Au Pair: A Stepping Stone for a Big Break in Australia

Serving as a home to a diverse range of career-giving institutions, Australia is indeed one of today’s most sought-after countries by professionals motivated to settle for a greener pasture. Unfortunately, the competition level among numerous professionals from different parts of the world who aim for such opportunity has soared dramatically, resulting to failure of many aspirants.

Well, if you are still determined to pursue a career in Australia despite your lack in credentials, one thing you can do is to work as an Au pair for a while. This is applicable if and only if you are willing to do whatever it takes to travel to Australia and stay there to explore what this foreign place has to offer. As an Au pair, you will be tasked to do babysitting and provide other necessary childcare services, especially those that can’t be fulfilled by busy, professional parents. You will also be responsible for some light housework such as laundry, furniture cleaning, and dishwashing.

In return, you will be treated as a foster child in the Australian family you will be assigned to. This means that you would get free accommodation, meals, and some or most of other daily expenses from your foster family. Apart from that, most Au pairs are provided with a weekly allowance of more or less $150. There is also a one or two day-offs in each week and the schedule for childcare and housework is customizable, based on the agreement with your foster Australian family.

Au pair Australia agencies thoroughly study and do careful matching between Au pair aspirants and Australian parents who need someone to take care of their children and some house chores. That’s why if you consider being an Au pair as a great stepping stone to pursue a big break in this amazing country, the first thing to do is to look for a certified and well-recognized Au pair agency. Just comply with the requirements and do your best to pass the qualifying exams so that you could take a few steps to your dreams in this way.

Because Australian foster families are already briefed by the Au pair agency, included to the benefits of being an Au pair is the free language course throughout the stay. It only means that you no longer need to spend money to enroll for an English learning program so you can improve and practice your language skills, considering you are a foreigner from a non-English-speaking country. Aside from the big savings you could get, this means of learning English is also way more convenient since it is directly and instantly accessible from your temporary shelter. You could arrange the schedule of lessons with your Australian foster parents as well.

It basically takes some research to find the perfect opportunity to fly to Australia as an Au pair. Just a hint: look for an Au pair Australia agency that gives a $500 completion bonus to Au pairs who successfully complete the contract period with their foster families. At the same time, avoid agencies that require Au pair aspirants to pay booking and registration fees.

Why Should You Go for an Au Pair?

Couples who are both professionals are normally challenged when it comes to searching for the most reliable childcare service to be provided for their kids who they can’t attend most of the time. Some of them spend lots of money and enough time for background checking just to make sure that their kids are entrusted to the right babysitter or childcare provider. However, not so many of them successfully find the perfect candidate due to a myriad of reasons.

Good thing that there is now a better option for such couples in Australia; to go for an Au pair. This idea offers utmost reliability on both the quality and the cost-effectiveness of the childcare service your beloved kids could get. Basically, an Au pair is a young foreigner, either male or female, who desires to travel to Australia and stay for a while with an Australian foster family to learn or practice the English language.

In exchange for the accommodation, meals, and a little weekly allowance, the Au pair will take care of the basic childcare needs of the children of his or her foster parents. The basic childcare includes assistance on eating of meals, bathing and getting dressed, going to school, doing homework and lesson reviews, and doing some fun and other activities. Other than home-based childcare service, an Au pair Australia offers is responsible for some light household chores as well. Among these tasks are grocery shopping, house cleaning, dishwashing, and laundry.

It’s up for the Australian foster parents on the customized schedule they want to assign to the Au pair they have, provided that they allow one or two day-offs every week. Most of the time, Au pairs are allowed to have a day-off on at least one Sunday in each month so they could have some time for church service and worship.

What makes an Au pair different from other professionals who provide childcare and other household services to a family is the agency that does the “matching” between the two parties. In other words, it is the agency’s duty to look for the perfect Au pair who could satisfy the childcare needs of the family, considering their traditions and way of life. Au pairs are guaranteed to have undergone thorough background checking and qualification exams. At the same time, the agency makes sure that the Au pair they are sending will be in good hands by providing them the necessary assistance whenever they need it.

If you want to go for an Au pair to take care of your child and some of your light housework, simply look for a registered and reputable agency that is in line with this service. Placement fee is very affordable as it can be as low as $695 and that is a one-off payment! There is no more registration fee or booking fee. All you have to pay for thereafter is the weekly allowance of your Au pair, which is around $150 per week. Try to research on the usual expenses on getting childcare services. Compute how much you’d likely spend and be surprised on how much you could save if you go for an Au pair Australia has!