I have what I think is a good profile. I love animals and am a world traveler who is also a good house carer. I have 3 references, security checks etc. Yet no offers to my applications… what am i doing wrong? Can anyone check my profile to see if I am missing something?
You should add a link to your THS profile in your Forum profile so that we can see it.
So the link you added is to your dashboard, not your profile. So when I, or any other sitter, click on it, it show us our own dashboard, not yours.
But anyway, I searched around and found your profile and it’s actually quite good. You sound like caring, responsible people with pet experience, which is all you can really do.
I will say that I am also a newbie, having joined in November, and I have 2 completed sits and 6 confirmed. So this site can work, but it’s a lot of work. And a lot of luck… Your location is going to be a bit of a hit. How far away are you looking? And how many sits have you applied for?
Hello @renok75 I have viewed your profile. You will read on the forum that many homeowners are currently favouring sitters who are based relatively close by, and in the case of Canada, in the same province. Also, it’s usually suggested that sitters look closer to home for their first sits, for a range of reasons that you can read about in posts.
However, when I did a search for sits from your location, there was very little, and only one in your province and not until the summertime. If the sits you are applying for are at a distance, because of the pandemic that may be a negative in comparison to applicants who are closer to the homeowner.
I wish you well in your search for your first sit. It may take a little patience, but no doubt it will happen. 
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I’ve just had a look at your profile (by searching for you as the link you attached leads to my own profile, as someone else has mentioned). You mention that your dogs are very important to you so it’s not clear what will happen to them when you Housesit, which could possibly deter HOs. Do you plan to take them with you (could be difficult), will you and your husband housesit separately and the other stay at home to look after the dogs or will your son look after them while you’re both housesitting? Maybe you could clarify that?
Hi @renok75 this thread will give you help and inspiration … @Andrew was in your position when he first started now he has sits lined up for 2022 …
@renok75 I can’t see your profile when I click on the link I open my own dashboard.
Okay, I will check that out. Thank you.
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Good thought. Right now my dogs are taken care of by my son and husband when I travel, and our son is 45 and a very experienced sitter. But one dog has outlived his prognosis with cancer, and the other is 15, so I guess I was thinking that when they are both gone, then we will be able to enjoy the dogs of HO when we housesit for them.
I will clarify that.
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I think I have it now… not sure why it didn’t work before, but please check if it is all good now. Thank you so much everyone. @renok75
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Hi @renok75 … I’ve just had a look at your link and it just needed a little correction. All done now so it should be working 
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@renok75 In my opinion, as a sitter, you have an outstanding profile. As mentioned before you could highlight that when you house/pet sit your child takes care of your dogs, I have two cats myself and I wrote the same in my profile. I was wondering about the places you would like to house/pet sitting. If you don’t have any reviews from HO here, it would be difficult to find a sit in famous city like NYC, London etc. Etc. On top of that, the COVID restrictions are still rampant in some part of the world😞 Flexibility, it’s another key point, we gained at least 2 housesit because we were able to adapt to HO last minute schedule.
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Thank you so much… I just cut and pasted, but glad you caught something I didn’t.
Thank you for your kind response. I am looking for travelling now the occasional 3 weeks every 4-6 months until husband is fully retired. Once he retires, we hope to go wherever, and see the world with THS, if that works. We are not restricted by anything really, except perhaps dollars, as my husband is a pastor of a small church. We are okay though, and we love to travel. Right now, I have enough points to go almost anywhere, but just waiting for the right time to start.
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All the very best
Hi renok
Someone may have already mentioned this but you might consider taking a THS pet sit close to home to build your profile.
I have been doing that lately
It may not be an exciting and a new and different place but it will look better on your profile.
Also I have reached out to HO by applying for a sit they they are advertising but I explain I’m not interested in that on but if they need a THS for 1-3 nights I would be interested. This has worked for me to build my profile.
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Hi there, I have not seen your applications but I can say that as a HO I reject applications immediately that do not read - and respond - to specific points that are related to my situation. Some people might find this a bit harsh but I think if you carefully read what the HO is looking for and ensure that you fit the criteria and respond to the points they make then you will create a good first impression and improve your odds of getting the sits you want.
I cannot believe that even though I say my house is not suitable for children people with children still apply so they most obviously do not read every detail I have taken the time to write up for the best fit possible. I hope this helps.
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Thanks KerrI for responding.
I understand and agree perspective!
While it is possible there are tweaks you could make to improve your application, it is important to keep in mind that that in most cases, your application isn’t being ‘rejected’ so much as the simple fact the owner can only pick one person, and it is anybody’s guess why a particular owner picked the sitter they did. That someone else was a better fit for whatever reason is not some automatic negative reflection on the other applicants.
Maybe a sitter they already used applied; maybe the person needs to be in that area during that time for some event so they feel confident they won’t cancel; maybe they felt some sort of kinship because of a common hobby or job; maybe the person will already be in the area during that time; maybe it’s some subconscious attraction because they remind them of someone they know. Again, anybody’s guess.
Like one of the other posters said, it is really important to read the entire listing and personalize your response. If an owner says something that seems important to them, I make sure to address it. If they mention the animal likes to sleep in the bed, I tell them it’s not a problem for example. I personally don’t make applications too long–a paragraph or so but others might be a bit more detailed.
Don’t get too attached to any one opportunity, and don’t hesitate to apply to sits that have overlapping dates–maximize your chances. You never know how long the owner will take to respond to inquiries, so you don’t want to wait on them unless of course there is something particularly appealing about the opportunity and you are okay with doing that.
In many cases, the owner will not communicate to all applicants why they picked the person they did, so don’t make any assumptions you did something wrong.
Don’t take it personally if owners don’t respond to you…a lot of people seem to get really twisted up about that, going on about bad manners,etc… But to me, that’s not worth getting annoyed about because I don’t think there are any deliberate rude intentions there. I kind of liken it to a job application–the company doesn’t acknowledge every one they get nor tell the people they aren’t going to interview why. Detachment and not taking anything personally will serve you well.
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It’s always worth knowing that “rejections” don’t just happen because a sitter is new or doesn’t have a huge library of reviews.
Just after my "local world’ started to open up (post pandemic) I was desperate to reconnect with pets again, for me it’s not about travel or locations but the pets and I needed a furry fix (or hair and feathers)
I applied for sits local to me (no more that 50 miles away) I had three “rejections” before I received that ONE invitation … now I have over 80+ reviews and an equal number of references and have been sitting for more years than I care to say.
I did take it personally just for a few seconds, after all we are only human.
One owner accepted someone she had already had contact with on a previous listing, another wanted someone really local and another cancelled her trip entirely. In the end I did get wonderful furry feline & canine fixes, I was back doing what we all love.
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