Messaging system on AuPair.com

To send a message to families and candidates you first need to visit their profile. You have several options on how to see profiles: you can either set up your search criteria and click on the “find” button at the bottom of the page. We will forward you to a full list of potential candidates who meet your criteria! You can also click on “My Account” at the top bar and select “Find your Au Pair” or “Find your Host Family”. The easiest and fastest step is to click on the number of recommended candidates/ families that you see when you log in. You find it in the center of the page. When you see the list of profiles you just need to click on “View profile” to see the whole page. 

Once you visit a profile you will see the name and the picture above and some introductory information. Below you will see a message field. Depending on your status you will see different versions:

As a basic Host Family you cannot write a message but send a free request. In the request field you will see a text like this:

 

“Dear candidate,

 

Great news! XY’s family, from Spain, has visited your profile and would like to know you better.

 

Please, let the family know whether you would like to accept or deny the request. 

 

Kind regards,

AuPair.com Team”

 

This is the content of the notification the candidate will receive from us. Subsequently, the candidate can accept or deny your request. This way, you can find out if there are enough interested applicants before purchasing the Premium membership. Basic Host Families cannot read personal messages from candidates however we will send a notification that a message was received. This is another way to find out if a Premium membership is a right option for you.

Premium Host Families have the option to either send a free request (described above) or write a personal message. They need to click on “request” or “message” to change the message field. In their personal message, families can open up the conversation, present their family, and exchange contact details to arrange a Skype interview later on in the process. Premium families will always be able to read messages from candidates and write a message to an applicant. The only exception is when they do not fit the candidate’s search criteria. In this case, the candidate will still see that the family has visited her or his profile but the family cannot contact directly through the profile. However, the candidate can decide if she or he wants to get in touch.

Basic candidates can send personal messages for free. This is the text that you will see in the messaging field: 

 

“Insert a message to the Host Family here and address the family personally, e.g. 

Hello XY or Dear XY 

 

Read the family profile carefully and make sure you ask personal questions. This will increase your chances of getting a positive answer.”

 

We advise you to follow this instruction to achieve a successful search. Short and impersonal messages like “Interested” or “I need a job” show the family that you did not read their profile carefully. So be smart, read the profile, and send a personalized message. As a basic member, only Premium families will be able to read your messages. However, basic families will not. 

Premium candidates can send personal messages both to basic and Premium families and be sure that they can read it. We highly recommend following the steps described above to find a Host Family soon.

In your AuPair.com account, you see your inbox and outbox under “Communication”. Here you will see a clear list of which candidates/ Host Families you have already contacted and who contacted you. You will also discover some icons and their explanation below. We differentiate between read and unread messages, if you have replied or not, if the candidate is one of your favourites and if you have taken any notes in the profile of the candidate. 

 

If you click on one of the messages the system will forward you to the profile of the candidate/ the family where you will see your messages and be able to reply if one of both sides is Premium.

We advise families to first have a look at our website, browse through profiles, and send some requests to see if people are interested. This way they can decide if our platform fits their needs. Once they want to get in touch with an Au Pair they need a Premium membership to send messages. 

 

It is possible for candidates to find a suitable Host Family on our website without purchasing a Premium membership. Usually, it is the Host Family who purchases the Premium membership so that the candidate does not have to pay for anything. However, the candidate has the option to become Premium to speed up the process.

 

In the beginning, candidates should send 10-15 messages per day to get in touch with as many Host Families as possible. This way, they will probably already meet a suitable Premium Host Family within a few weeks.

 

Did you know? When a candidate’s activity rate is 100%, they can see if a family is Premium by visiting their profile!

 

So, in short: one of you, either the Host Family or the candidate, needs to be Premium to go on with further communication.

 

We hope this guide will help you to find a match on AuPair.com soon! If you want to learn more feel free to browse our Au Pair Wiki and read our FAQ.