Hi, I’m new to the forum but have been on TH for 3 years.
Reading through a variety of posts, I see many references to interviews and video calls. Is this common? I’ve completed 2 sits and just accepted 2 more. For the very first one, there was a fair bit of back-&-forth messaging re her concerns about my getting there in the winter, and she asked quite a few questions. (It all worked out and the sit was great.)
For the rest, no messages, just a notification that “____ has chosen you”. On the 2nd sit I heard nothing further for a couple of months. The 2 I just accepted, there was a very brief exchange after acceptance along the lines of “we’ll be in touch as the date approaches.”
They’ve all been new members so maybe it didn’t occur to them?
I seem to have been very lucky with people on my first 2 sits and hoping it continues, but some of the topics I’ve read here sound like things can be a lot more complicated. 
Almost all of my sits have involved a phone or video call, yes.
And I’ve been grateful for it!
If they don’t ask for this chat, I usually do. Especially for the longer sits, because you wanna make sure you mesh, and communicate well.
We’ve done 30 sits and have always had a video call for any we’ve accepted even if they’ve been offered to us before that point. We want to be sure there’s a strong connection and clear comms (& look into the whites of someone’s eyes 
) first. We’ve also declined some where they don’t engage or want to chat/meet us first, it feels odd. Everyone is different I guess…so what works for you 
I have done over 60 sits on THS and there have been many where I accepted without an interview. These sits all seemed pretty straightforward, and the listing provided all the most important things I wanted to know. Generally they were on the shorter side.
Sometimes there may have been some questions from either side, but often , we were offered it straight away.
Between having a lot of clarity about what I want and don’t want in a sit, and having honed my intuition in this process pretty well, I can’t think of any instance where not interviewing before hand led to a bad experience.
There are some sits where I would like to connect first before accepting, and these owners have always wanted to do an interview so I have never been in the position where I had to request a call when they wanted to proceed without one. And if someone wants to do an interview with us, I would never turn down that request as I think it is a reasonable one.
We end our application message with an invitation to video chat when the HO is ready. We have been confirmed for sits before that happens but have never accept until we’ve had a chat (50+ sits over 7 years and no disasters–it works for us).
There was one sit for which I never even talked to or even saw the HO except in text messages and his pictures. He literally just accepted my application after one or two questions answered in the message box and had me make myself into his condo by myself with the help of the front desk. I was like, “Wow, he must really trust me or is so trusting.” 
He also only required updates 1-2 times per week, especially for any changes.
But I think he had a good system. I do love it when it’s that easy, trusting, and streamlined.
But yeah - I usually have gotten interviews on the phone or in video. I don’t really mind them.
I believe “interviews” are imperative for creating a trusting sit. Sitters should know what is truly expected and pet parents should have a true comfort level with who will be caring for their home and pets. It also gives time, as various info is discussed, to bring up additional questions that may arise about the home and/or pet which may have been inadvertently left out or changed in the course of time between posting and actual conversations. Also, there is nothing like looking into the eyes of both parties and seeing the pets and home while on the call.
I always ask for a video chat before accepting a sit. I did decline a sit post video chat mainly as the lady stated not to use the heating in December in the UK and not to leave the property for the 4 day sit. I just sent a note saying after the chat I decided we weren’t a good fit.
I did two sits without any calls and they both went great. I prefer to have them though and I don’t think I’d accept sits now without one. It’s better to see whether I click with the owners or not. Thankfully, the two owners who didn’t do video calls with me were both super lovely and I have even been back with one of them.
@richten1 Not to use the heating in December? Was there a fire place or alternative source of heat?
I’d steer clear of that too.
I am now in Norway and it’s quite cold and the owners asked me to avoid using the radiators, but at least there is a fire place that works pretty well.
No @andrealovesanimals there was no other heating available. Funny thing was that this was a penthouse in an expensive area of London!
@richten1 how strange, the animals must get cold too!
Interesting to hear the different perspectives. I wasn’t really nervous about accepting sits prior to hearing about “interviews” and now I am a bit!
Maybe I should add something to my profile, and to the actual application notes, suggesting it. So far I’ve just written like “if you have any questions please message me back.”
I wouldn’t mind doing an interview. I’d certainly want something as a HO. (Although, if I’m honest, I would NEVER have a stranger come live in my house when I’m away, LOL
I agree with all the above. But once we had a video call that wasn’t an easy call - owner seemed disorganised and just a really poor communicator and clearly uncomfortable with video calls. But somehow we still decided to go ahead. It was a relatively good sit.
You need to be comfortable, too. I think I would insist on SOME more communication beyond the THS-generated “congratulations … has chosen you!” Maybe even just some more messages back and forth to get a feel (but I also want other ways of communicating, i.e., phone numbers, WhatsApp).
Hi everyone, please, the video chat is just that…a friendly chat. Not an interview.
We just confirmed a sitter for our August sit and we had a very friendly video chat. She had a few questions, we had a few. Took just over 10 minutes.
Not an interview! 
Hello all
we do appreciate a video call with HO before we accept an invite to sit. We see it as an opportunity to ask questions about the pets, our accommodation or anything we feel is important to us. It’s just an informal chat, a two way process, not an interview.
Hi @CandAsitters ! Nice to see you, it’s been a while! I sometimes refer to it as an interview just because I have so many questions! It’s usually a very enjoyable way to get acquainted and often just a “formality” before confirming.
OK, so, what kinds of questions do you as sitters ask in the “interview”/“chat”/whatever call? If they have provided good detail about the pets and responsibilities, what’s left? For those who are asking questions about where-will-I-sleep and stuff like that, how do you make it not sound like you’re thinking of their place like a hotel and you want a list of amenities?