I’ve had a couple applicants that sent generic messages that did not address me by name nor give any indication that they actually read my listing. Am I too quick to judge these to be unsuitable applicants because of the lack of effort in their messages?
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Did those applications come in very fast after you posted the dates? Maybe then they had put effort into programming a bot that was monitoring the site for longer sits.
I’m with you, i hate generic impersonal invites (to us as sitters). No thought and no effort.
We always decline
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In most cases, due to the unpopular “5-rule” enforced by THS, the “lack of effort” and/or generic applications are sent by applicants (or sometimes even bots) who rush to secure one of the five available spots. Search for “5 application rule” for more info.
Serious applicants typically follow up with a personal letter. In other cases, it might be wiser to just decline and by doing so free the spot so that someone else can apply
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We get many generic copy and paste invites from home hosts and have to agree, it’s not a good first impression
There is nothing wrong with copy and pasting the main block of text but time should then be spent personalising it to each individual that receives it…
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Yes, those applications are annoying. In our listing we ask sitters to mention, if they have any previous experience from travelling or living in Thailand or in Asia.
This time we had many applicants, who did have quite a lot of experience, so I declined some, who didn’t mention anything about it, and explained the reason why. One of them who had sent a totally non-personal copy-paste application then replied, that they had lots of experience from Thailand… sorry, too late.
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As a sitter I prefer to spend time crafting an application. Unfortunately the crazy 5 application rule makes that almost impossible on popular sit areas.
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That is not true. When you keep the application window open, you can work on it as long as you want. It may come in as number 7 or 8, but it should reach the HO.
I get that you might feel rushed. But you could always quickly put in an application, then follow up with a more personal message, right?
I don’t know your location but due to the ‘5 Application’ rule that THS has introduced I find in some locations unless you put in an application within seconds the listing gets closed, so you don’t have time to do a personal introduction (which is my preferred). I
usually try to do an immediate ‘hi’ to at least secure my place and then do a more personal intro as soon as I can.
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Mine is still open to applicants, there have not been many and I have declined a few
Again: that is not true. You can spend as much time as you want on composing your application. Just keep the application window open.
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Also it takes half a second to address the host by name. If you can’t be bothered to do that I can’t be bothered to respond.
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It’s aggravating for sure. I understand there’s the 5-limit rule but it seems easy to send a placeholder copy/paste message and then follow up. Or as pietkuip said, leaving the window open is supposed to work too. I certainly don’t think the entire (followup) message needs to be personalized and use of a pre-written template is smart, but yeah at least put my dog’s name in it. Or even her gender 
I do specifically ask questions in my listing for applicants to answer in their first message, which I use as a first indicator of how thorough they are with instruction-- important to me because my dog is not the easiest!! It’s not a perfect gauge… I have had some excellent sitters who did not answer my initial questions, but had enough good reviews to warrant a video call. I would admit the impersonal messages certainly impact no- or low-review sitters much more than thoroughly-reviewed ones, but it’s still annoying in anyone’s case!
There seem to be more and more of these applicants. We received one recently that was definitely cut and paste. How did I know? They sent the same cut and paste application again after been declined the first time!
I think you are totally right in being quick to judge, a lack of effort is all you have to go on at the application stage, and it’s natural to ‘presume’ rightly or wrongly that they applied before reading your profile properly.
It’s natural to leave you wondering about what else would they lack effort in linked to your home and pets? It leads you to presume that the other applicants ‘cared’ more.
Totally natural
I have a semi copy and paste that I modify to each sit sometimes it’s just to get name in
Unfortunately the new 5-&-Closed THS system makes this almost a necessity for any truly popular type of sit. However, having a boiler-plate application is no reason not to include a HOs name, pet’s name, a few comments proving the posting was actually read with care, the HO / Pet needs understood thus effectively making it truly personal.
Although I also use copy-paste for part of my message to increase speed of application and reduce time to write applications, even when I just send in a placeholder, I ALWAYS address the HO by name + their pet.
So usually that’s: Hi (HO name 1), (HO name 2), (pet name 1), (pet name 2), etc
I would be wary if a sit applicant didn’t even take the time to read and understand the position, and craft an application message that reflected that care and attention.