8) but nothing happened. On may9th they sent me an email at 6:43 am asking if I was available (WHO THINKS THAT I AM GOING TO BE AVAILABLE AT THAT TIME?), I replied at 7:15 am saying that I was, I waited until 8 am and there was no answer, so I went to a cardio class, I came back at 10 am and I saw that they called me at 8:10 am (D: NOOOOOOOOOOOOO) I wanted to die.

Thereafter mom sent me a voice message saying that I she called me and didn’t find me (she only tried once ¬ ¬) and said that she would call later, and I waited and waited but nothing happened... 

Things happen for some reason and I have no doubt that this family is not tolerant.

8th. Family from Illinois - I MADE MATCH WITH THEM

3 children, 12-year-old girl with a mental delay of 2 years, a boy of 6 and a girl of 5, such a BEAUTIFUL FAMILY! Both parents work in the US Army. 

Mom spoke to me on Skype and I saw the kids, everything was PERFECT, I sang to them Heads, shoulders, knees and toes with the guitar, and they began to dance *w*, mom was SUPER NICE, the schedule was great, free time from 8:30 am to 3 pm, University near to the house, truck for transportation of kids and car for personal use. 

The truth is that as I saw them I FELL IN LOVE, I prayed to God so I could go with them (GRACIASSENORDIOSMIOJESUSCRISTODELADIVINAMISERICORDIA) soon I will see them :) within a month, on July 28.

9th. Family from New Hampshire

2 guys, a boy of 11 years and a girl of 15, I don't remember that parents did. 

They contacted me a little later than the Illinois family; I had the opportunity to talk with them on Skype since the other ones hadn’t give me concrete answer. It was also a good option, it was a very cross-cultural family, dad was Spanish and mother was Chinese, but I wasn’t very sure about the age of the “kids”, I didn’t like the fact that they were both teenagers. What mom wanted more than anything was someone who knew how to drive safely. 

The thing is that the Illinois family asked me first and OVBIOUSLY I said yes, cause they were the ones I wanted to be with. The reason why I shared this is so you can see that perfect match doesn’t always arrive early and there is no reason to be desperate even if the agency or the situation starts pressing, I say this because my mom pushed me a LOT, she even said to me... "You have up to ____ day to find family, if not you will stay!” but DON’T YOU choose a family if you are not SURE... cause you can regret it.

I hope this has helped you in something and I hope you find your perfect match soon ;)   

Kisses, Amelia.