In your 20s and dream of living or working abroad? However, I don’t have any savings yet. Try the scholarship program is also difficult to pass. Yes, living and working abroad is still just a dream.
Wait! Wait. Don’t bury the dream just yet. There is still an Au Pair program. Uh, what program?
This program allows you to have the experience of living, studying, and working abroad. For those of you who don’t know or want to get to know this program more closely, let’s see the following review!
What are Au Pairs?
Simply put, Au Pair is a cultural exchange program for a year’s stay abroad with a host family. Later, you will get free accommodation, pocket money, and other facilities according to the agreement between you and your host family.
Instead, you have an obligation there. Usually, you will be asked to help them take care of the children or do some light household chores. Yes, it’s not much different at home, helping parents continue to get pocket money, food, and a place to live.
Not all countries have an Au Pair program. Generally, Au Pair organizers are developed countries, such as Australia, Germany, America, France, Denmark, Spain, and many more. It should be noted that not all countries allow Indonesian passport holders to become Au Pairs there.
How to join or become an Au Pair
Requirements:
Usually each country has its own requirements. However, in general, the requirements to join this program are as follows:
- Female or male 18-26 years old
- Proficient in active English
- Physically and mentally healthy
- Likes children
If these conditions are met, you can immediately register as an Au Pair on various official websites, such as aupair or aupairworld . On this site you will find your prospective adoptive parents.
How to register:
- Make a passport if you don’t have one
- Make your CV or profile as attractive as possible
- Make a health certificate (can be at a hospital or health center)
- Destination language test (eg German to get an A1 certificate)
- Write a letter to the host family (a reason why you should be selected)
- Find prospective adoptive parents on the Au Pair website
- Interview and make a contract with prospective host families.
The method above is a step for those of you who become an Au Pair through an independent path. So, through the site mentioned above, you will be contacted directly by the adoptive parents. Later, there will be many offers from your adoptive parents, so you have to be selective.
You can also register for Au Pair through an agent. The difference is that through an agent, the host family must pay for the services of an agent to take care of the completeness of the documents. Meanwhile, if you register through a non-agent site, the completeness of the documents will be taken care of by each party.
In addition, even if you use an agent, complete documents in Indonesia, such as applying for a visa, you still take care of yourself.
Tips for those of you who are interested in joining Au Pair
1. Choose the destination country and understand the regulations
You may already have a dream country for an Au Pair destination. But, you need to make sure first whether the country is open to Indonesian passport holders or not.
In addition, not all countries use English as their mother tongue. So, you need to check again whether you need a new language course or not.
For example, Germany requires you to have a German language certificate at least basic level. While in Australia, you only need to have active English skills.
2. Master the language well
Before registering, prepare your language skills. Especially if your destination country uses a language other than English. For that, you can choose a country whose language you have mastered or a country whose language you really want to learn.
Language skills are very important because they are your capital to communicate. Although not required, you should also understand more or less the mother tongue of the destination country.
3. Make your profile clear and attractive
Just like looking for a job, your CV or profile will be an initial impression for prospective adoptive families. It’s a good idea to explain your goal in an interesting way. For example, instead of just writing down your goal of traveling abroad, you can explain your desire to learn about the culture of that country.
Generally, Au Pair work is related to children (raising or looking after the children of adopted families). Therefore, if you have experience related to children, this can be an added value. So, don’t forget to write it down on your profile too. For example, have been a kindergarten teacher or volunteer teaching children.
The benefits of being an Au Pair
In addition to the benefits mentioned above, you can get other bonus facilities. For example, there are several countries that require prospective host families to pay for airfare in full, such as Denmark, Norway, and the Netherlands.
Some host families also provide language course fees and travel costs there. Pretty good right?
Not only working abroad, you can also continue your education in an Au Pair country. You can do this through scholarships or looking for sponsors. Not a few au pair participants also managed to “seduce” their host families to become sponsors as a requirement for college administration.
How, interested in trying this program? Good l