As I am new I don’t have any THS reviews as yet but I have several very positive reviews on AirBnB as both a guest and host, and have linked my profile. My requests for external reviews have not been sent through yet, would this put a HO off? External reviews realistically are going to be from friends and family in any case… Would a HO bother to go to my AirBnB link to read reviews or just move on to the next applicant? I do have a couple of sits booked which is great and we are very excited.
Thanks a million
We started with zero references, and we got bookings straight away in the UK. I think it depends on the strength of your profile, and the location where you want to sit. We didn’t want to sit in big city tourist destinations at the start anyway, so it didn’t affect us at all.
I’d suggest putting all the links you can - AirBnB and LinkedIn. AirBnB reviews are certainly helpful as they show what kind of care you’ve taken of a rental property. As a HO I certainly read everything.
External reviews can often show that a sitter has long experience of looking after friends and family animals, of course you bear in mind that they are by friends and family but still useful.
As you’ve got some sits booked hopefully you’ll have some THS reviews soon too. Also applying for sits in less ‘in demand’ places, where there are fewer applicants, will help you secure sits too. Good luck.
Have you never taken responsibility/care of somebody else’s home/pets? If you have then reach out for an external reference. We have x4 references and immediately got x7 local sits…. one reference was from somebody local as I’ve walked their dog for 6 years, another from when we house and pet sat for a month but not on THS (he’s the retired Chief of Police)…. another was a neighbour where she pays me to cat sit when she goes on her holidays and yes one was my auntie where I’d house/pet sit annually so she could go on holiday…. I’m very proud of my references.
Depends more on your profile than anything else. What signals are you providing that you’re trustworthy? If you’ve already started booking sits, then you must have some solid signals.
I didn’t bother with references, but added LinkedIn and Airbnb to a robustly written profile and quickly started getting sits, including unsolicited ones.
I didn’t do local sits. My first was across the country, in San Francisco. And within my first six months, I’d landed a London sit.
I am new also and my external references didn’t get mine done forever, but i still applied and explained that im waiting on them. I have been able to get 5 HO interested in me fast. I have 2 confirmed sits. When i apply i give a good message including their pets names, HO names. I make it personal to that sit alone. And even when denied they have appreciated that i took the time to read their ad. Look for HO who dont have reviews either so your both new. They have to give someone a chance.
I do like look at AirBnB and LinkedIn if available, although I’d wonder why someone hasn’t got any reference (although also agree on the friends and family bit too). Maybe referring to one’s level of responsibility etc as evidenced by Airbnb and LinkedIn job helps - I look at all!
where I’d house/pet sit annually so she could go on holiday…. I’m very proud of my references.