Our Au pairs
Being that Sitters4U is a mom run agency, we always ensure you will only deal with candidates who are dedicated, organised, friendly, patient, active and caring and meet international childcare standards. Our requirements are your requirements. Here’s our minimum must-haves list:- Candidates must ALL have at least 1 year’s child care experience with contactable references. Although, most have 3 to 10 years of experience or more.
- ALL of our candidates have their own vehicles and drivers licenses.
- We require ALL staff to have a minimum of matric, however many boast a University or a childcare related tertiary education.
- ALL candidates must be reference checked and background checked.
- We require (and we were the first agency in South Africa to demand that au pair staff complete their first aid) that ALL candidates either have completed a SETA approved first aid course or that they sign up for a course when joining our team.
How do we find our staff?
For starters we have one of the highest search engine rankings for the industry so in many cases candidates looking for work find us. We also get a lot of referrals from other candidates. Then, by law, we must advertise all positions externally. So don’t be surprised when you see positions similar to your requirements posted all over the net. This is more for the purpose of attracting applications for future clients the positions posted, as our application process usually takes 2 weeks to a month unless the candidate is very hardworking and dedicated to getting an interview with you and manages to move through this process very quickly.
Okay, so they apply and then what happens?
First, they complete an online application form which takes over an hour to complete. Then we request certified copies of their documentation, which verifies that they match our minimum requirements as well identifies them, etc. After carefully checking all of their documents and application forms, we set up an interview with them if we are happy with everything put forward at this point. Then we will set up interviews for them. During the interview we ask a specific set of questions which assists us to find the candidates strengths and weaknesses as a carer and allows us to determine whether the candidate should be considered to join our team. If we are happy, we then contact each reference telephonically and speak to them directly. If the references are positive and all the previous clients have been happy, the candidate is approved. This process takes anywhere from a week to a month or more sometimes depending on the candidate and the availability of the candidates references. In a nut shell we are as thorough as thorough gets.
