How should you put your au pair experience into your CV?

Not all of our former au pairs even mention their experience as au pair in the USA in their CV – why so? Working as an au pair means quite a lot of things and tells a lot about the person and this will absolutely be something that will strengthen your position in the job market!

We decided to list few reasons why you should absolutely list your au pair experience into your CV – these come from what working as an au pair gives for you and what it tells to your future employer. It is much more than just the outstanding amount of childcare experience that you now have!

• Fluent English.  After you have lived a year in the USA (and sometimes even more) and have been using English in your everyday communications – let’s not also forget that you have even studied at a local college! This all can guarantee that your English must is fluent!
• Independent and confident. A young person who has enough courage to leave their home and to work abroad will show a future employer that you are not afraid of new adventures and that you can easily overcome challenges!
• International experience. The current job market is extremely competitive and for the employers it is important to find the candidates that will stand out – international experience is absolutely something that will make you stand out! It tells also that you have lot of culture knowledge – not only about the American culture, but also about other cultures all around the world through your other friends who you meet!
• Important skills and characteristics. Working as an au pair means a lot more than just taking care of the children. In order for you to be a successful au pair you also need to be flexible, patient, responsible and good at multi-tasking – to name a few! These all are skills that are important in any kind of job in the future!

 Good luck with your future!

 

Listing your au pair experience in your CV

There are many ex-au pairs who do not mention their au pair experience in their CV - I often wonder why is that? I believe that working as an au pair tells a lot about the person and I believe that it can only make your profile stronger in the current - very competitive - job market!

I listed few reasons why I feel that you should absolutely list your au pair -experience to your CV as well as what working as an au pair will tell to your future employer alongside with the numerous hours of childcare experience you have (not to forget the times you spent fixing lunches or driving around!)

• Fluent English. After living in the USA for a year (or possibly even more), you have definitely been using English every day as well as studied at a local university or college! I am sure this all will guarantee that your English fluency has improved tremendously!
• Being independent, being confident. A young person who has the courage to leave home to get experience abroad definitely send the message to your future employer that you can definitely take charge of even bigger challenges and you will definitely get lost right in the beginning!
• International experience. When employers are looking to hire new people they are always looking at that something that will make the candidates stand out from one another - international experience is definitely something, that not everyone has. Being an au pair in the USA will also tell about the cultural knowledge that you have - in addition to the American culture you have met people from all over the world while being in the USA!
• Personality, qualifications and values. Being an au pair is much more than "just" taking care of children. In order to be a successful au pair you need to be flexible, have patience, be organized, be able to multi-task, have responsibility - along with many other qualities! All of these personality traits are something that you will need with any future job that you would be applying for!

Anything that comes to mind that should be on the list? Where have your au pair -experience taken you? Please share your experiences with us!

I can definitely say from my very own experience, that being an au pair was one of the best decisions that I have ever made and it has also gotten me very far in life - and I am looking forward to see what other things it will give me!