Correct me if I’m wrong but wouldn’t a “co-sit” fall under the T&C violation category? My understanding is you’re only allowed to have one party at a time in the property. if something were to happen, who would be liable?
Overall, this just seems very messy and not something I would even want to consider unless I personally knew the other HS, i.e. I was fine with them being a part of my party, or they were very transparent about who they were and willing to take liability for the sit…those would be the only two scenarios where this would actually make sense, but in general, this is a hard pass for me.
Re: profiles, in future, you could just ask if a person is verified.
All around though, this was a horrible idea. Contrary to many of the others on here and given this particular context, I personally think it’s odd that someone you’d essentially be living/working with for 2 weeks wouldn’t feel comfortable disclosing that information and more, but it’s so far down the rabbit hole of red flags that it’s a moot point anyway.
I wouldn’t do this sort of arrangement anyway, but It’s one thing to agree to a “shared house/pet sit” and quite another for this co-sitter to have access to the details of my professional work history and my contacts. What if something goes south and this person seeks to do harm? Ask anyone in HR or senior management–random people with bones to pick (or who are just plain crazy) try to hurt people’s careers/reputations all the time.
I hate the intrusion/invasion of privacy that is LinkedIn, but cannot reasonably do without it until after retirement. I certainly don’t link it here, and would definitely refuse to provide it to a proposed short-term co-sitter.
The pet parent should potentially book sitters who travel as a couple, rather than attempt to confirm 2 separate sitters (how could that work anyway, given that, once a sit is confirmed, other applicants are refused?).
Also, how did you manage to communicate with the other applicant? Were details obtained by the pet parent and passed on to you? It all seems highly questionable and unethical.
There’s no way we’d ever agree to co-sit with a stranger. What a bizarre proposal! Did you contact Membership Services for advice and support?
An HO proposing this kind of arrangement is super strange. I wonder what gave them that idea… certainly not something I’ve come across in 10 years of doing this.
Re LinkedIn, I’m a firm believer in keeping my work and my pet sitting separate and would never volunteer my resume or anything similar. I may provide it if there was a resonable request (or if an HO asks for my surname they can easily enough find it themselves) but those requests are actually very rare in my experience and usually there is a good reason like local laws or building regs.
My first thought on reading the original post was- ‘which sitter would get the review’?
I’ve done a few split sits where one sitter follows on from another and both get reviewed for their particular dates.
But co-sitting? Apart from the obvious review question I just can’t imagine the attraction of sharing a housesit with a complete stranger!?! When you are already staying in a strangers home with an unknown pet to then add the extra complication of another unknown sitter sharing the space/pet/duties etc …what a stress!!!
Even if it was an option I would absolutely never choose it.
If the host thinks more that one person is needed what’s wrong with inviting a couple? Or a single sitter bringing a responsible reliable friend/family member?!
Regarding your updated request – or the moderators (heh-heh) for help moving forward: If you’ve already been declined for the sit, that’s done. Since the “co-sitting” plan is a bad one, you could send an email to support linking to the HOs listing and explaining what happened. Not sure what they’ll do. You could also send the HO an email, saying you understand you were declined for the sit, but you thought she should know that cositting is against the TOC, and should take a look at this thread.
Moving forward: Having your linkedin is optional. You can have it linked to your account or not. Some HOs may be more likely to take a chance on a sitter with few reviews if they link to linked in. But it’s optional. Sitters have many feelings about sharing social media. There is no reason for you to ask for a sitter’s linkedin as there is no reason to “co-sit” with a stranger.
Future sits: You don’t have to accept a sit just because you applied. Before you confirm: Read listings. Look at the HO reviews. Ask questions in emails. If you have a video chat, ask more questions. Look out for stuff like thrid parties being present, make sure to confirm dates and even agree on arrival and leaving times before accepting a sit. If it is a sit where you can’t be away from the animals for very long, make sure there is some plan in case you have to be – whether it’s for personal reasons – a ski day, or necessity – an emergency, an event etc. Make sure you understand what the responsibilities are including pet, house, and grounds (if any).
@Trave11er This does sound like a strange proposal that as other members have mentioned does not fit with the THS ethos and I can see that @Snowbird shared a thread where this was discussed by the team previously. Hopefully, that helped as well. Feel free to reach out to the Membership Services Team as @Marion and a few others have suggested as they will be more than happy to look into this for you.
Linked in is very public. I really don’t understand the very negative reactions here. The OP was asked to share the sit with someone she didn’t know. Most of us would just say no off the bat. But, she decided to consider the idea and was just trying g to get a better sense of the other person. I see absolutely no harm I. Her asking. But then I gladly share my linked in and air Bnb on my profile. I want to share as much info as I can to help the HO feel confident and comfortable with me.
Agreed on not cositting. Even if it weren’t against THS terms, various problems could easily crop up.
Besides potentially getting a couple or family to sit, the host could suggest that a sitter invite someone they know. That way, the sitter would be responsible for their guest.
FWIW, several of my past hosts (out of 10 total) have mentioned in their welcome guides that it was OK to invite guests (presumably responsible ones). Not every host would want such guests, but a host who’s open to cositting might be OK with it.
No, it’s not, especially if you know how to adjust the security settings. Even if you knew my full name and location, you couldn’t find me. My personal link is for prospective employers only.
As a GenXer, retirement is not within my reach. As a poster above noted, job/career/livelihood and petsitting/volunteering should and shall remain completely separate.
I feel like I’m being bullied for daring to hold this opinion.
Millennial here, I’m in full agreement with you. Maybe it depends on what type of work one does or what type of org one is in and even where one is based. I’m currently in a city that at its heart is a village and so keeping things separated is absolutely essential. If I was self employed or telecommuting from another country I might feel different. Most HOs don’t really care what I do for work anyway, what is important is that I can follow a routine, communicate and am a bit of a cat whisperer
I do share my Linked In on our profile as when we started out with no reviews it was another way to check we were who we said we were. It’s also my own consultancy and I work remotely all the time. I’ve actually picked up marketing work through a THS house sit when the travelling HOs we sat for, recommended me to a B&B owner/author they stayed with in the UK (& told them not to use an expensive PR company that had just quoted for the project:rofl:) and we’re still working together 14 months later
Hi,
I don’t understand why you’d want their Linkedin profile? I’ve never provided it to THS.
I would have knocked back the sit too, if the person I was co-sitting with wanted to know my work details.
When I joined, I didn’t bother getting any references and of course had no reviews yet. I was easily able to start landing great sits, probably because my LinkedIn profile helped legitimize me. I didn’t have to struggle, like many newbies do, taking less desirable sits and such to get started.
One homeowner actually offered me an unsolicited six-week sit with great pets, a lovely home and a car, in a terrific location, even though I had zero reviews or references. Another one offered me an unsolicited three-month oceanfront sit in Hawaii, with a couple of cats, even though I had only a few reviews by then. We happen to have worked in the same industry at one point.
The porousness and sharing of LinkedIn varies among folks. I work in the tech / startup / venture capital world and it’s widely shared and people have high comfort with that.
You actually make a good point @Maggie8K which is that some industries are more open than others to sharing. A lot of the tech industry requires that level of openness in order to allow for innovation so culturally that industry and others are more open.
I can see why for others, this seems like a more foreign or invasive concept, as culturally other industries do not promote or support that type of networking and openness.
I do think that LinkedIn, being an established career network, can do a lot to show you’re a real person. Not the only way Ofc, but one way. Similarly, an Airbnb profile will show how well you’ve cared for spaces that aren’t your own. The whole point is to give people a sense of who you are so they can generate a picture of who they are leaving their home and animals with.
Could people be using it for other reasons on TH? Maybe, but what’s listed above and Maggie’s example is what I would assume would be the intended purpose.
Ultimately though, we should all do what we’re comfortable with.
I don’t think I would entertain an HS that didn’t have a verified account with references, etc. unless the rest of the profile was very strong.
And after an incident where someone spent all their time tied to their laptop with limited ability for us to communicate with them on a sit, I do like to have at least an idea about what work someone does and what that looks like…not because I want to know your entire life and hold one over you, but because I want to understand how your patterns look like and verify you’d be able to provide the best care for my dog. Ultimately, all I care about is that my dog, my home and you as the HS are comfortable and cared for.
I was in academia, it was always public information who my employer was, my affiliation was listed in every publication, often together with my email address.
I have a LinkedIn account, but I have never really done anything useful with it. I suppose “contacts” might be considered private by some, but in my case most of it is public knowledge (for example when they were co-authors) that I know these people. However, there are also friends from my student days and a few couchsurfing guests etc.
Of course it is perfectly fine when people do not want to share that information. I don’t really understand why @Katie feels they were bullied.
