Experience Living and Working in New Zealand as an Au Pair

Make sure you take time to look and chat to the families you're thinking of joining because I hear lots of stories where the au pair joins and a few months later wants to leave because it just doesn't work out for various reasons. To minimise the likelihood of this happening to you make sure you take the time to pick the perfect family for you.

Ooo that's a tough one as I have so many! Being with kids every day obviously means I hear some pretty funny stories. My favourite moment though was when my host family (the family I am an au pair for) won host family of the month. I nominated them by writing a letter as to why I thought they should win and then au pair link chose the east family and mine won!! It made my day... Or year! They deserved it so much as they've made my time out here awesome!

Being away from friends and family. My first bit of my gap year was with my best friend from back at home so I didn't feel very home sick as I had her. When I flew to New Zealand I was completely on my own with no family or friends. It was quite hard but that is why I loved this program. My host family are now second family who can talk to about anything. Au pair link also arrange coffee groups and au pair trips to help you meet people which is awesome!

It has been a real challenge (and goal) for Au Pair Link to raise the bar in terms of the kind of support our Au Pairs receive. I’ve experienced first-hand how difficult it can be to arrive in a new country, and heard horror stories from friends about the kind of employment conditions Au Pairs can find themselves in when there is no agency support.

From there, we’ve made some real strides in terms of making sure Au Pairs are safe, are paid fairly, and are able to get the most out of their time in New Zealand. We’ve got a network of around five hundred Au Pairs in the country at any given time, so I think establishing awareness of the concept and making greater steps towards formalising the industry have been the main changes for us.

In our case, it is without a doubt the educational aspect of our programme. We were the first Au Pair agency in New Zealand to become licensed by the New Zealand Ministry of Education. It means that our Au Pairs come away with world-class childcare skills, and the children they care for receive a tailored educational experience.

We run a variety of local activities and events each week, meaning Au Pairs and children get to socialise together in an environment where they are both well-supported. Every week we receive “warm fuzzies” about what’s happening around the country, and the kind of difference that our Au Pairs make on a daily basis to the lives of families around NZ.

We’ve got some pretty exciting things to look forward to over the next few months at Au Pair Link. Without giving too much away, I’m pretty confident that the trend towards families considering Au Pairs to care for and educate their children will only gain more momentum.

It was recently announced that Auckland has ascended to being one of the world’s top ten tourist destinations according to Lonely Planet, so I think that we’ll see greater interest from candidates around the world who are keen to explore what New Zealand has to offer.

To be honest, ten years ago I wouldn’t have imagined that we would have come this far! Our commitment will always be to the concept of life-changing experiences – this has really been our guiding principle in terms of what we do.

As I hinted above, we’ve got a few things that we believe are going to radically change the industry even more, so I am looking forward to building on our growth, continuing to provide a personal service, and generally ensuring that we continue to evolve while providing an exciting and dynamic programme for our Au Pairs and families!