Are you a pet owner looking for a housesitter to care for your pets and home? Or are you a trusted house sitter keen to expand your experience of housesitting? Either way you may find this article useful to learn what are the housesitters essential skills.

What are the 5 most important housesitters essential skills?

What is housesitting?

Housesitting has become very popular among both keen travellers and digital nomads. It has become a safe and very affordable way to move from place to place offer your skills and experience as a house and pet sitter in exchange for free accommodation. 

Holiday house sitting

Even people who enjoy occasionally holiday house sitting need to hone their housesitters essential skills. The home and petowner gains care for the home and pets while they are away, free of charge.

The trusted house Sitter

A house sitter is responsible for taking care of a household when the host is away. In return, they don’t pay rent and stay in the house for free. The housesitter must take care of the home and garden if there is one, and of course the pets. Usually they are required to sleep at the home to ensure there is someone present at night for security. 

Housesitting lifestyle

Many young professionals consider housesitting a dream job. In fact this lifestyle also appeals to large numbers of retired and semi-retired people wanting to discover new locations and visit new countries on a fixed budget. However, it is worth remembering that as a housesitter usually you do not get a salary for your services!

House sitting is growing in popularity

Greater numbers of people are choosing to become house sitters instead of having a full-time job. House sitting jobs can be fun and rewarding. Housesitting is proving to be an alternative lifestyle and is growing in popularity. Moreover, you can easily combine this work with your online job, for example in a writing business. If you don’t lead a luxurious lifestyle and traveling is your passion, it’s a perfect option.

However, not every person can become a house sitter, and not everyone is suited to the lifestyle. Read on to learn what the housesitters essential skills might be. It might help you land an assignment as a house sitter.

1. Present yourself well as a suitable house and pet sitter

Becoming a house sitter is not very similar to getting a simple job in an office. However, like an office job you need transferable skills. Talking about education, having a high school diploma is usually helpful. More importantly, you need to make a winning profile on a specialized housesitting platform like Housesitmatch.

Besides that, you will probably have to describe your experiences and accomplishments in a covering note to introduce your application for the assignment.  

Recruitment

It is important to note that you don’t interact with recruiters during the application to be a house sitter. All your communication goes directly with a householder. So you have a good chance to impress the host first time without mediators and prove that you can handle all household and pet care duties. So put your best foot forward in both your profile and the introductory application message.

Interview

Householders will arrange an interview with you if you present your experience and suitability successfully.

Try using affordable resume writing services to get more interviews for this position. Once you’ve got a chance to arrange a call with a householder, keep in mind that you should make an excellent first impression. It is critical to gain a person’s trust, let you enter his house, and live there for a long time.

2. Study animal first aid

The most common reason why people hire sitters is that they have pets and need pet care. These are often the housesitters essential skills required. They will be looking for a trustworthy person who will offer their pets proper care and attention. So, no matter what type of pet it is, whether it is a dog, a cat, or a gold fish, research how to feed, entertain and help this animal stay fit and healthy in their owner’s absence.

Animal first aid is useful

A candidate who can also provide animal first aid is worth its weight in gold. When a pet owner leaves home for a holiday, the worst fear is usually that an accident might happen in their absence. You should assure the pet owner that you can deal with emergency cases and will take care of his pet just like your own. Also make sure you have their vet’s contact details and any pet insurance documents to hand, just in case.

3. Be your own master

House sitting is a perfect opportunity to live like a local while traveling. Staying in hotels or Airbnb can’t give a traveller an experience of living in a new location. However, housesitting offers a more authentic experience of living like a local.

However, some people can’t imagine their trip or holiday without staying in a hotel. Such people might not be suited to housesitting!

Live in house sitter

When you live as a house sitter, you will be responsible for the care and maintenance of the home. Details like changing bed sheets, cleaning the home and especially after the pets, and cooking your own meals will be the housesitters essential skills. You’ll have to take care of the household entirely on your own. 

Should you apply to be a house sitter

So, before you apply to become a house sitter, carefully weigh up all the pros and cons and the consider if this type of lifestyle suits you. And if yo are considering a long term commitment to housesitting do your research.

Various career resources may help you to make up your mind whether or not you have the housesitters essential skills. For example, Skillhub can connect you to a career advice expert. They can showcase your work experience in a resume or a LinkedIn profile and help you succeed in a job search.

You should also consider help with professional cover letter editing to help you improve your chances.

4. Learn basic gardening skills

More and more people nowadays turn their homes into jungles with many varied houseplants. You may have to take care of different types of indoor and outdoor plants during your house sitting. All plants vary in their watering and feeding schedules. Different types of plants may need different amounts of light. 

Identifying and honing your housesitters essential skills

During the interview, a householder may ask about your experience in home and pet care. They will want to know what your reactions might be when something extraordinary happens. What would you do, for example,  if a dog suddenly pushed a flower pot from the nightstand? In this case, you need to explain what your actions might be to fix the situation and even how to transplant the plants so they might recover from the accident.

Plant care or gardening might be useful

If you love gardening and are considering what your house sitter headline might be, mention that. However, if you don’t have an experience in plant care or gardening, it can be easy to find free online training and get basic houseplant and outdoor gardening care skills. At least learn the basics and be honest about what you know. And if you are keen to learn say so in your interview.

5. Be responsible

House sitting is all about collaboration. A person lets you live their home rent-free, and you are responsible to keep the household in a perfect state in return, and the pets in healthy condition as far as possible. A house-sitter should be super careful with other people’s property. You must take into account all of the demands and instructions the homeowner prepares for you. 

First impressions count

Your first house-sitting experience will define your future in this field. So, it it is important to leave a good impression once you leave the home. Then and only then will they give you a good review of your house sitter online profile.

A housesitters essential skills – In summary

If you enjoy travelling, have a grasp of taking care of animals and plants and can maintain the house in a perfect state, the occupation of a house sitter is for you. Working with your housesitters essential skills especially with a high degree of self-presentation, you have more chances to engage in this practice.

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Further reading about housesitting and trusted house sitters

At Housesitmatch.com we like to share useful blogs and practical advice about housesitters, housesitting and pet sitting. We hope you find this small selection of our blogs on house sitters and house sitting in London useful.

What a housesitter does – Top 10 responsibilities

What is House Sitting?