All applicants must undergo a multi-step screening process before being accepted as an au pair with Cultural Care, and every step of this process is managed by full-time staff in our own offices. As a host family, you can review available candidates knowing they have all been personally interviewed and evaluated for English proficiency, and have submitted references (checked by our staff), a criminal background check, health record and personality profile. Only 10% of applicants who express interest in becoming au pairs are selected.
In order to be accepted onto our program, all of our au pair candidates must complete the following steps:
Learn more about how we screen and train our au pairs.
One thing that I love about hosting au pairs is that Cultural Care Au Pair does all of the initial screening and training for me! I know that au pairs I’m interviewing have already been thoroughly vetted and that once they arrive to the U.S., they’ll go through a great training program.
An au pair’s screening actually begins in her home country, where Cultural Care Au Pair has an office and dedicated staff members. When someone applies to become an au pair, she’ll be invited to an info meeting and asked to submit an au pair application including her contact info, family background, childcare experience, interests, personality profile, a personal letter, photos and even a video.
All au pairs have an in-person interview with a Cultural Care staff member who will evaluate their English level and motivation for being an au pair. Potential au pairs are given a very realistic picture of what it means to be an au pair so they know the full scope of their role once they get here.
The next thing that happens is a review of the au pair’s application to make sure she has at least 200 hours of childcare experience. Cultural Care staff will also verify her references personally. At that point, the applicant is officially accepted or rejected. Au pairs who are accepted will be asked to submit additional documents, including a criminal background check and a doctor-issued health certificate.
Cultural Care also provides training for new au pairs. At the Training School, au pairs review child development and safety.
I’ve always felt that once my au pairs arrives at my home, they are well prepared so that I can focus all of those first couple of days on training them on my own household needs and the needs of my family.
Read more about how we train and prepare our au pairs before they arrive to host families.