See here. Home-owners in many places being surprised to not find a sitter despite having had no problems previously:
https://forum.trustedhousesitters.com/t/where-have-all-the-sitters-gone-to/11852/405
Yeah, remember emails? and you could have an automated message if you were away or on leave.
I have applied for a house sit and it is sitting there unread since April 27th. I know things happen, life happens but anyways…
Yep, the coveted sits will always be competitive. But the rest of the home owners are struggling.
Funny, I am feeling the same way. I am hearing all the HO frustrated on not being able to find a sitter (which I have no doubt is true) but I am finding most of the sits I am interested in have 12-15 applicants if not more! Perhaps it is a geographic issue as the sits I am applying for are mostly on the west coast of the US.
This is also my observation. As “they” say: location, location, location.
However, “they” also say: that anything can be sold. Thereby, even a less desirable location can still attract some “takers”. It is first when it is boosted with other factors, like difficult pets, pet owners´ unrealistic expectations as well as a poorly written ad - that things can get tricky.
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I am new to this site. I applied for two sitter positions a couple of days ago. One of two would start in less than 10 days, but my applications have not been even read. I thought the host would either delete the listing if he/she has found a right sitter, or at least open the applications if not. We know the fare goes up as the flight date approaches, and, if the host waits and offers at the last minute, there might be a chance the sitter may not be able to accept it. But I think in my case the host neglected to delete the listing after he/she found a right sitter. I see there are so many listing in this site with 40 or more applications - many of them probably wasted the applicants’ time.
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you will fill out a bunch of applications for every sit you get. send your email, archive it, and move on to the next sit you want to apply for. don’t dwell on whether they’ve read it or not or if/when they’ll get back to you. if they get back to you too late for it to be financially viable, then you say no. I will say that many many HOs are looking really for local sitters only these days due to travel issues. good luck!
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Also, please note, something could have happened that has caused them not to even open their emails…sickness is one for sure. I know if I am sick, I have no desire to read a bunch of emails.
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A HO does not delete a listing once a sitter is found.
When a sitter has been confirmed, not only will the HO’s listing state “Currently no sitter needed”, if you look at your conversation in your Inbox, you will see “This homeowner is currently not looking for a sitter”.
Also, as an Applicant, you will receive an email stating you were unsuccessful this time and a note in your THS Inbox at the end of the conversation with the HO “Application declined”.
Don’t get discouraged by Unread applications. Keep trying and the right sit will come along. Not sure how experienced you are with THS, or how many sits you have under your belt. You may want to include a link to your THS profile within your Forum name and others may have suggestions.
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Hi @pilgrim welcome to the forum and to TrustedHousesitters thank you for joining in the conversation and I’m going to tag @Therese who will connect with your directly when she is back online regarding your current applications.
These are different times and there could be a number of reasons for applications remaining unread. There is a “Pause Applications” function which owners can switch on unfortunately some miss this when managing their listings when we are aware of listings with outstanding numbers we contact owners to advise.
You’ve had some good feedback from members already and I’m sure there will be more forthcoming, please don’t be discouraged some sitters are successful on their first applications for others (including me) it can take many applications, it’s about arranging the right sit and the right sitter, your right sit is out there.
As a new sitter there are many things we can do to place ourselves in the best position and it starts with the profile. Adding external references and is a member has lots of pet sitting experience asking some pet owners for a reference would be a great advantage.
Adding photos with pets too after all our members come to the site looking for pet care, a sitter’s profile is a showcase for owners it’s what they use in their selection process …
When possible applying for local sits, especially last minute if you can be flexible with time and travel is the best way to get started, you could even offer to meet owners in advance.
Should you feel you need extra information there are very helpful articles on the website blog which many members find of value …
I hope that you will explore the many conversations happening across the forum and we look forward to sharing in your new Trustedhousesitters adventure.
Angela and the Team
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We had an application that was left ‘unread’ for 10 days and today we got accepted for the sit, so don’t despair 
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I have applied for 10 plus sits and also notice that HOs are not responding/reading. It is like applying for a job, you can wait months before a decision is made. I have started rethinking my plans, and filtering through the sits to find ones I really want. It would be helpful if THS had an option for HOs to indicate if they are only considering local sitters. It would save time and frustration for all. Having said that I did ask a recently, if the owner was accepting applicants from US (because my app was declined in less than 24-hrs), and I got a response on why I was rejected. Sometimes we just have to be brave and ask even if the response was no our our favor. I got closure and that is enough to keep trying.
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I have been having this experience lately as well. My first few sits all of the HO were very responsive, but I have had less than ideal experiences lately. I have great references and reviews and always write a detailed personal application. One application (I know I was in the first 3) never got read and I received the standard this person no longer needs a sitter. It was disappointing as it was for a sit in Mexico where I happen to already be finishing another sit in the area the day before, but I just shook it off as part of the process. My next application was advertised only 5 days before the sit was to start, but I was again already in the area so it would have worked great. The day before the sit there was 40 plus applications and mine (which again I know was in the first 3 submitted) was unread and the sit was still open. I had a plane ticket to leave so withdrew the application. I currently have applications in for two sits which show as still available, yet neither HO has even read my applications (to be fair one I only applied for one yesterday morning, but it does start relatively soon and would involving flying there.) The only two sits I have been offered recently one of the HO plans changed and the sit went from 12 days to only 6 making it not desirable for me and the other the expectations as to the pet care was basically a full-time job that I was thankful the owner disclosed and we agreeably decided it was not a great fit. I understand sometimes HO are uncertain of their plans, but it feels more often that they have found a sitter and failed to take the confirmation step. Wondering if THS can emphasize to HOs how important it is to take this final step once a sitter is lined up, especially for new HO who may not understand how this works. I have had amazing experiences in the sits I have done and will keep trying, but it has been a bit disheartening seeing how many sits have 40 plus applicants and to have put so much work into applications that go unread.
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I agree. It is disheartening to see all those applications go unread. A HO does not need 30+ applications to choose one. If all 30+ applicants are not acceptable, the HO should give each applicant a note of rejection and re-list so that the count is 0-3. This will encourage more new applicants. If HO doesn’t do this, maybe THS should automatically a few days after the counter reaches over 30 or 40.
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We don’t apply after the HO has already received 4-7 applications and usually also don’t consider older listings (if they still need a sitter they can let the THS staff boost their listing).
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Smart idea not applying for an old listing. Especially those with 50+ applications. I didn’t think about that. It saves your trouble of applying for something that has almost zero chance of getting positive response.
But, even at 4-7, 30+, 50+, or an older listing, you might be what the HO is looking for. Kinda like winning the lottery - you can’t win if you don’t buy a ticket.
As sitters, we can’t control HOs, we can only control ourselves. Apply for sits, if you don’t get it, or don’t hear from the HO in a time frame that works for you, move on to the next.
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On a whim I recently applied to a very desirable sit that was a few months away and already had some high number of applicants, maybe 50+. I wrote a personal letter that touched on some of our similarities. A few weeks later, the HO wrote to me to apologize that it had taken her so long to reply and to ask if I was still interested as she was narrowing down the choices. I had to decline because she had extended the sit to a month and it was longer than I wanted, but I asked to be considered for future sits.
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Hi all,
I’m a sitter who has been applying like crazy for sits all over Australia and NZ. Unfortunately for us, it seems that the imbalance in the southern hemisphere still favours HOs, as most of our applications go unreplied to or declined without comment. So, anyway, once we do manage to confirm a sit we go back and withdraw all of our languishing applications.
Only then do we sometimes get a response from the HO. Sometimes it’s “Sorry we ended up choosing so-and-so” which is fine and makes sense. But sometimes it’s “Hi, are you still interested in sitting for us?” or something similar. This makes me wonder what sort of prompt (if any) they get when we withdraw our application. Maybe they just aren’t reading the “Application Withdrawn” note in the messages (it is rather small) but this has happened so frequently recently I thought I’d ask.
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Wow, that’s crazy. We also always read the entire listing carefully, personalize our message, check connections and make 100% sure that we can do the sit. We also only apply to one sit at a time. Imagine if even half of the 50+ sitters did the same and all the time that went into the process. There are some HO listings that say “no time wasters”. That’s more direct than we like to be, but we also try to stay clear from HOs that don’t respect our time. Perhaps HOs should be nudged to only allow a certain number of applications and to keep the application process within 1-2 weeks (unless you are not flooded with applicants).
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