My experience with applying, since only 5 applications can be submitted, is that I am unable to take the time to compose as detailed an application as I would like; popular sits are gone in under 10 minutes. It’s unfortunate that just taking the time to review the listing thoroughly, & confirm dates and airfare can cause you to miss out on the opportunity to even apply. I never apply with anything as brief as just “read my profile”, but I have started referencing my profile in my application, in part for that reason.
I really wish I could submit more detailed applications. I know when I apply for a sit, I’d like to tell the homeowner how awesome & experienced I am, and how I’ve already checked to confirm I’m available and can afford the trip, and that I love their pet’s name, and which pic it was of their adorable fur baby is what prompted me to apply for their sit, and so on. I always thought homeowners didn’t want to be bothered with too much detail, especially when they have so many applications to review.
I have also thought that restating all my qualifications, when they in my profile & available to everyone to review, is perhaps a little self-aggrandizing.
I think HO’s do themselves a disservice to reject an applicant without checking the applicant’s profile & reviews, but if most homeowner’s feel the same, I suppose I’ll have to reconsider my approach.
As HOs we ALWAYS read a sitter’s profile and reviews, and cross*-reference back to their sits to see the full picture. But I’ll admit, if the application only says “look at my profile I think I’m a fit” we decline, with a note. We’re trusting our home and pets to some who is (at that moment) a stranger, so expect a bit of effort. We’re totally fine with a quick “I’m interested and will get back to you”.
We do “thank you but no thank you” for apps that aren’t a fit, and a “soft decline”, “hold on, we’ll get back to you within x days” for those that might be. We live in a fairly popular area so try to keep below 5 active apps if we can.
As sitters, we share your pain. We’ve drafted a few versions of “hi, we’re interested and will submit something more complete soon” in “Notes” so we can hopefully get there in time to be in the pool. We were in Italy for several weeks, hoping to book a sit for a few days, but even when we were in the same time zone they would change to “reviewing” within minutes!!!
Oh well. We’ll keep trying…
I declined an unsolicited sitting invitation yesterday without any interaction, because the HO sent an invite without any msg. I looked at their listing and it had skimpy info as well.
To me, a HO who makes so little effort and communicates poorly is someone I’d avoid.
I wonder whether they’ll end up with any sitter, much less a good one, since good ones have more choices.
Hi @Maggie8K we have had this happen a few times where just the invitation dates have come through but no message. I have responded and politely asked if they had sent a message with their invite just to check, as sometimes the message does not come through and sure enough they had sent a message but we had never received it. Just a thought incase this is what has happened with your recent invitation.
I have attached a thread regarding this issue.
Thanks, @Samox24. I get other unsolicited invites with msgs, so doubt that’s the issue. I wouldn’t bother to check unless I were interested in a sit, and I’m not looking for sits with HOs who offer scanty info in their listings to begin with. To me, they either don’t consider sitters enough and/or don’t make the effort. When there are so many other HOs who offer solid info, why not just pursue those sits?
I agree!
I have had two of those invitations and both occasions the HO has failed to see I housesit with kids when their list doesn’t mention it being family friendly.
Yeah, I don’t like that my application has been read and it’s been quite a few days since I applied.
I’d rather a short note “thanks but no thanks”.
Yeah, us sitters don’t just sit around and wait for a HO to make a decision. We have busy lives too and we don’t want to spend a tonne on airfares!
The company could:
(1) Require owners to write a reply when they decline:
This option balances the requirement for sitters to write an introduction. It encourages owners to be more communicative and provides sitters with valuable information about their decision, potentially leading to improved user experiences for both parties.
Benefits:
-
Increased transparency: Sitters understand why they were declined, helping them improve their profiles or applications.
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Improved communication: Encourages owners to communicate with sitters, building trust and fostering a positive community.
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Reduced frustration: Sitters feel less ignored or ghosted, leading to a more positive user experience.
Potential drawbacks: -
Increased workload for owners: May be seen as an additional burden for busy owners.
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Risk of generic responses: Owners might provide generic replies with no specific feedback.
Alternatively, the company could:
(2) Remove the requirement for sitters to write a message when they apply:
This option simplifies the application process for sitters and aligns with the non-employment nature of the platform. It also eliminates the perceived imbalance between owner and sitter account types.
Benefits:
- Reduced friction for sitters: Streamlines the application process and makes it easier for them to apply.
- Focus on owner preferences: Owners can filter applicants based on their profiles and qualifications, removing the need for a separate introduction message.
- Reduced burden for the platform: Less messages to manage.
Potential drawbacks: - Reduced information for owners: Owners may lack valuable information about the sitter’s personality and motivations,
but that may encourage sitters to have a complete profile.
I recently had it happen again: sit filled up to 5 applicants within a very short time but I was lucky to be amongst the first 5. I had applied for the sit before, on different dates earlier in the year. Received a ‘maybe next time’ reply at the time.
This time was very keen to do the sit, so I spent time looking into various details that would allow me to pick up the key at the specified time, as staying at the HO the night before was apparently not an option and the key had to be picked up early.
After applying, I actively kept the HO abreast of my ‘key pickup plan’ & reiterated my keen interest.
I was declined. Zero message. Reached out to the HO to say that I really would have appreciated receiving a quick Thank you message considering the effort I put in to accommodate her - ‘it only takes half a minute, but goes a long way’. Zero response again. I won’t apply again…
I mark such HO as non responders in my inbox. I’ll not sit for a HO that can’t be bothered to send 4 ‘sorry I’ve chosen another sitter message’. To me it’s rude and also raises red flags as to how they’ll treat sitters.
Indeed, that’s what I was thinking as well: I won’t apply again with them! It is quite rude and definitely raises a potential red flag with me
I believe that when a homeowner accepts one sitter the other applicants are automatically declined by the system . Is this correct ?
The THS system will send you such a message. And encourage you to try other applications.
That is true bit still how much bother is it to send a short copied and pasted message to the 4 other applicants?
I think that the HO should write at least a sentence to the rejected candidates - pet sitters take time to write a good introduction when applying, so the HO can do some effort too.
I also want to rant about strange reasons for the rejection! Recently I have applied for a sit in a country i’ve never been before and it was on my wishlist. It was a nice pet sit ad, no red flags, i thought i had a good shot. In their listing the home was described nicely and stated high-speed wifi. In my application I have mentioned that I’d be working so lots of care and cuddles for the pets and added that “I hope the wifi is very good as i have to work remotely”. The rejection came pretty quickly - “we haven’t moved in to that flay yet so we don’t know how good is the wifi”… If they have mentioned that in their listing that they haven;t moved in to that flay yet and they stated the high-speed wifi, it would be understandable. I could have found maybe an alternative to their wifi if it wasn’t good enough, but they missed out on my great pet care for sure!