Long afternoons in the Italian sun, sipping cocktails and occasionally glancing at a kid who is playing quietly and neatly in the corner… nope life as an au pair in Italy isn’t quite like that!
But if you’re looking for a flexible job with great benefits which you can pick up without any qualifications and instantly use to start a life abroad – this is it. Buckle up, I’ve got all the tips, tricks and just a whole lot of beans to spill that will help you land this job.
Why work as an au pair in Italy?
I came to Italy because I had no ties anywhere else (never bought a place, no kids, single at the time, no pets, no one would suffer but me if I mucked things up) – so it was absolutely a risk worth taking. I had savings built up from my last job in Reykjavik that would last a few months and had been learning Italian. And I must admit, I was dying to experience the culture, the way of life, THE PIZZA! I think other people want to become an au pair in Italy for very much the same reasons. OK, maybe not everyone is as pizza-greedy as I am.
But I didn’t have a job, and I didn’t have much arranged before you land. I just had a cheap AirBnB in Rome booked and my CV in hand.
I’m British and the UK was making plans to Brexit, so I wanted to make maximum use of the right to live and work abroad in the EU while I still could.
How can you find a job as an au pair in Italy?
Job hunting in Rome was a challenge, I’d say. I had experience in childcare and tutoring children, so I placed ads online and attended about five interviews in the first month. None of them were a good fit and I also got pretty distracted by seeing all of Rome’s sights and tasting the local food – my fault entirely!
I decided to switch tactics as we got into peak summer, and instead joined some au pair agencies online. I hadn’t been an au pair before, as everything I’d done had been live out – but I was game for a challenge.
I was quickly matched with a lovely family with a little boy in a suburb just outside Milan. After a few Skype calls, I felt confident in booking a train and moving into their spare room. Meeting the child over Skype is something you definitely should not skip before you commit!
When is the best time to start your au pair journey?
I’m always surprised by how many people don’t think of this – but here’s my biggest tip: time your job hunt to match the school year. Summer holidays are a great time, because parents will need a lot of help while the child is at home.
Do you need any experience to work as an au pair in Italy?
The good news is that as a private au pair you don’t always have to have direct childcare experience, but the more you know – the better! A little volunteer experience with kids goes a long way, so practise and practise as much as you can.
I started with little more than a bit of teenage babysitting, which landed me a volunteer position with kids on the Czech-Polish border. Luckily, it was a role that was all about learning and they gave me space to run an afterschool club with kids and work out what I was doing. I learned a lot!
Building on that helped me to convince a family in Italy to take me on as their au pair. I also had a reference based from when I had worked with kids, which gave my host mum peace of mind.
What’s your biggest tip for someone wanting to work in Italy as an au pair?
It has to be to make learning Italian a priority and do it through your local town council. The Milan Council offered subsidised classes for only 120 euros per semester which was far below the cost of commercial classes.
It really helps you integrate and get on a good footing with locals. Even if you’re not very good, the fact that you go to class shows respect and I was even able to pass my B2 level qualification before leaving.
What other tips can help you get hired as an au pair?
- Be open and honest with people who contact you. Offer to put them in touch with other parents that you’ve worked with so they can build a picture of who you are.
- Ask lots of questions about day to day living with the family – daily routines, your bedroom, meals etc. Imagine how much you’d ask a new flatmate – and this is bigger than that!
- If you have a first aid or swimming safety certificate, be sure to show it off!
- Agree a clear plan of your working hours and duties with the family as well as being certain of exactly what you’ll get in return.
- Keep the address of the local embassy with you at all times. They’ll help you if anything goes wrong!
Do you need a visa to work in Italy as an au pair?
As a Brit, I didn’t need a visa to stay in Italy and I didn’t fill in any kind of paperwork before arriving. It was just a case of getting on a plane and starting the adventure.
I’ve heard of friends from outside of the EU doing something similar, though, on a Schengen visa for 90 days.
How can you find au pair jobs in Europe for Americans?
You cannot work on a Schengen visa, so if you’re coming from the US, for example, you’re best off offering to trade your skills in exchange for accommodation and meals instead of a salary. A Schengen visa and a few searches via sites like greataupair.com or aupairworld.com can be a convenient way of getting straight to the au pair position you want.
The next most popular route is usually to get a student visa. That works really well because most au pair’s study a language as well as working. If you’re a student, you can usually work up to 20 hours per week in Italy, so this is a great way to make ends meet.
What did you actually do as an au pair?
I was fortunate in that the mum I was staying with didn’t feel like having help with cleaning, cooking and all those boring chores that tend to come up. This isn’t common, but it was genuinely my experience – and a good thing too because I’m a shocking cook!
It just goes to show that there are positions to suit a range of skills and situations. Most au pairs will do light housework, cleaning, washing etc at least while the kiddies are at school or playschool.
I was there to play, entertain the child and get him to speak as much English as possible. A few of the real highlights of being an au pair were those times when you really connect with the little ‘un you’re helping. We often played with toy cars all across the floor of a small apartment. I gave him a bath every evening, which was pretty magical. I saw The Land Before Time so many times I know every single word. And we’d draw or play hide and seek for hours every day.
If you fancy a more indepth look at my time working as an au pair – click the link to read all about my experience.
How was life in Italy, outside of work?
The internet was my best weapon for finding friends out there. I used Couchsurfing to find other travellers and also joined a local meetup where we’d watch films and go out for drinks together. People were very open and welcoming, even though the suburb was small so I would usually make a 40-minute train journey into Milan to find friends. Buy your rail tickets in advance and you can save big time in Italy.
My weekends were my own in the job, so I was able to explore a volcano in Sicily, the tiny nation of San Marino and get lost in Liechtenstein too.
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