The perfect application?

Sitter Questions, Advice & Chat
1

As we all know, there is no such thing as a perfect application. All applications are different and thoughts on what should and should not be included differ from sitter to sitter.

Keep it short? make it log? formal? informal? individual? cut and paste? AI? pets? fur babies? - It’s a minefield!!

After a recent comment I made on the forum I have been asked about our application.

I don’t think for a minute that it is perfect and I know for sure that its style and content won’t suit everyone, but we do have a relatively high acceptance rate (more than declines) so thought I would share it here as a template/guide/idea prompt to new sitters and for something for those sitters as, or more experienced than us, to cherry-pick, applaud, criticise or rip to shreds to their heart’s content :smile:

  • If the listing already has three or more applications we do messages 1, 2 and 3.
  • If the listing has less than three applications we only do message 3

Message 1 - One word only, ‘Hello’
Message 2 - (Immediately after message one)
Hello (name), sorry for the one-word introduction - We wanted to be sure to have the time to send you a ‘proper’ application - the new THS rule of 5 maximum applicants is making applying for new sits very difficult and frustrating! We love the look of your listing and did not want to risk missing out on the opportunity to apply. We will send you a proper application very shortly.
Kind Regards
Colin & Karyo

Message 3 ‘The application’- This is a cut-and-paste that does not take too long to do but if you have already sent messages 1 and 2 , do not send this until at least a half hour after message 2 so as not to give the cut-and-paste game away!

Our application is approximately 17 paragraphs

1 - Hello (never 'Hi) then use the name of the home host plus the name of their partner if we can find it in their listing write-up or in their previous reviews
2 - Introduce ourselves, let them know we are a married couple and give our ages
3 - Some background information about my past work
4 - Some background information about Karyo’s( my husband) current work
5 - Some background information about us as a couple, where we met, where we previously lived, why we decided to do THS
6 - Where we have sat before and why we want to visit their area (we’ve always wanted to :wink:)
7 - How much we love animals, especially (add their pet type) and travel and how fantastic is our life amalgamating the two!
8 - Say how much we would love to have the opportunity to care for their home and (pet name), the pet (name) looks lovely in their pics, we love it already!
9 - Our past experience with pets ( stay positive, we list the pets we have had between us but don’t mention that neither of us has had a pet for 30 years, we mention Karyo once had a pet pig but don’t mention that he eventually ate it!)
10 - We emphasise our past experience and invite them to take a look at our reviews for their peace of mind that their home and (pet name) will be left in safe hands
11 - We use as many positive adjectives as I can think of to describe ourselves, kind, caring, house proud etc
12 -We emphasise how much love affection and attention their pet will get
13 - We comment on anything specific they have mentioned in their listing, meds -no problem, left for 4 hours - no problem
14 - We promise pet pics
15 - We tell them our needs, Wifi, 2 beds, no pets on beds, accessibility via public transport etc
16 - We give our phone number and invite them to contact us with it, or via THS should they have any questions about ourselves
17 - We tell them how much we are looking forward to their reply and we can’t wait to meet their pets
18 - We sign off formally and friendly ‘Kind Regards and Best Wishes’ (to cover all bases)

That’s it folks!

Feel free to ignore completely or to pinch any ideas you wish x

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2

Hi @Colin
So far I haven’t had to rush in to put my application in to get in the top 5 but, no doubt, there will be a time and I’ll take your advice.
However, I wonder if you’re writing too much in your full application, a long application could put some owners off although others might appreciate the lengths you go to.
A lot of what you include should be in your profile. I usually start off with hello etc, mention the name of the animal(s) how cute etc. I will then say “You can read about me in my profile and the reviews if you care to”, that will cut out a lot of what you write, although I appreciate you cut and paste. I’ll then personalise it and similar to your 11-18, oh and number 6 of course

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Very professional and comprehensive - thank you for sharing @Colin

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4

@Colin thanks for sharing .
I am sure this will be really useful for sitters that are getting started
Do you happen to know know the length (how many characters) of your typical application ?

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5

@Smiley

To be honest, I think the application is where all the info should be. I don’t want to be sending the home host elsewhere to find it. Why would I when I can just as easily put it in front of their nose myself?

All that information is cut and pasted so zero effort for me to give, and zero effort for the home host to receive.

Our profile content, compared to most, is really poor. I think the only important thing it contains is our reviews - The profile, I think is only of any use if you are looking to tempt private invites which most sitters aren’t.

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Good points and this works for you :hugs:

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7

very well organized!!

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8

@Colin thanks for sharing, our applications follow a very similar format and are lengthy too. Also agree with putting all our information in the application rather than referring owners to our profile as many don’t read sitter profiles. As an owner when we receive the type of short application just referring us to a sitter profile we normally decline them as we feel it’s a lazy approach not tailored to our listing and needs - sorry @Smiley. Like you we receive more offers to sit than declines.

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9

I think once you’ve got a certain number of strong reviews, landing sits is pretty easy, unless you’re focusing on the most popular locations. And Colin must have many, many reviews. For other folks, it makes sense to experiment if you’re not having great luck getting sits.

My applications are short, but customized to the sit for relevance. That’s already booked me up monthly through September via THS and through October via Nomador. (I don’t sit during year-end holidays.) And it’s just coming on my first year with THS.

Today, among the sits I was offered, a host I have booked for later this year asked whether I was available for an earlier sit as well, because they were considering a cruise. Last week, I got a similar request from another set of hosts in another city. I mention that, because once sitters are established, we tend to get more sits than we can do.

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10

“Hi” has always worked well for us and for our Home Owners.

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11

It’s worked for me so far. I don’t think it’s being lazy, and I do send a personalised application. I think it’s mainly the reviews that help. Each to their own.

12

Thanks for sharing and this is obviously working for you. The only thing is I did read that some home owners are getting fed up with one word or blank applications from sitters and so delete them. My method is to press the apply and then read the listing and write a personal response as the first one, including my work but I do refer HOs to my profile (which tbh would be a bit daft not to look at surely) but maybe I’ll put a bit more info in my application now after what you have said. Cheers.

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13

Interesting! I always start my application by using the word “Hi” - I’m Canadian and most Canadians say “hi” instead of “hello”. As sitters, we also have a high acceptance rate. I would probably never use the one word introduction application but would take the time to write a formal application. I always mention the names of the homeowners and pet(s). I don’t mention anything about what we did for work and this isn’t in our profile either. I don’t see why a homeowner would need to know that and have never been asked that. We have a very detailed profile so I usually direct the homeowners to read that and our reviews. I assure them about the wonderful care we will give to their home and pet(s) and sign off as you do. I’ve never thought a homeowner would think us lazy by directing them to our profile to read.

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14

Hi @colin I have to agree with you- compared to others our profile too could do with a little improvement!- not because its poorly written but because its massively out of date! We have not updated it since we joined in 2018 even though things have changed a lot and we now have nearly 100 reviews! E.g hosts occasionally ask if we’ll be travelling in our motorhome - which we actually sold 4 years ago!! Updating it is on the To Do list!!:rofl:
But, like you, we put all the important and relevent stuff in our application anyway and later in the application refer hosts to our many reviews and pics and always give our WhatsApp number. We would never refer them directly to our profile for info about us- other than to read our reviews ofcourse- as we regard it as back up info only.
The only thing we do differently to you is to combine (your) App 1 & 2 and write a very short hello message explaining we want to ‘save a space’ -before it goes to ‘reviewing’ - with the promise of a full application to follow. We then thoroughly study the whole listing and cross reference reviews etc and if its still attractive we write a full application which is partly cut & paste and partly specifically tailored to the sit in question.
Bit if on further investigation the sit does not suit we would instead write a short message explaing why and withdraw our application. We would not just ‘ghost a host’ after having shown initial interest. That just feels like a common courtesy.

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15

Thanks for getting back to me! :joy:

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16

@Globetrotter I mention work because I work online from ‘home’ .

17

It’s great you don’t just ghost a host but the problem, and this is due to the 5 max rule system introduced, which encourages applications of unsure applicants is that you are taking a space when you’re undecided about the sit. Personally I would not do this as it takes the place of someone who really wants it and seems rather unfair. Can you not just press apply, which ‘reserves’ your place but still allows you to read the listing. If, once you’ve read the listing you can see its not really for you, you can discard the application, leaving the space open for another sitter. This 5 applicant max has pitted us against each other which is such a shame.

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18

That only works if technology works perfectly. If the wifi drops/app closes/computer crashes, etc, you lose your spot. This has happened to me. Now i send the “placeholder” application for very popular sits before reading the details i will withdraw if the sit is undesirable after a detailed reading. I dont like being forced to adopt this strategy.

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19

@Reliablesitter We only ever send a pre-app ‘save a space’ message if we are already quite sure we’d like the sit i.e on first sight the sit fits our dates/location/everything else requirements. I’m talking half an hour from first msg to full application (or withdrawing app) which could mean having the chance to apply (and be the amazing sitters they are looking for) or being too late and missing the chance to apply at all! THS, with their 5 app limit, is entirely responsible for putting sitters under so much pressure and we each have to find our way to navigate the restrictions. Believe me we much preferred the old system with unlimited apps but -it is what it now is- and we each have to do what we need to do!

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Makes sense!