How to be an au pair abroad

October 12, 2009 8:58 PM

I'm thinking about working as a nanny in England for a year or so. I'm a twenty-one-year-old American woman with a few years of experience with kids as a teacher's assistance and tutor. Anybody know a good way I could start looking for a position from the U.S.?

(Asking for a friend.)

posted by grobstein to Work & Money (3 answers total)

a friend of mine went to Scotland and worked as an au pair and she recommends using an agency to find a family. she worked with this agency, but i'm sure there are plenty of agencies. browsing through sites like that will probably help your friend get an idea of what to ask, what to look for, etc.
posted by gursky at 9:08 PM on October 12, 2009

Yay! I was an au pair in England last year, and it was a fantastic experience. I actually went about it rather haphazardly--I just found a couple of websites, posted a profile, and got in touch with a few families. I believe the website I found a family through was www.newaupair.com. It seemed like a legitimate site, and I did have several interviews before I decided which family I was going to work for. To get a work permit I think your friend will, ultimately, need to go through some sort of agency, and I'm sure several of those have websites, too.

MeFi mail me if you have more questions. I hope she has a great time!
posted by bibliophibianj at 9:13 PM on October 12, 2009

The magazine The Lady was traditionally where jobs such as this were offered and filled.

Given that it's 2009 not 1969, you might want to try Craigslist and the like but nannies in Britain are usually arranged by agencies who do the hard work such as taking references and doing a Criminal Records Bureau check.

It would be a very good idea to get a kiddie specific first aid qualification before contacting anyone.

Mumsnet is a good forum for parenting issues and you'll get a much more on point response to this question there than you will here.
posted by dmt at 3:56 AM on October 13, 2009