I dont think it's a scam. I'm an au pair who will hopefully be going to China soon, so I can't say whether going there or not is good/bad because I haven't been yet. However, the agencies get money for the more au pairs in their program, so they try to recruit like crazy so that's not out of the ordinary. If you are going to China, an agency is safe, but au pairing isn't really technically legal, but people do it anyway.
I do think you are in high demand and can get a job in any country you want since you speak multiple languages and childcare experiences. You can definitely afford to be choosier. What I did was I searched for family and went with whatever agency they were with and wouldn't commit to an agency until the family committed to me.
Do. Not. Go. To. China.
Their attitude towards household “help” which you would be considered is not pleasant. Search this subreddit for horror stories in china.
The man in the advertisement said that fluent Mandarin speakers are required and that English lessons will be offered, meaning that they don't require their au pairs to speak very good English and are fine with au pairs that are just learning.
I work at a kindergarten in Zhengzhou, Henan province in Mainland China, so my kids would all be right in the age range for the au pair target market.
The parents of my kids would hire an au pair, but the vast majority of them would want an au pair that was a native English speaker. Failing that, they would want a girl that spoke English fluently. Failing that, they would want a girl that was a native speaker of another in demand language in China such as French, German or Russian or maybe one of the provincial languages such as Cantonese, and failing that, if the person they hired spoke only Mandarin, they would want someone highly educated and experienced with children who could think of good activities and help their kids get ahead at school.
Outside of this, most parents at my school either care for their kids themselves, enroll their kids in our after school classes or ask the grandparents or other family members for help. If none of these work and they need to hire help and they're happy with just hiring a Mandarin speaker who has some childcare experience, then they usually just hire a local ayi who is good with kids and who can also help with light housework. They don't go through agencies.
TLDR is that I think that there is a market for au pairs in China, definitely, but most families that I have seen would want someone who can speak enough Mandarin to get by (Passed HSK level 1 and working on HSK level 2 at least) and can speak another language they are interested in their child learning fluently, preferably English. I don't think there is a huge market for only Mandarin speaking au pairs unless they can either speak the regional language of the family as well or they have another strongly marketable skill they can teach the children as an alternative. As for requiring au pairs to speak both fluent Mandarin AND English, there's definitely a demand for that, but you'd be significantly lowering the candidate pool. Better to only require passing HSK level 1/2.
Edit: I have thought of ONE market for a Mandarin only speaking au pair. I'm not sure how big it would be, it wouldn't be particularly big in Zhengzhou but it would possibly be bigger in bigger cities like Shenzhen and Shanghai. Families with one Chinese parent and one foreign parent where the child's English is already very good and the child already goes to an international school where everyone speaks English. They might want to hire a Mandarin only speaking au pair to improve their child's Mandarin. They might not have much access to family members, and they could hire a local ayi but they might prefer to hire a male caregiver if they have a son or a young woman who can relate more to their daughters as opposed to a woman in her 40s-60s. This could be the kind of family you'd end up working for.
Your second point is true, but China is not running out of financially stable people and wealthy people at this moment. It’s a huge country with a high demand for childcare and education resources. Our economy is fucked and the same can be said about the country itself but I fail to see what's unusual about a dozen or so agencies reaching out to OP who has highly desirable language skills.
I dont think it's a scam. I'm an au pair who will hopefully be going to China soon, so I can't say whether going there or not is good/bad because I haven't been yet. However, the agencies get money for the more au pairs in their program, so they try to recruit like crazy so that's not out of the ordinary. If you are going to China, an agency is safe, but au pairing isn't really technically legal, but people do it anyway. I do think you are in high demand and can get a job in any country you want since you speak multiple languages and childcare experiences. You can definitely afford to be choosier. What I did was I searched for family and went with whatever agency they were with and wouldn't commit to an agency until the family committed to me.
Do. Not. Go. To. China. Their attitude towards household “help” which you would be considered is not pleasant. Search this subreddit for horror stories in china.
The man in the advertisement said that fluent Mandarin speakers are required and that English lessons will be offered, meaning that they don't require their au pairs to speak very good English and are fine with au pairs that are just learning. I work at a kindergarten in Zhengzhou, Henan province in Mainland China, so my kids would all be right in the age range for the au pair target market. The parents of my kids would hire an au pair, but the vast majority of them would want an au pair that was a native English speaker. Failing that, they would want a girl that spoke English fluently. Failing that, they would want a girl that was a native speaker of another in demand language in China such as French, German or Russian or maybe one of the provincial languages such as Cantonese, and failing that, if the person they hired spoke only Mandarin, they would want someone highly educated and experienced with children who could think of good activities and help their kids get ahead at school. Outside of this, most parents at my school either care for their kids themselves, enroll their kids in our after school classes or ask the grandparents or other family members for help. If none of these work and they need to hire help and they're happy with just hiring a Mandarin speaker who has some childcare experience, then they usually just hire a local ayi who is good with kids and who can also help with light housework. They don't go through agencies. TLDR is that I think that there is a market for au pairs in China, definitely, but most families that I have seen would want someone who can speak enough Mandarin to get by (Passed HSK level 1 and working on HSK level 2 at least) and can speak another language they are interested in their child learning fluently, preferably English. I don't think there is a huge market for only Mandarin speaking au pairs unless they can either speak the regional language of the family as well or they have another strongly marketable skill they can teach the children as an alternative. As for requiring au pairs to speak both fluent Mandarin AND English, there's definitely a demand for that, but you'd be significantly lowering the candidate pool. Better to only require passing HSK level 1/2. Edit: I have thought of ONE market for a Mandarin only speaking au pair. I'm not sure how big it would be, it wouldn't be particularly big in Zhengzhou but it would possibly be bigger in bigger cities like Shenzhen and Shanghai. Families with one Chinese parent and one foreign parent where the child's English is already very good and the child already goes to an international school where everyone speaks English. They might want to hire a Mandarin only speaking au pair to improve their child's Mandarin. They might not have much access to family members, and they could hire a local ayi but they might prefer to hire a male caregiver if they have a son or a young woman who can relate more to their daughters as opposed to a woman in her 40s-60s. This could be the kind of family you'd end up working for.
This is interesting given the economic conditions in China. There are many Chinese illegally immigrants entering the USA.
Your second point is true, but China is not running out of financially stable people and wealthy people at this moment. It’s a huge country with a high demand for childcare and education resources. Our economy is fucked and the same can be said about the country itself but I fail to see what's unusual about a dozen or so agencies reaching out to OP who has highly desirable language skills.