Until I read this we were not aware that it is so difficult to find sitters, or that so many sitters must get invited to actually set up a sit. We feel for HO’s with this difficulty and wish there was an easier way to manage availability and location.
@Jmcrae The vast majority of sits are arranged through sitters applying for listed dates and then hosts choosing from there. All those applicants have shown active interest in that particular sit for all sorts of reasons.
It is MUCH more difficult for hosts to find a sitter by randomly inviting large numbers on the offchance someone might be available!
For example we’ve done over 70 sits now and only 2 of those were the result of invitations out of the blue that just happened to fit (and we have had SO many invitations over the years) All the rest were sits we actively applied for and were chosen for.
I can understand that hosts not receiving the right applicant may resort to inviting sitters but its a long shot!
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@Lokstar I have found my last 4 sitters through invitation vs them applying for the sit. It definitely works. I wasn’t willy nilly with the invites. I carefully looked through their profiles and saw they would be a good fit for my pets and the sit…
But it definitely is a crap shoot to see if the sitter is available. I find it to be worth the effort for sure.
@Tales I only don’t invite the sitters that have dates crossed out. If my sit dates are green or white on their calendar, I’m inviting them. I was told Green means they are available…I forgot what white means, but in my experience that means nothing. I have sitters accept a sit when the dates were green or white lol.
I was telling Lokstar, it is a crapshoot to see if the sitter is actually available to do the sit, but I do find it worth the effort.
Honestly, this might be my preferred method of getting sitters…Finding them myself. It can be time-consuming, but I like that I’m looking for qualified sitters vs waiting for them to come to me. With this, I feel I’m upping my odds of getting what I’m looking for.
The sitters who say that they can’t do the sit, but would like an opportunity in the future - I save them to my favorites and I ask them to do the same. When a sitter saves you as a favorite, they get a notification that your sit is listed.
When I post a sit, I’m going to into “My Favorites” and invite those sitters to see if they are available. I feel at ease having go-to sitters.
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White means unavailable -
Crossed out means they are on a THS sit( and therefore also unavailable )
Green means available- although not necessarily available for your location.
It has been suggested that a legend or key should be added to the calendar to make this clearer.
@Silversitters Ahh, thank you so much for explaining! Yes, a key or legend for the calendar would really help.
But see that also makes my point…I had sitters accept my sit that were on white. White should mean they are unavailable, but they were!
Maybe the entire calendar system/user interface needs to be revamped as it’s really not working the way it’s supposed to.
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@Shasta white is the default colour if the sitter hasn’t updated those dates on their calendar. So they may or may not be available. Sitters have no way to add unavailability to their calendar, only date ranges they are available.
It would be so much more useful to everyone if green meant available, red meant unavailable (and sitters had a facility to add this) and white meant not updated.
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@Debbie Thank you for the insight Debbie! Yes, that makes sense about what the white means.
It sure would be easier for sitters and owners if the sitters could have the ability to add in the dates they are unavailable to do the sit. That would tremendously help both parties. Owners don’t have to waste time emailing sitters that don’t have the availability. Sitters don’t have to waste time replying to owners that they aren’t available.
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Absolutely agree with comments about fixing the calendar feature! In a communications with THS a few months ago I spoke with them about this and they said they are working on re-vamping the calendar but have not see the change thus far. The other tricky part is to somehow let HO’s know when sitters are NOT at their home base/town mentioned in their profile (ie when they are traveling and general location). Some do mention this in their profiles but not sure how often this is updated.
Glad I brought this subject up as it seems that it’s an important piece of making this site user friendly, efficient and effective for all parties. Thanks to THS for allowing this discussion and hopefully you’ll be able to find a solution soon.
And thanks to all who contributed your thoughts and suggestions.
BTW, I just got an applicant for one of my sits! Maybe it was karma 
Rona
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