When creating your house sitter’s profile, it’s essential to convey a complete picture of your personality and experience to homeowners who would be entrusting you with their home and pets. In order to establish trust, consider the following key aspects for your profile:
Photos
Include clear, sharp, well-lit photos of yourself. Try to showcase your personality as well as your experience.
Needless to say, it’s important to include pictures of you interacting with animals or performing house maintenance tasks.
The more photos you can upload, the better, as they help homeowners feel more familiar with you.
Video
If you’re up to it, prepare an intro video too – videos are better than photos in many ways, as they allow the viewer to form more of a connection with you than they would with just text & images.
A smartphone camera works well for this, just make sure you don’t handhold it as you wouldn’t want to make the viewer queasy. Host the video on platforms like YouTube or Vimeo to share it easily.
Background Information
A comprehensive, well written profile goes a long way towards establishing confidence in the owner’s mind that you take house sitting seriously, and that you care about the little details. Make sure that the text is well written, free of spelling and grammar errors.
When writing your profile, share some information about yourself, your interests, lifestyle habits, and any relevant skills which could be useful to a home and pet owner, and help them get to know you a bit better.
Try and see things from their perspective, and think about what they need to know about you in order to be comfortable with you living in their home. Think about the personal traits, habits and characteristics you have that will make you stand out, and write about them in a confident and enthusiastic way.
References and Criminal Check
References hold significant importance in the house sitting community. They provide insight into your past experiences, reliability, and trustworthiness. Homeowners appreciate the reassurance that comes from knowing others have had positive experiences with you.
Whilst a police clearance certificate is not absolutely necessary (it is extremely rare to be asked for one by a home owner), it is a great way to legitimize your profile, confirm your identity and show that you are in good standing with the law.
No matter how trustworthy you come across in your photos, videos, text or references, having a clean official background check will give homeowners additional comfort and peace of mind, particularly those who are new to house sitting themselves.
Availability and Location
Include your availability and preferred locations in your house sitter profile and make sure that you update these regularly as your calendar fills up with bookings or your circumstances change.
Providing up to date information saves both you and homeowners valuable time by avoiding unnecessary inquiries or discussions if your availability does not align with their needs.
It also shows that you are organized and proactive in managing your schedule and helps enhance your profile’s credibility.
Website and Social Media accounts
If you’re really serious about house sitting, and want to do it full time over the long term, it might be worth your while to create your own website and associated social media accounts to showcase your skills, experience and qualifications.
A custom website demonstrates your commitment to house sitting and can make a strong impact on homeowners.
You can include these links on your application letters, which will help you stand out from other applicants who rely solely on their profiles.
