Yes, it often takes a few sits to find your feet
Usually, I read their whole profile, but many times it is very clear that they have not read my full profile before applying. Maybe that’s because of the silly five application rule. But we are very specific about who we want to be here at our house, no exceptions. My animals are very demanding, so I want somebody to be fully prepared before they apply and come here. Unfortunately, we are at the point where our dogs are now old, and we dare not leave them for more than a couple of days at a time now
No, that’s not weird. I don’t ask sitters why they chose to apply to my sit. I care about taking care of my pet and home. I live in a desirable area, so that speaks for itself.
As a home owner, I like an application that is personalised to the sit and I read the sitter’s profile and reviews thoroughly. I want to know as much about this person’s experience as a sitter and their previous sits as possible before I invite them for a chat. In their profiles I also want to see photos of them interacting with the animals they have sat and information about how they relate to other people’s pets. In profiles and reviews I look for things like whether they’ve been invited back for sits, or at least that hosts say they would have them back again and what hosts have said about the care for pets, home and garden. I also note how sitters have dealt with problems that have arisen.
What’s the 5 application rule? Been a THS for 7 years and not heard of it…thanks!
The “5 application rule” limits homeowners to receiving a maximum of five applications for each house sitting listing.
Once five applications have been submitted, the listing is paused until the homeowner reviews and responds to at least some of those applications. This means that once a listing has reached five applications, new sitters will not be able to apply until the homeowner actively clears the paused listing.
A sitter - or host for that matter - who doesn’t have enough respect to write a personailsed response for the other party doesn’t deserve the sit.
This is a human, personal relationship involving communication, integrity and responsibility and if someone doesn’t “have the time” or ability to write a response refelcting those qualities , I wouldn’t be interested.
Perfect English is not a necessity nor is perfect grammar (the excuses many use for using ai). I would hope that someone reading an real application would look past these and concurrently look for the person sending the application.
I value your point of view @toreishi and I think staying human is important, specially if we are taking care of others pets and houses. Personally, I feel more empathy for animals than for humans, and more for humans than for robots.
Anyway (and sadly), I believe AI is already in everywhere and it’s here to stay. Even though it’s hard for me to adapt (I’m not young enough), I try everyday to understand what it’s all about, so I can keep as close as possible to new generations and opportunities.
A race against time that I’ll lose anyway haha.
Yes, I absolutely read the entire profile. It’s important for me to know where the sitter is from, where they live currently, what they do for work, what kind of experience they have with cats (in my case), and how well they have taken care of other people’s homes and pets in the past. I use THS for sits that are between two and three months long so it’s really important to me that I find the right fit. I also tend to click on reviews so that I can see the profiles of homeowners they have sat for before to see what kind of homes they have cared for in the past.
Their application letter is important in that I want it to reflect their priorities when sitting and reasons for wanting to visit my area. I appreciate someone who takes the application and the entire sit process very seriously, as it is very important to me that my pets at home are cared for by someone who is responsible and conscientious.
(So, if you get an application that you doubt you’ll pursue, it is in the HO’s best interest to decline it in order to open a spot for another application in its place. I believe you can invite the declined person for a sit if you have second thoughts. Anyone know?)
Wow thanks, didn’t know this at all, makes a lot of sense to me now why we got no reaction from some applications for a long time, despite having 25 5* sits!
Hi @Whirld-Traveller, you are right, that’s possible.
What I doubt is whether it is convenient for a HO to proceed that way.
By the way I don’t see how a sitter would see it as a good experience to be contacted again for a possible sit after being declined, among 4 other options.
I think it’s better to contact the sitter/s, evaluate whether they’re a good fit or not, and once a decision is made, either invite them or decline the application.
Of course, there are always special cases, but canceling sitters just to see if someone better comes along, and then reaching out again with something like ‘Hi again sitters, sorry, you’re actually our best option’ could feel disrespectful or make the sitter/s uncomfortable from my humble point of view.
Wow thank you, I had no idea!
Thank you for describing what you’re looking for in an application. As a newbie even though I have already secured seven different sits I just lost one that I was really hoping for, with no explanation. I’m still new to this website yet I’m not new to pet sitting or to creating profiles and applications. However when you stated you looking for a strong opening that caught your interest, I’m sure that’s a personal thing however it makes me curious to know what a strong opening would be? Would you say that a strong opening should immediately mention the person’s name and their pets names? Or would you say that a strong opening has to do with something interesting about the sitter themselves? Like I said I realize this would be a personal thing and not everybody is looking for a strong opening but I probably would do the same thing if I was a homeowner looking for a sitter. Something that catches my interest.
Now I’m so interested and would really love to read your application! 
And maybe you could give some tips or start your own application writing seminar! 
Thank you for this information I am new on this website as a sitter and I am wondering if I see a sit come up while I’m searching and I market as a favorite to possibly apply for later do you all as homeowners notice that I have liked and saved your posting? Even if you have already received five applications are you still able to see others who have saved your home as a favorite?
@Maria-LOVES-Animals for me, it’s all about making an authentic connection. I can’t explicitly tell you what that is as it differs from person to person. Just be yourself and be genuine and tell the owner why you are attracted to their sit and what you can offer.
I receive an email each time someone favorites my listing. When I click to see who, it shows me ALL of the sitters who have favorited my listing. I assume it shows me the most recent savers 1st. Sidenote: I go here looking for a sitter if I am not receiving applicants that match with a sit I have. Here’s a screen shot of the email I receive, and then what I see when I click through the email.
@MTBer thanks for showing that, 
I save a bunch that I fancy in the hope that the alert when a sit is posted will work out. Good to know what hosts see.
@Cathie for years owners have never been able to see who the sitter is that favourites their listing. It has frustrated me to the point that when I receive the auto email notifying me I hit delete. Sadly that’s not a great outcome for those sitters.
There are 135 sitters who have favourited my sit listing and there is no way I can tell who the newest sitters are. We all know that contacting sitters who have favourite your sit rarely works for advertised dates. If they were available they would likely apply when new dates get advertised. But it would be great to be able to view the sitter’s profile at the time they favourite my listing if there was a link to their profile in the auto email I receive. That way I could also favourite them if they seemed suitable and proactively reach out to them before advertising my sit dates as I’m never going to wade through 135 sitter profiles. Sometimes I can adjust my dates to make things work for great sitters. This would be a great outcome for those sitters and me. @Jenny would you please suggest this idea to THS?