Do You Need a Housekeeper?
If you don’t have enough time to do all the household chores, and want more free time – yes, you need a housekeeper.
When you hire a housekeeper or maid for first time, take six simple steps to successfully recruit the right domestic help for your house and home.
There are some important safety aspects to consider when hiring a housekeeper, who’ll have access to precious things, including your children, pets and valuables. You must be able to trust your housekeeper to look after your home with the same care and attention you give it.
Hiring a housekeeper gives you a whole new lease on life. You’ll have more time to take care of yourself, your family and your career while a professional domestic helper looks after the daily household chores.
Six tips for successfully hiring a housekeeper for the first time
1. Consider your needs.
Do you need part time or full time housekeeper?
Establish the number of hours a week you want to hire a housekeeper. A handy guide to help you make a schedule can be found here.
Once you’ve outlined your housekeeper’s daily and weekly duties, you’ll have a good idea of the number of hours a week to hire your housekeeper to fill the routine.
Do you want your housekeeper to live in or live out?
Each household has unique housekeeping needs, so decide what’s best for your family’s situation.
2. Housekeeper recruitment options
You have three basic options when recruiting a housekeeper.
- Self-recruitment: Look for someone yourself and do your own vetting or ask among your network and friends for recommendations.
- Enlist the help of housekeeping employment agency to match you with an ideal housekeeper for your situation, after which you pay the housekeeper directly.
- Make a contract with a cleaning company that you pay to send in a team of staff.
Each of the three housekeeper hiring options has its own pros and cons, so consider carefully what would work best for you.
3. Interview potential housekeepers
Take your time to review CVs and resumes and then interview the best candidates. You have to like your housekeeper, and they should enjoy working for you, too.
In a domestic setting, working relationships are much more personal than in an office, so a good personality match goes along way.
4. Hire a housekeeper for a trial period
Hiring a housekeeper is not the same as hiring someone for a corporate role where you make a long-term offer after the interview. When hiring a housekeeper, always hire them for a trial period first, before committing to long-term employment.
The trial period is a no-pressure test, where you pay the housekeeper or company only for their time during the trial period. This gives you a chance to see the housekeeper in action. Do they have the skills and level of detail that you need?
5. Make a formal offer
If you like your housekeeper after a trial period you can make an offer of longer-term work. Even if you’ve already discussed a deal, now’s a good time to review and clarify terms of payment and expectations on both sides.
A part-time housekeeper will typically earn this salary. A live-in housekeeper will earn this salary and a live-out housekeeper will earn this salary. Bear in mind that these are international rates and so they will vary from place to place. A cleaning company may charge higher rates because they have more overheads and running costs.
6. Maintain good communication and boundaries.
All good relationships are formed on positive encouragement and communication. Even though the housekeeper works in your private home, your relationship should remain a professional arrangement.
The more you develop and respect this professional relationship, the more you will gain from a long-term commitment!
Why Polo and Tweed is the Best Housekeeper Recruitment Agency
Hiring a housekeeper by yourself is time consuming and risky. Polo & Tweed makes recruiting domestic help simple and safe.
Your safety and security is our priority. We stringently screen all candidates on your behalf to offer you a selection of the best qualified domestic helpers for your household’s unique requirements.
You pay a small one-time fee for Polo & Tweed’s housekeeper recruiting services after you’ve made a formal offer to employ one of the candidates.
At Polo & Tweed, we pride ourselves on putting our international clients in touch with housekeepers they will happily recommend to family and friends.
Let us help you find your very first housekeeper and make it a success. Contact us here and we’ll get back to you.