It’s all working now… I’ve just double checked your account and the dates are live. And your link is now in the forum profile 
All good and I hope you find someone to look after lovely Vito!
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Thanks - so do I!
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Hi Andrew, we have only just joined TH recently as sitters and it is already apparent this is going to be a difficult “sell” being new, so I completely understand where you are coming from. I think it’s all down to luck on some level, and the dreaded “selling yourself” which I’m rubbish at too! We are going to see how it goes for the next few months and just keep trying, our intentions are all honourable so hopefully someone will see that and the same for you too!
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It does get easier. After my initial disappointment at getting so many rejections, I had 4 sits last year and have 3 lined up for this year so far. I have recently been contacted by so many houseowners asking if I could sit for them (at least one per week) and I have had to decline as they clashed with other sits or work commitments. Keep smiling and keep applying 
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Welcome back @Andrew it’s wonderful to hear from you we hope you have been keeping well.
You’ve obviously been busy arranging sits and being in demand, congratulations !!
“Keep applying” the best advice ever … where is your next sit?
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Well done @Andrew
Congratulations and continue to enjoy.
THiS life is good and keeps getting better.
I am looking at so much out there right now It’s very exciting.
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Beverley in the east Riding of Yorkshire, then near Bakewell in the Peak District, and then Northamptonshire. In addition, I also have 4 dog sits at my own house looking after dogs for several friends
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I had the same experience, probably due to a lack of reviews. I am on third sit several months in and now people are applying for me to sit so it will happen. Maybe apply for one that may not attract too many experienced sitters.
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HI @Auntykath great advice and congrats on your success … happy sitting!
Thank you for sharing your experience and for your words of encouragement.
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I feel the same here in March 2022. I didn’t realize that it was so difficult to find housesits. I thought that if there were listed sits and no replies yet that it would be easy to get a sit. Instead, the sitters don’t even respond to me. I live across the “pond” from England so I can see that they would want locals instead. I wish I hadn’t signed up though as I have little interest in petsitting near my home when I have my own cats wanting my attention!
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Hello @danapez and welcome to the forum and to THS. When you say you live across the pond from England, I’m assuming you live somewhere in North America. You may not want to see areas that are local to you, but there is a vast difference in country, landscape, and lifestyles without crossing the pond. On a more positive note, things do seem to be more encouraging for travel this year, so you’re likely to see more homeowners easing back on their hesitancy to accept travellers from other countries. It’s unfortunately from experience, of the complications that can come about from the unexpected during the pandemic, that made many homeowners (and sitters) more cautious.
You may want to embed your sitter profile in your forum username. Many forum members will be happy to give constructive feedback that may help you tweak your profile. I’ll add the instructions next:
Adding your profile to your forum username
If you have not already asked for references, I’d encourage you to start there. Homeowners will rely on those, until you get your first THS review. Once you start getting reviews, it often makes it far easier to get a sit. Until then, consider sharing related experience that will assure homeowners that you are equipped to care for their home and pets. Also, the reasons why a homeowner selects a particular applicant are so varied that you might still get chosen, even with no THS experience. We all had to start somewhere.
It is a good idea to make your first sit a relatively local one. That way you may be able to visit the homeowner in person, which also helps everyone assure that it’s a good fit. You may be pleasantly surprised at learning more about areas that are relatively close to you that you didn’t know much about before the sit. I say that from experience.
Francine,
Voluntary Forum Moderator
Thank you, and right after I posted, I reminded all the my applications that I was still waiting to hear from them, and one chose me! So, so excited!!!
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Hi @danapez, that does sound disheartening but dont give up. There are plenty of UK sits - one of them must have your name on!
You might want to add a link to your user name here of your THS profile, people can then suggest what might appeal to house owners. Do you have reviews already? If not, I think the established advice here is to do some (shorter) local sits, just so you have some “job history” with THS. Local ones mean the home owners can actually meet you before you sit, and more likely to give a new-comer a chance.
In other good news, the UK covid travel restrictions come to an end on Friday so it’ll be ‘back to normal’ as far as getting here goes:
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Fantastic! Well done!
Have fun, be kind and keep going!
Congrats @danapez well done
I still remember how exciting that first “You are the chosen one” message feels.
Here’s a little encouraging reality check, don’t get disheartened. When I first started a number of years ago, it took over 6 weeks and numerous applications before I was chosen.
10 years and 200 sits later I get rejections and messages go unread but I’ve learned not to take it personally because it isn’t just as sitters choose sits based on personal preferences, owners do the same although application messages and profiles greatly influence their decision of course.
I was unsuccessful for a sit in Edinburgh, just an hour from where I live because the owner had a application from a sitter she had previously had a conversation with. Another owner chose a sitter who could “pop in” and meet her and the kitties … it’s all about what fits.
The point is the right sit is out there and you’ve found it … the the key is to make certain it is the right sit and not just a sit, it needs to work for everyone … especially the pets.
Communicate, communicate, communicate!!
Happy sitting and congrats again.
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Hi Andrew,
Has your experience gotten any better ?
Lee (Maryland)
Hi Lee, yes it has. I got back yesterday from a sit, and I’m off an another on Saturday. I have had to put a notice on my profile stating that I don’t have any more availability this year as I get invited to sites every week and I have to decline them! It’s gone from no sits, to too many!
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Congrats Andrew - you are a natural !!
I look forward to hearing more -
Sincerely,
Lee Collins
Sent using Zoho Mail
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Hello everyone,
I’ve recently joined TrustedHousesitters with my intention being to make use of my remote contract and get away from home from time to time and take some walks with a nice dog. I’m trying to find a sit for around the 28th May to 2nd June. I’ve found three likely candidates (there are lots) and written three carefully thought out applications to sit - none of these have even been read (at least the status is ‘unread’ on the site). Now, one of these has just been marked as ‘last minute’ - let me do it! At least read my application to sit please?
Could there be something wrong with my account? Maybe my applications have not been delivered. Is there anyway I can confirm that things are working as they should be? I have searched the community and I can see that sometimes sit requests do go unread but all sit requests?
I would anticipate that, when a sitter places a request to sit, a notification would be sent to the home owner so it would be quite hard to ignore - at least the application to sit would be opened and even if not read thoroughly it would be marked as read. Is this not how it works?
Any advice on this matter warmly received.
Hi @dominicb Welcome to our community forum and to TrustedHousesitters
I have checked your account and it is all working as it should, have you checked your messages recently? There are messages which go unread and unanswered, on both sides, owners and sitters and there can be many reasons for this, none are personal and while it can be frustrating it happens to all of us, the message is keep applying.
I have added your profile link to your Forum profile so that other member can view.
I’m adding the link to a thread that was started by a new member who was having a similar experience https://forum.trustedhousesitters.com/t/nobody-wants-me-advice-for-a-first-time-house-sitter
He is now fully “booked” for a year.
Our team work hard to improve methods of communication between members but there is one element over which we don’t have control … the human element 
I am sure you will get some good feedback from our community and if you have any questions ask as our members are helpful and supportive.
Welcome again.
Angela and the Team