Things I am looking for in a host family:
1-2 kids. I don't know that I can handle more than 2 kids at a time while navigating a foreign country too.
Kids between 3-10yrs. I adore younger kids, they're so much fun and (IMO) more accepting of new people.
At least one child is a girl. Because they're so much fun!
Private bathroom. At least, I prefer private residence (I've seen a lot of profiles where the au pair stays in separate apartments or detached guest houses). European bathrooms are usually tiny already so I really don't want to share.
No driving required. I can't drive a manual car and, more importantly, don't want to deal with Paris traffic.
No cooking every night. Cooking sometimes is fine and I'd be down to handle breakfast and lunch but I wouldn't know enough recipes for dinner EVERY night!
>10 minutes from Paris. This gives me something to do in my time off (which I've heard from other au pairs is important).
Photos on profile. Sometimes you just want to see people to get an idea of whether or not they look sketchy, ya know? I also really appreciate photos of the au pair accommodations so there are no surprises.
Personal message included in application. AuPair World has this form letter it sends when the family chooses to contact you. They are able to add a personal message after the form letter but some people just leave it blank. I like when they mention something I've written about to let me know they've actually read my profile and aren't just randomly sending applications to as many candidates as possible.
Previous au pair experience. This is important because I will probably need them to help me with the visa process, etc. Plus this means I can contact the previous au pair before accepting the job.
Profile in English. Since I mention in my profile that I previously studied abroad in France, I like to see that they have at least some knowledge and willingness to use English so they aren't disappointed with my terrible French, haha!
I know that seems like a lot, but I never realized how many opportunities there are to au pair in France. I have gotten ~20 applications from families in less than 24 hours, so you really can afford to be picky. If I am going to uproot my life for a year I want to make sure I am getting myself into the right situation.
Of course, I am open to families that don't meet all of these requirements. If everything was perfect about a family but they required me to drive I'd just suck it up and learn manual, etc.
So that's where I am in this whole process now! And despite how crazy picky I'm being, I still have 7 applications from families that I am considering at the moment. Who knew an au pair job would be this easy to come by?
