Hi there,
I am a new sitter and have had one sit so far and been “not chosen” 3 times. I would welcome advice on my profile to improve my chances of being selected. Please take a look at my profile and I would welcome any suggestions.
Thanks!
(We’ve added your THS profile to your Forum profile so people can go and take a look 
- The Forum team)
I think you have a nice profile already!
Don’t be disheartened with 3 rejections - I think i had more when i started! and I still get rejections with my over 30 sits on my profile. Everything in right time!
Your profile is good @mititeika - it’s a shame the review was only a few words but hey Ho, 5 stars! What kind of sits are you trying to land? Local and short sits to build reviews is often a winning formula. One of the forum regulars & experienced sitters @richten1 will often say it took them 23 applications to land a sit so keep going. It’s only 3 and it might be you’re going for super competitive ones. #commitmentisthenameofthegame
You guys look great! Have you suspended fostering for a while? Does your Papillion and cats stay home when you travel? Maybe moving one of your articles about your fosters up in your gallery of pictures would help it get more attention. Can you get some more outside references? Maybe you can respond to the one line review with more info about the sit to beef it up more. You can splly to last minute and low application sits that you’ll likely be chosen for to get more reviews.
But honestly i think you will eventually get sits even if you dont make sny changes.
@Alanlawrencegross you have a great profile! You clearly have lots of experience and some glowing references. It is a shame that your only THS review is rather brief!
I do think that not all owners read sitters profiles in full. And some value reviews more than references, so might just skip to the reviews. This is a shame because your references are brilliant. Are you highlighting your experience in your application message? If not, you definitely need to. Otherwise you must be applying for super competitive sits and the other applicants must have equally great profiles.
All I can suggest is that you apply to some sits with pets requiring medications or injections and make sure to explain your experience. You can check the reviews the homeowner has written for previous sitters by looking at the sitter reviews of the homeowner, clicking on the sitter name to bring up the sitter profile and then find the review for the dates they sat for that homeowner. Try to apply for homeowners who write more detailed, enthusiastic reviews, and are likely to write your review in the same way if you are chosen.
Keep on trying, don’t be discouraged. Any homeowner who does their due diligence and reads your profile in full is sure to jump at the chance to have you sit for them!
Your profile is great! For us, once we got 3 THS reviews, everything changed, and we then started to get almost every sit we applied for. So build up a few local reviews, even just short 2 day sits, it only takes you a week or two to do, just to get more THS reviews. Then you’ll be able to pick the places you really want to visit a little more easily.
Also, personally, if you have a really good bond with the owners of your next sit, I would say to them that you loved your last sit, it’s just a shame they only wrote a few words with it being your first review on the site… just to prompt them to write a little more, because I’ve never seen such a short review, but I suppose I don’t look at sitters reviews that much with being a sitter myself.
You success ratio 1 out of 4 applications is not bad when you consider that listings are paused after 5 applications and the hosts can only pick one sitter, so 4 out of 5 get declined .
Agree with @Silversitters that your track record is actually good.
I would think the main thing is to get a few more reviews. As others have said, local, short sits are an easy access to more reviews. With local sits you have also the advantage of being able to meet the host in person before the sit - either instead of a video call and/ or to get to know the pet and the routine. This alone could be an advantage that might lead to you being chosen. So be sure to mention that if you are able to. Short sits are not so sought after, while a host might need a sitter for a night or for a weekend. Here you can be the hero. Before you know it you have 4-5 reviews and will land more sits.
Thanks for all of the encouragement and suggestions. I really do appreciate it and will follow up with them for sure. Yeah, I was a little disappointed that the first review was only so brief, but the responses give me hope that things will turn around once I can get a few under our belt.
It really is unfortunate that your first TH review was so brief. Have you considered applying for the short sit they have next week? A repeat sit would definitely help make up for the short review and make it clear that these people liked you enough to have you return. Provided they review you the second time, of course (make sure they do if you go this route!).
I’ve done almost 50 sits now, but I had over 10 rejections before I got my first. Hang in there! It gets easier.
You have a wealth of experience @Alanlawrencegross. so much more than many of us! Can you get the ones you foster through to do a reference for you where you only have one reference?
It does take time but you have so much to offer pet owners so keep applying - doesn’t matter if dates overlap as you can easily decline when you are offered a sit.
Other members have given you great advice on which sits to apply for to quickly build up your reviews. Happy pet sitting!
Your profile looks great 
As an owner of a very lovable cuddly dog, I always look for pics with how sitters interact with pets. Pets in these pics look really relaxed with you.
I found that after we had 3-4 great reviews, it was MUCH easier to land opportunities.
Hang in there! You will get it done!
Thanks for all the help! I did some alterations and just landed a sit and have another pending!
Just confirmed my third sit! Thanks for the help