I agree that more references will help your profile. I also recommend adding photos of both of you with dogs, if you want to apply for dog sits.
Also mention that you are both clean and tidy, since that is important to most homeowners.
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Thank you for all this tips ! You are wonderful!
My brother looks very young it is difficult because it is a recent picture 
I think is a little bit strange to think a person will stay in your home and donât visit the city ? What is the interest ?
I will change my profile with your advise, and maybe I will try an other sit before. I ask for review but french people are scared of English ah ah !
I didnât know there is a âfamily friendlyâ filters, I will try it.
Bonjour Océane,
Honestly, if in your applications you write that you want to show London to your brother, that you want him to improve his English, etc., most HOâs will think that your focus is sightseeing and being tourists rather than their beloved pets.
Iâd concentrate on others, less visited towns in the UK.
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Just had an idea: How about applying for sits where the owners are very young too?
I think they might be more likely to accept you. Some people mention their rough ages jn their listing
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No, itâs not strange. I am only taking a single person who is working remotely during the sit.
If somebody is out the whole day, I prefer to pay a sitter. Than I am sure that my home will exactly be in the same condition as when I left and nobody slept in my bed.
I would change the first foto. It looks too young and I wouldnât write that you specially like Harry Potter. Put fotos that look seriously.
The only thing that a owner is interested is that you will do your best to care to their pets. In your application you must use the name of the pets.
In my culture it would be very strange if sister and brother in your age are sleeping together.
I think couchsurfing is the write thing for you.
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It s a great idea !
@Oceane you can also try applying to other cities in U.K. Bath, Windsor , Oxford, Edinburgh
you will have a great authentic experience in all of these .
I think your profile makes it sound as if 3 of you will be travelling- you, your boyfriend and your brother . You can add my boyfriend will not be travelling with us.
A reference for your brother would really help too . Can he volunteer at a pet shelter or to walk a neighbourâs dog ? Then when he has gained some experience he can ask them for a reference.
Yes I finally understand that it sounds weird. In fact, In France it is not weird to sleep with people you are really close like family or friend. Or it depends on family maybe.
Why teleworking in an other house ? That is strange House sitting is 50/50, sitter look after the pet ( feed them , clean the litter, walk the dog, pet them and brought them to the veterinary if there is a problem ) and clean the house, in exchange they can visit, meet friend or family, etcâŠ
Just stay in home for free it s not 50/50. THS is presented like that.
@Oceane there are some sits where you can go out most of the day usually it would be a sit for a cat . Apply only for those type of sits .
We joined THS a year ago and have had a five sits for cats where the owners say that we can leave them and go out for the day . These owners work and the cats are used to being on their own and have a cat flap to get in and out of the garden . We have also done sits for dogs where we could take them out with us to visit tourist places (like parks and beaches ).
However if an owner says cat or dog canât be left for more than x hours donât try and negotiate for more , respect the owners wishes and if it doesnât suit you donât apply .
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Many sitters on THS house-sit full time all year . They work from the house-sit and travel the world at the same time .
It also looks like you want to look for sits in every available country. Trimming that list to specific countries creates a better impression
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I usually work while I pet sit, because my work is fully online. That means I can travel quite often! Pet owners generally like this because it means that their pets have company.
Itâs not necessary though. Lots of pet owners will expect you and encourage you to sight see.
Lots of people love Harry Potter, so no need to remove it from your profile!!
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Teleworking in another house is not strange for us. It enables us to get to explore at the weekend/evenings with a dog for company. As we are planning to move to a new area it also enables us to get to know the locality to see if it is somewhere we might be interested to move to. Iâve also done sits near my daughter so we can visit her but not stay as she only has a one bedroomed apartment. There are lots of reasons why house sitting is ideal and being able to work remotely makes it possible.
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All HOâs understand that you want to do some sightseeing and visit family and friends in the area, if any. What they donât want is reading (in the application or profile) that the sitters seem to focus more on that rather than the pets.
I have had a look at your profileâ I like that you describe the care you would give the pets. That needs to continue in the applicationâas another person mentioned, you should refer to the pets by name, for instance âWe would be delighted to bring Bertie out for walks to the park every dayâ.
One aspect about your profile that in my opinion should be improved upon, though, is that you donât mention anything about your brother (I donât even think we know his nameâŠ) What does he do, what does he like, what contribution would he bring to the sit?
Talk some more about your own studies, itâll make you sound more mature. Iâd skip the HP reference.
I also agree that in the first photo you both look âyoungâ. The photos of you with the cat shows you in a better light, more serious. Or maybe you can retake a photo together?
Another friendly suggestion: make sure that you do some research about transport to and within the area of interest before you apply and/or confirm.
Bonne chance!
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You have only one reference, and you are a young person traveling with a teenager. Sorry but your chances are low when it comes to a nice sitting in London. Itâs very competitive and HO have a lot of choice. Plus you say you want to show London to your brother, so a HO will be wondering how long will you really spend with their cat.
Get experience near home with people who you can visit beforehand. Once you have a few HO references, it gets easier. Thatâs what I did, and Iâm stereotypically safe: single middle age woman, full LinkedIn profile and 9 character references
That seems excessive. I would not recommend that new sitters do that.
(I had none at all, it was not a requirement when I joined.)
My first sit was in Brussels. That was with Christmas which may have helped, but the HO accepted my application months in advance.
Oh, and most cats one does not need to spend that much time with.
My exceedingly social kitties and I respectfully request that people stop saying sitters donât need to spend that much time with most cats. It sets a bad precedent, especially for new sitters coming to the forum for advice. Cats are living creatures with unique needs and shouldnât be fobbed off as the âeasyâ choice. Thank you.
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Well, it is true for most cats, so I will keep saying it. Often on THS the sits are for dogs and other pets. Then it is not uncommon that the cats are hardly mentioned in the responsibilities section of the listing.
The outdoor cats are often out most of the day.
I have been on two sits this winter where I spent almost all my time in the apartment, with indoor cats. Those cats (three in Moss in Norway, one in Stockholm) would have been taken care of just as well in summer when I would be out more.
I think you should spell out why you are traveling with your brother and not your partner perhaps? some folks may question and wonder why that is. Maybe put your experience with your animals first on your profile, then the information about you and brother. There is also a very popular only UK pet sitting facebook page you could check out as well. Persistance. I get turned down alot for sits as well, its not just you. Keep on.
I think you could add more to your profile to express to people that you know what youâre doing by referring to things that HOâs would care aboutâŠcommunication, specific experience with the types of sits youâre targeting, how youâd care for the home, etc.
I would add more references, as one external reference isnât a lot.
London is a tough city if youâre not already there and/or your profile doesnât present as very experiencedâŠI would look for a sit with low applications and work to build up a review history, and/or also do some sits closer to home first.
You could also set your location to London or UK if thatâs where youâre looking to go.
Lastly, highly recommend doing some research on forum for things like writing applications, questions to ask HOs and even questions to ask HS so that you can best answer them pre-emptively either in your app or profile.
Hope that helps! X