Au Pair Profile Guidelines
Families decide in seconds whether to read your profile or scroll past it. This page shows exactly what a strong profile looks like — and what to fix if yours isn't getting messages.
Key quality measures for a proper profile
A profile that meets all eight of these gets seen, gets trusted and gets messaged. Miss one and you are competing at a disadvantage against au pairs who didn't.
A clear, recent photo of you
Aim for a score of 7 or higher — 8 is ideal.
Every photo you upload is scored out of 10 across seven measures. Photos scoring below 5 are hidden from families entirely, so a weak photo can make your profile look empty.
An "About me" in your own words
At least four or five full sentences.
Families read this before anything else. Say who you are, your experience with children, what you enjoy about the work, and what a family can expect from you. Check your spelling and punctuation before you save.
Details that match your ID
Your date of birth, name and ID number must match your document.
A mismatch between your profile and your ID stops verification and is the single fastest way to lose a family's trust. Fix it before you do anything else.
Real childcare experience
Years, ages cared for, and what you actually did.
"Looked after two children aged 3 and 6 after school for two years" tells a family far more than "experienced with kids". Add every role, even informal ones.
Honest availability and rate
The days, hours and start date you can genuinely commit to.
Families filter on availability. Leaving it blank keeps you out of results, and an availability you cannot keep wastes everyone's time.
Verification completed
ID, references and a police clearance.
Verified profiles get contacted far more often than unverified ones. Families are choosing who to trust with their children — the badge does a lot of the convincing for you.
Languages, skills and driving
Every field families filter on.
Languages, first aid, swimming, cooking, homework help and a driver's licence are all searchable. An empty field means you are filtered out of results you would have matched.
A fast, polite reply
Answer messages within a day.
Most families message several au pairs at once. The one who replies first, in full sentences, is usually the one who gets the interview.
How your photos are scored
Every photo you upload is reviewed automatically and scored out of 10 on the seven measures below. You can see the score and the feedback on each of your photos in your profile.
Excellent
A standout photo. This is what the examples below look like.
Strong — aim for this
Clear, well lit and professional. This is the target for every photo on your profile.
Published, but weak
Families can see it, but it is not helping you. Worth replacing.
Hidden from families
The photo stays in your account but is not shown in search or on your profile.
Image quality
Sharp and in focus. No blur, no pixelation, no screenshots of another photo.
Lighting
Your face is evenly lit. Avoid harsh shadows, strong backlight or a dark room.
Background
Plain and tidy. A wall, a doorway or outdoors — never a messy room or a bathroom mirror.
Framing
Head and shoulders. Not a distant full-body shot, and not cropped through your face.
Expression
Warm and approachable. A natural smile does more for you than anything else on this list.
Attire
What you would wear to meet a family for the first time. Neat and simple.
Professionalism
The overall impression — does this look like someone a family would trust with their children?
Aim for 7 or higher — 8 is ideal
A 7 tells a family you are serious. An 8 or above puts you alongside the strongest profiles on AuPairNow. Anything below 5 is hidden from families completely, which makes your profile look like it has no photo at all.
What a great profile photo looks like
Nine photos that would all score well. None of them needed a studio — every one of them is good light, a plain background, neat clothing and a face you can see clearly.
Good example Soft light on the face and a plain dark background. Even a relaxed, unposed angle works when the light is good.
Good example A calm, confident expression is fine — it does not have to be a big smile. Note the neat collared shirt.
Good example Bright, even indoor light and a simple background keep all the attention on you.
Good example Outdoors in natural daylight, with nothing but open sky behind her. Clean and uncluttered.
Good example Head-and-shoulders framing, eyes to camera, a genuine smile. This is the formula.
Good example Relaxed but neat. A big, natural smile is the single thing families respond to most.
Good example Nothing in the frame but you. Hair tidy, shirt neat, background a single flat colour.
Good example A dark background works beautifully as long as the light falls on your face, not behind you.
Good example Plain clothes, plain background, sharp focus, friendly expression. Simple beats clever.
Reference images shown for guidance only. They are not AuPairNow members.
Do this
- Shoot from the chest up so your face fills a good part of the frame
- Use daylight — near a window or outside in shade is best
- Stand in front of a plain wall or an uncluttered outdoor background
- Look at the camera and smile naturally
- Wear what you would wear to meet a family for the first time
- Use a photo taken in the last twelve months
- Upload three to five photos, not just one
- Ask someone to take it for you — a photo taken by another person always looks better than a selfie
Avoid this
- Bathroom or bedroom mirror selfies
- Heavy filters, stickers, text overlays or beauty effects
- Sunglasses, caps or anything covering your eyes
- Group photos where a family cannot tell which person is you
- Party, nightclub or photos with alcohol or cigarettes visible
- Blurry, dark, or low-resolution images
- Screenshots of a photo, or a photo of a photo
- Anyone else's photo, or a photo of a child without their parent's permission
Writing an "About me" families finish reading
Your photo gets a family to stop. Your "About me" is what makes them message you. Five short paragraphs, in this order, is all it takes.
Open with who you are
Your name, your age or where you live, and what you are doing right now — studying, working, or looking for a full-time role.
Then your childcare experience
How long, how many children, and what ages. Be specific: "three years with two boys aged 4 and 7" beats "lots of experience".
Say what you are like with children
Are you the homework-and-routine kind, or the outdoors-and-crafts kind? Families are trying to picture you in their home.
Cover the practical things
Driving, swimming, first aid, languages, cooking, and whether you are looking for live-in or live-out work.
Close with what you are looking for
One line about the kind of family or role you would love. It gives the right families a reason to message you first.
What holds profiles back
- One line, or a single word like "Hardworking"
- ALL CAPITALS, or no capital letters and no full stops at all
- Text copied from another profile or from a website
- Phone numbers, email addresses or social media handles — these are removed automatically and cannot be sent in messages
- Spelling and grammar left unchecked — read it out loud once before you save
Ready to bring your profile up to standard?
Take twenty minutes today. Replace the photo, rewrite the "About me", finish your verification — then watch how differently families respond.