Hi Everyone
I’m Deb, and I’m very new to THS. I’m not need to House/Pet sitting, however I just recently had learned that this exist, and think it’s the greatest thing since sliced bread to me. No joke, I’m all here all the time browsing, as I just can’t get enough.
So my question is: When it comes to profiles, Do you prefer the short and sweet? Or Do you Prefer as must details as possible(Length doesn’t matter, as long as they include as much as possible)? Or maybe even a middle ground between Not to long, but all the major details?
This Question comes from, I feel like I have a “TON” of information on mine, and everyday I think of something else to add to it. I know some won’t even take the time to read it, but I feel that it covers a lot of possible questions that could come from wanting to consider me as a sitter, and I try to be informative as possible. So I figured I would ask the community to see what everyone thinks, as this could be applied to HO and Sitters
I Know for myself, I prefer the longer more detail HO postings, this way I have a better understanding of possible home/pet needs, maybe location details(Public transportation, Food/pubs, Vet, and the list goes on), Heating or AC, need for a car, and so on. And all these things help me decide, do I want to type an application or not. It also saves me from submitting an application just to ask a question too, so the more information the better in my opinion. I do sometimes find myself skipping over some not all, that are little to no details, or show no thought put into it.
Great question. What feels good for you right now?
You can tweak and update your profile as often as you wish.
It is good to give insight about who you are, your interest in pet sitting etc.
no need to try to answer any and every possible question someone may have. That’s what conversation is for and that is the gateway to a great personable experience.
You can write 2-3 sentences that address different bits about
-who you are
-experience
-why you do this
-highlight your strengths, skills, pet preferences
-anything that is super important to you that would be a plus or a deal breaker
Things will always pop up and you will get better at deciphering what are the things that really present your unique personality and strengths that will attract the best HO and pet sitting experiences to you.
I like your enthusiasm. Have fun.
Thank you for the response. At the currently moment I keep going back and forth between what I have and trying to go more simple. I like how you have laid it out, so I may give that a try in word documents and If I can find that happy place, I’m will get that switched over. Thanks again for the feedback.
I tried to include everything necessary the owner might want to know:
→ information about my person. (age, occupation, hometown…)
→ my motivation for housesitting
→ any additional skills like gardening or certificates (first aid on pets, for example)
The most crucial thing → past experiences with animals!
I think it’s best to have all of this in your profile, so you can concentrate on the important stuff in the application, and it’s not cluttered with information the owner maybe doesn’t even need.
A short, neat application tailored to the housesitting will save the owner time, and if he is interested in you as a potential sitter, he will probably view your profile either way.
Thank you for your response, I like your profile as well, it feels likes it hits on all the right points. Reading yours and others, I’m seeing different ways I could clean up mind, to lessen it, but with better choice wording.
Thank you, I paid your profile a visit, and I really enjoyed reading it. You did very well putting it together. Yours also gave me a couple of ideas of what could be added to mine as well.
Thank you @BlueDiamondRose for bringing up this subject. We are very newbies in THS, but we had experiences in other trips and exchange platforms. All your opinions have been really usefull for us, because we could read your profiles and learn a lot.
We usualy keep the way @anon36831737 makes the profile, trying to cover everything and keeping the application short but personalized. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn´t, but we are not sure if the denials are related with our description or some other things that HO find important. For instance, once a HO told us that he needed a sitter eho could go different times and could be available in different moments of the year, which wasn´t our case for that sitting in particular.
@BlueDiamondRose I jumped over to your profile and (please don’t get me wrong) to me it was too much. As a HO I want to be able to quickly check a few things about the potential sitter like:
Age
Nationality
Mobility (our house has 4 stories😉)
Profession, Retiree, whatever
Full time sitter or just occasionally
If not nomad, traveling from where
Vaccination status
Experience (short) with pets
Statement about cleanliness and reliability
Motivation why the sitter wants to pet sit
The rest actually can be talked about either in the application letter (but even there I wouldn’t want too many details) or by writing back and forth or during a video call.
I always check the profile when a new application comes in and if it took me too long to read everything I would dismiss it. During this first stage I don’t want to know everything in detail.
I am aware that not everybody might feel the same as I do, but I think your profile should just give an overview, while with the application you want to win the HO over. To me that’s a difference.
Just another perspective, but in my experience here in New Zealand, very few homeowners actually read our profile. I can can only assume this because in my first paragraph I state that we are an American couple that have been riding out the pandemic in NZ since March 2020. When we get to the video call stage they are surprised by our American accents and wonder how long we have been in NZ, so who knows?
Thank you for your input, I went and browsed your page, and it’s very well and cleanly written, and like with the others, gives me ideas how I can reshape me as well.
It’s my pleasure, I love to get people talking, and at the same time, it helps me learn, what people are looking for, and what they like.
So very true. I like the idea of keeping a lot of information, however I feel with mine, I need to clean it up, It feels and looks messy to me. Oh course it was my first time writing one, and kept thinking and adding to it afterwards, as I felt the more the better.
Ugh, See this would be something I would hope to see some where on their profile. Maybe even an * on the top with this. This would help me decide if I wanted to send an application or not.
Thank you for taking a look at my profile. Honestly this was a bit of my concern. Writing it the first time, and edits after, I just kept thinking the more the better. My thoughts is if I could answer enough questions on my profile, a person would have a better able to decide if I was qualified for their sit. I have been back and forth with it, and even I feel like it’s a bit messy, and that’s not me. So with you’re suggestions, and what I see from other’s profiles. I’m going to make some changes to it.
As you can see, I love to talk/chat, and I do know it can be overwhelming for some, so I do know I need to work on that. I just have lots of things to share, and love doing it.
This is very good to know, I do understand some will do that, and some won’t.
Thank you again for your thoughts, and I completely understand and respect it. You have giving me some wonderful things to think about, to help with setting up my page.
Oh, don’t get me wrong I am definitely into chatting and giving lots of (lengthy ) information.
My HO’s profile (=listing) is also very detailed but I see it as an ad, which isn’t suited for everyone. I try to cover everything that might be important to a sitter to know and to decide if they feel up to it, the four stories and the stairs for example or that the cat’s medication has to be given twice a day at the same time.
I think the most common process begins with a HO’s ad and then the sitter writes an application letter, which is the first contact. Only then most HOs click on the profile and do a kind of quick check who the applicant is and if he/she might fit.
I usually let my gut decide right then already, because when I see only a few pictures of the applicant at sightseeing points and next to no pets it’s a “no” from me right away.
I also read some reviews first before I take a closer look at the sitter’s profile introduction. I probably will have read some of it already in the application letter so it doesn’t have to be too lengthy for me.
What is more important to me is that the applicant has read my listing and refers to some points in it like that the cats are not the youngest and fittest anymore and might need a bit more attention.
Actually to me this whole process is a conversation, which goes back and forth first in writing, then with a video call and, after I confirmed the sitter, with some short messages to keep each other up to date until they arrive. Some time in between, depending on how soon the sitter prefers to receive it, I send the welcome guide and answer any questions that might come up.
I usually m a very quick decider and if the first applicant seems nice and capable I do a video call and confirm right away.
) information.