Au Pair WikiHow to include your Au Pair experience in your CV
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How to Include Your Au Pair experience in Your CV

Your experience as an Au Pair is valuable and should be included in your CV! List your Au Pair stay as a work experience, clearly stating your role, duration, and host country. Highlight your main responsibilities, such as childcare, household management, and cultural exchange. Emphasize the skills you developed, for example communication, problem-solving, adaptability, and time management. Also mention any relevant courses or language skills you improved during the program to demonstrate your personal and professional growth.
In addition to being a great work experience in the childcare field, the Au Pair program gives you many other skills that can be really attractive for future employers. This is why it is important to include your experience as an Au Pair in your CV and showcase it in the right way. In this article we have gathered 5 different tips that will help you do that.

Why Your Au Pair Experience Matters to Employers

Spending several months living with a Host Family and caring for their children demonstrates a level of maturity and resilience that many employers value. Your Au Pair experience demonstrates:
  • Cultural awareness and openness.
  • Responsibility and independence.
  • Strong communication and problem-solving skills.
  • Willingness to learn and adapt.
These qualities are valuable in any profession, not just childcare.

1) Understand the Purpose of Your Au Pair Stay

Identify your personal goals

Every Au Pair has their own unique reasons for embarking on the Au Pair adventure. You may have wanted to:
  • Improve your language skills
  • Gain childcare experience
  • Discover another culture
  • Take a gap year to figure out your next steps
  • Learn independence and responsibility
Having a clear understanding of your reasons for joining the program will help you to describe your experience effectively on your CV.

How to reflect your goals in your CV

For example:
  • If your goal was to learn a language, explain how your fluency improved.
  • If your goal was career-related, describe what you learnt from the experience.
  • If your goal was to gain a cultural experience, emphasise your ability to work and live in a multicultural setting.
Such details will help employers to understand your motivation and personality.

2) Be specific

Try to be as specific as possible about the details of your experience, employers are interested in what exactly you did.

Childcare duties to include on your CV

Be precise by mentioning:
  • The number and ages of the children.
  • Daily routines (e.g. mealtimes, school runs and bedtime).
  • Homework support; and educational activities.

Additional responsibilities worth including

Many Au Pairs also take on light household chores, such as:
  • Light cleaning or laundry
  • Preparing meals
  • Managing schedules or appointments
  • Helping with pet care
  • Running errands

Courses you completed during your stay

The following can help to make your CV more credible:
The more specific you are, the stronger your profile becomes.

3) Highlight the Skills You Gained During Your Stay

After being specific in what you have done, try and think in terms of skills you have earned from the Au Pair program.

Transferable soft skills

These skills are popular with employers:
  • Problem solving
  • Time management
  • Responsibility and reliability.
  • Conflict resolution.
  • Adaptability
  • Independence
  • Creativity

Intercultural and language skills

Your Au Pair stay abroad shows you can:
  • Work with people from different cultures
  • Communicate across language barriers
  • Integrate into a new environment
  • Improve your language proficiency through daily use
These skills are highly valued in international companies, the tourism industry, customer service, education and social work.

4) Use Professional Language in Your CV

Your choice of wording matters. Using strong action verbs will make your CV sound more professional.

Power verbs to improve your CV

You can use words like:
  • organised
  • supervised
  • supported
  • coordinated
  • managed
  • assisted
  • adapted
  • improved
  • developed

Example bullet points

Here are a few examples of points you can include:
  • I supervised two children (aged 4 and 7), managed their daily routines, and coordinated their school and activity schedules.
  • I improved my English/German/French through daily communication and language classes.
  • I organised creative activities and educational games to support the children’s development.
  • I adapted to a multicultural environment and built strong relationships with the Host Family.
These examples will make your CV look clearer and more professional.

5) LinkedIn? Why not!

Many employers look for their employees online, on platforms like LinkedIn or Xing, where you can display your work experience. Having a strong LinkedIn profile increases your chances of being seen by potential employers.

Useful keywords to add

Using these keywords will improve your visibility:
  • Childcare experience
  • Language skills
  • Intercultural communication
  • Time management
  • Problem solving
  • Cultural awareness
  • Adaptability

Final Tips for Writing a Strong Au Pair CV

  • Tailor your CV for each job application.
  • Focus on the skills that match the position you are applying for.
  • Be specific, clear and honest.
  • Use professional language 
  • Highlight your personal growth and responsibilities.
Your Au Pair experience is an integral part of your journey, and when presented effectively, it can open many doors for you.

So, what are you waiting for? Create the best CV you can and good luck with your job hunt!

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Can you help me with the paperwork and the placement process?
Unfortunately, we can’t help you with it. We are an online matching agency, thus we can’t interfere in your searching or placing process. We are happy to provide you with all our searching and matching tools and the information about the Au Pair experience. As our platform is available worldwide, we are unable to take care of all the applications we get daily. Feel free to use our service to visit your dream destination and find a great Host Family. We will be also glad to get your feedback! If you have any ideas or comments, get in touch with us. 
Can I become an Au Pair?
The Au Pair program accepts participants who meet mainly education, family and age requirements. Please take a look at the full list of Au Pair requirements.  If you meet them, register as an Au Pair today and find a Host Family that matches your criteria.  
Can Au Pairs work more than 45 hours?
No. Every country has its own regulations for how many hours/week the Au Pair is allowed to work, and they correspond to a specific monthly pocket money. In some countries, like the USA, this includes extra babysitting hours. In other Host Countries it depends on the agreement between Au Pair and Host Family. 
Can an Au Pair have a second job?
It depends. If the Au Pair is an EU citizen and is staying within the EU, then he/she can have another job. For the rest of the cases, it depends on the visa the Au Pair holds, the amount of hours she already works and the specific labour laws of the Host Country. 
How can I get the Au Pair Certificate?
It's super easy! Just login and click on "My Profile", scroll down and click on "Services". There you will find the option "Apply for Au Pair Certificate". You will have to write an experience report about your Au Pair year and insert some details of your stay. The Certificate, if approved, will be issued in a few days!


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