Hello,

Yesterday I registered as an au pair and simply sent out messages to families whom I found appealing. However, I prefer to wait until a specific family contacts me. I am sure that they read my message already. What should I do now?

Elisabeth from Germany

Reply of Aupair World's Support Team

Hello Elisabeth,

We appreciate the fact that this issue is concerning you. We quite often receive enquiries from disappointed families complaining that au pairs do not reply to their messages. Even if you you are waiting for a reply from a specific family, you should not keep other families waiting. You would not like that happening to you either, would you?

Depending on how popular a host country is, a family may receive many applications. If you have already received positive replies from host families, this is a great start. Now you should find out if you really match and if you both can imagine living together. This is something that cannot be guessed in advance relying on the profile alone. You can only find out by contacting someone personally.

Here are some tips for a fair communication:

• Always reply to all messages you receive.
• When you receive a positive message from a host family, it becomes your turn. Send the family a personal email.
• If you are not sure yet, be frank about that to the family. Nevertheless, take the chance to get to know the family first - ideally by a phone call or skype.
• Be honest if you are not interested. If the chemistry was not right between you, it is better to refuse the offer. Thus, each of you know were you stand.

Best wishes

Your Aupair World Support Team

A note to our readers: What is important to you as host families or as au pairs in your communication? We are looking forward to reading your opinion. Please send it to stefanie@aupair-world.net.