Size / Territory of Agencies
Thanks for this site. I'm amazed how little there is out there on the web about au pair agencies.
We will be having twins in September and will be looking for an au pair several months later. Of our friends who have had au pairs, they have said there is a tremendous benefit in the larger agencies as your au pair will likely have more local au pairs to socialize with and will make the transition easier.
We are in New Jersey - are most agencies truly national or are some of them better for certain regions?
We are brand new at this so any other thoughts would be welcome.
So far, we'd made initial inquiries with Au Pair in America and Go Au Pair (but I've just seen a few things about AuPairCare which also seems to be good).
Size and Territories of Au Pair Agencies
Hi David, and thank you for commenting here!
Yes, it is true that there is a larger concentration of host families and au pairs near the main office where they agency is located. That said, most of the larger agencies (Cultural Care, Au Pair in America and Au Pair Care) have spread out quite nicely through the country.
New Jersey is close to Au Pair in America, which is located in Stamford, CT. We have listed them #3 in our Top Three Picks for 2009 and they are a very reputable company.
Please read our Top Ten Mistakes to Avoid before you sign up with any agency and make sure your counselor is not working full-time for another company or job if your local cluster numbers more than 15 host families. We just posted on this topic on my blog and on the Family Forum.
goAUPAIR is another company that we recommend and we are working on our review of that agency at this time.
Since you are expecting twins (and congratulations on such a blessing!) we would like to recommend AuPairCare - our #2 agency pick for 2009. They have an Infant Specialized Program where their au pairs are specially trained to care for infants. We think this is an excellent choice for parents with infants. Check out our article on this program!
Best of luck and check in with us and let us know how you did with your agency and au pair!
Warm regards,
Edina
David, this is a great
David, this is a great question. I myself am curious as to the relative size of the agencies (number of families in the program, and the size of the candidate pool - I know these are fluid, but a yearly average would be good). Agencies never disclose those numbers on their website. But each tries to claim to be either "the oldest", "the largest", "one of the largest", "best selection", or some other best etc.
Actually it is easy to find this info for your locality, just by getting in touch with local coordinators for each agency and asking them about the size of their cluster. But overall I think the agencies try to keep this information confidential.
The reason size matters, is that if you are ever in rematch, that will determine your pool of possible in-country candidates to choose from.
Also a clear summary of rematch policies is very hard to find for each agency, another of my pet peeves, now that I had to go through rematch twice this past year.
I hope this site will compile this information for us in one place.
Seasonal Shifts in Arriving Au Pairs Influence Rematch
Hi Anna,
Thank you for commenting!
In terms of rematch, I would like to clarify a point you make here - the size of your counselor's cluster does not influence the rematch process (the number of available au pairs). What does matter is the pool of Available Au Pairs at the time you rematch. Rematching is done across all clusters and throughout the agency's territory and not just within the individual counselor's cluster (if that were the case, your chances of rematching would be quite slim indeed!).
There are times of the year (seasonal shifts of au pairs coming and going are important factors in a rematch situation) also determine your rematch success and numbers of au pairs available for rematch. During the winter months, there are less au pairs available, since most au pairs do not come during this time and most au pairs who have arrived in the summer are settled in with their current families.
One exception to this seasonal shift is South Africa - our winter is their summer and most of the au pairs from this country arrive in the winter months here in the USA.
Spring and summer are the best times for a rematch, since the influx of new au pairs begin anew and there are more au pairs available. Fall can still be a good time for rematch, as new au pairs not happy with their summer host families ask to rematch or switch (true for host families as well) but as the college semester starts, the au pairs like to be settled in for classes and the numbers of Available Au Pairs for Rematch declines significantly.
I hope this helps next time you are in rematch!
Best,
Edina