GoAuPairs.net - Au Pair Matching Service

Looking to be an Au Pair in Paris? Or Sweden? Or Brazil? As referenced in wikipedia, the au pair term is used to describe a young person living with a host family in a foreign country. Goaupairs.net matches famillies and au pairs in different countries using the social networking platform. You can create a profile as an individual or as a family, describing your interests and finding the best match for what you're looking for. An individual will indicate on their profile what type of work they're willing to do as a way to reciprocate the free living quarters. Host families do the same, indicating what type of person they'd like to have in their house. The site also has a blog which details the different requirements of each country, which often revolves around obtaining visas, stipends, days off, and more. The site also has a Facebook application, which is a great place for GoAuPairs to reach out to traveling college students that may want to look for a place to stay.

"GoAuPairs' main goal is to bring families and au pairs together! It was designed to make your au pair / family search much easier as well as connect you with other au pairs and families worldwide, making friends and sharing experiences! We're taking the au pair matching service to a whole new level, and we are sure this will be a more enjoyable experience for you right from the get go! We are based in 3 different locations: São Paulo(Brazil), The Hague(Netherlands) and Paris(France)."

Being an Au Pair is a great way for young people to experience life in a foreign country with a host family. This site provides a good service in helping to match individuals and families using the social networking platform.

Based on what I read on the blog, it appears the au pairs and the famillies still have to go through official agencies and government bureaucracy to complete this process. Why would individuals or famillies use this site as opposed to the home sites for those agencies? Who writes up the contracts - this site or the agencies? I'm a little confused about the function of this site? Also, are they going to create a ranking or grading system for the individuals and/or the famillies? Have they had any successful matches and can we see some testimonials?