HOW DID I BECOME AN AU PAIR IN SWITZERLAND

Dear Readers ♥ ,
in today's post I would like to tell the first part of my story how did I become an Au pair in Switzerland.

Let's start from the beginning...

I graduated on 16. May 2016 and you know what?! I did it! I was so happy and so proud of myself!
So after my graduation I did a entrance examination for two universities,but they didn't admit me.To be honest,I was really bad in the test! So it wasn't such a big surprise.But on the other hand,I was kind of relieved,because I always kind of secretly wanted to go abroad. :) And before I found out if  I passed the test or not, I was thinking about the possibility,if I would actually pass the test and the only thing,which came up to my mind was that I probably wouldn't be happy. In reality, the university wasn't simply the right thing for me back then.

The first thing,I wanted to do after my graduation, was going to England and try to find a place to stay and a job,but because I've never been abroad on my own I thought that some travel agency could help me with that.
I did a research and found a lot of good reviews on one travel agency,so I decided to write them,if they could help me with my plan and if we could meet and discuss everything together in person.They replied to me and we met.
One advice from me.If you are going to go abroad with travel agency,ask a lot of questions,ask about everything,you wanna know! I didn't ask about everything and do you know what happened? When I came home and I told everything to my parents,we did some kind of calculation,how much would everything cost and how much money would I have every month for living in England and guess what,I would have nothing and I would be in minus with my money! And of course I would have to pay some money to the travel agency.
I was really sad and I wrote to the agency,that I'm not interested anymore.

I was starting to think,that I will stay in Czech republic and that wasn't definitely something I would want.Of course that I have there my best friends and family,but something was just telling me: ,,Go abroad,you will not regret it! " So I promised to myself,that I won't give up and that I will go abroad,somehow and then the idea of being an Au pair came up to my mind. I created an account on site www.aupairworld.com .( If you are creating your profile one of the most important thing is that you should be honest and you shouldn't write things that are not true. So if you don't have that much experience with kids or if this would be the first time for you being an Au pair,you have to write it! Because if you will not write the truth it could be hard for you. Imagine that you would write: ,,I have a lot of experience with children and I simply love to take care of them and than you would find a family with three small children and you would be alone with them and you wouldn't have no idea what to do with them,it would be pretty unpleasant. On the other hand if you write that you don't have that much experience,but you would love to get ones,the family - if  they are nice and understanding - will count with it and they can create for you better conditions and maybe help you to get use to it. )
I still wanted to go to England,but my dad came up with idea of going to Austria or Switzerland and he told me,that these countries are not so far away and he could drive me there with a car and plus,I could learn German.I thought it was a good idea,so I dropped of the idea of England,at least for now,because I believe,that I will go there one day! :)

When I started to search for a family, I personally didn't want to go to family with really small children,because I didn't have the experience and I also wanted 1-3 children.
There were a lot of families and I wrote to a lot of them,but at the same time a lot of them didn't reply or they wrote to me,that they need someone who speaks French or that I'm nice so that maybe they will write me again. And than one of the family that I wrote to, replied positive! I was really happy! It was a family with two boys ( 8 and 10 years old ) living in Switzerland and very close to Bern! So basically exactly what I wanted.
The host mum seemed to be really kind and she wrote long messages and I could see,that she is interested and that she takes it seriously,which was important for me :) .


After few days of writing we decided to have a Skype meeting.(Please! Don't tell anyone that you will come and be their Au pair without a Skype meeting! It's one of the most important things to do! And if they don't want to have a Skype with you,then something is wrong and maybe that the person is fake. Be careful!) Before that I tried to search on Facebook for her profile and the only person that I found was a woman with a lot of makeup,high heels and blond short hair and I told myself: ,,OMG! If this is her than I don't want to go there,because she looks like a party mama! " But than I told myself that it doesn't have to be her and that I should simply wait for the Skype meeting.
And guess what!! It wasn't her!! In no case! She was the opposite,she had a smily face and was really kind! And I also saw the host dad and boys.
She also very kindly sent me the copy of my contract,which I think is very important,because then you know what you should expect. After two Skype meetings we agreed on,that I'm going to an Au pair for them for 11 months. :)
Also when you have Skype with your upcoming host family ask a lot of questions. For example: what they are expecting you to do,how much money you will earn,if you will have free weekends etc.
The family should also pay you language course,Halbtax and Gleis 7. Halbtax allows you to buy ticket for public transport for half of the normal price and Gleis 7 allows you to take public transport after 7 p.m. for free,but not everywhere! You have to be really careful! ( This is of course relate only in Switzerland.)


So this is the first part of my story. These are just basic information for the beginning.I hope that it is not confusing for you. I'm planning to do a lot different posts about the topic ,,Au pair", because I don't want the posts be too much long,so I will separate everything to different posts.
Just one more thing! ... If you really want something,go for it and never give up,even if it looks like there is no other possibility for you,believe me,there is plenty of them!
I hope that this will help some of you who are planning to go abroad as an Au pair!
And if you have any questions,please, feel free to ask.I will be more then happy to answer them! :)

ConfiVera