Ok - I’m six months in and have been lucky to get several local 5 star reviews under my belt. Loving the people and pets I’m meeting thru THS
My question is about applying for sits. When I see there are already 4 applicants for a sit date should I even apply? Does THS cap off applicants at 4? If the homeowners sit is still listed on the ‘find a sit ‘ page, shouldn’t I also be able to be seen by them? I spend quite a bit of time personalizing my initial messages to multiple listings and often get no reply, or just a ‘you’ve been declined’
The application limit is 5, so if there are 4 applicants you’re good to go. If you’ve got the application page open when the sit is paused due to the limit of 5 being reached you may still be able to submit your application, making the total number of applications received by the host more than the limit. I read somewhere this may have changed but I have not seen it confirmed.
Applications are capped at 5, not 4. Once there are 5, the sit will show as ‘reviewing’ and you won’t be able to apply.
It’s still worth applying as a later applicant, but yes, if they’ve already received an application that looks right for them, they may already be talking to that person. So possibly your chances are lower, unless your application looks a better match than all the others.
Everyone gets rejections, don’t take it personally. It’s nice to get a message but they don’t usually give much explanation other than someone else was a better match for them, which is fair enough.
You shoud absolutely apply. Here’s why from a host perspective: I live in a popular location. I will always get applications. Sometimes among the first five to apply there will be great sitters. Sometimes none of them are suitable. Not a one. The reasons may vary. They might have no site experience or no cat experience or they are very far away but applying for a very short sit, or there is something else that doesn’t make sense. Sometimes there are sitters who sound fine but ghost me when I write them about setting up a chat because they are on the verge of taking/getting another sit.
Hosts often get more than five live applications because if a sitter “opens” an applicaiton and completes it, it will go through even if five have been recieved. I’ve gotten six or seven sometimes.
So if I post a listing and then go do stuff for a few hours, I’m going to look at the applicants and not care too much who wrote first. I’m going to go through them and decline the unsuitable and reach out to the suitables. But if there are only one or two suitable people, I may even “unpause” to get more applicants in case they don’t get back to me or don’t want the sit.
I will also contact people who were great but didn’t get the sit because we realized that something schedule wise wouldn’t work, or I flipped a coin and chose someone else, or I chose someone else because logistically it was perfect for them so less risk for me of a cancellation. I will sometimes offer a different sit to those people.
Another things that happens: A sitter is chosen. A sitter confirms. A sitter realizes a few days later that something won’t work and asks to cancel. I have to go back and repost or look at the other suitable people.
If you start the application then leave that page open on your computer you can return to it later when you’ve more time to finish it. This is why 6/7 or more applications eventually get through to the HO before the system locks the listing down for ‘reviewing’. A few applications might be pretty speculative and no competition at all….there might only be you and maybe one other of 7 applicants who largely meet the HO’s criteria.
‘Back in the day”, 8 years and 60 sits ago, we applied to one that just said “over 50 applicants “. Way before the 5 applicant rule. We got that sit and have sat for them 5 times since! So you never know😎
I remember those days @Sittersue and being successful where there were over 50+ applicants. We also didn’t have the experience and large number of 5* reviews under our belt that we have now.
@Kiwilady66 you’ve got nothing to lose by applying so go for it.
Yes sometimes a ‘Host’ is looking for something in particular, we’ve been chosen in the past simply because we reminded them of their parents who usually sat for them but couldn’t.
