If you’re looking to become a housesitter or petsitter and want to add some instant credibility to your profile then you may want to consider the following information when creating a petsitter profile. As a professional pet lover and a professional running a pet business I always think about how I can add value to my service through the pet.

There are several pieces of information and experience you can add to your pet care experience sample and resume. Ever thought about Pet First Aid Certification? Here’s how I came to consider it important to my involvement in caring for other people’s pets and animals. While it is not essential it can be very useful so worth enquiring at your local vet’s surgery.

Building a Petsitter profile

Without actually starting with a Petsitter profile online I ran a dog walking/pet sitting business for several years. And after initially being contacted by a potential client I would arrange to make a home visit to ascertain the client’s needs and fill in the relevant paperwork. Then I began to consider the benefits of building a profile, a Petsitter profile and what would be practical and useful to include in my service and experience.

Police and background check

On Housesitmatch we have integrated the Verifile Police and Background checking system into our My Profile pages. So as a registered housesitter and petsitter you can update your police and background checks virtually online by completing the forms. The advantage of our system is you can update your checks no matter where you are travelling in the world.

Once completed your background check will display as a VERIFILE icon on your housesitter petsitter profile for all members to see.

Pet care entrusted to you the pet minder

Although when I first started housesitting I was always sure to take my police background check and relevant insurance paperwork with me on a new client visit. But another thing in particular that I made sure I would show was my Pet First Aid certification – my clients always guaranteed an extremely positive reaction. So this is worth noting for your petsitter profile.

Why include qualifications in a Petsitter profile

It became apparent that although most clients wanted to know that they were dealing with someone who was legally credible and possessed the relevant paperwork, they were always impressed that they were dealing with someone who had taken the time to invest in the personal welfare of their pet.

The impact of the client reactions actually led me to becoming a Pet First Aid instructor and making sure that all of my staff were trained up too.

Petsitting is a serious responsibility

Having someone enter your home for pet-sitting, to look after your beloved pets and possessions can trigger initial fears for homeowners.  It is up to us the housesitters and petsitters to help potential clients overcome those fears.  After the initial credibility checks our ability to show that we are genuinely interested in the pets and caring for their homes is something that should be taken seriously. It’s a responsibility with advantages.

Pet sitter description resume

Aside from the positive client reaction and the enhancement to your personal Housesitter or Petsitter profile show other factors on your pet sitter resume. This is where the benefits of Pet First Aid certification are useful. Running courses as an instructor brought me into contact with many people who had decided to get qualified in pet first aid as they had faced a situation involving pets where they were unsure of themselves.

Others simply wanted to know what do should they ever have cause to in a vital pet minding situation where the pet falls ill unexpectedly. Of course the first rule is contact the local vet. But some degree of pet health and welfare can be very useful in a crisis situation.

Pet sitters experience

Some people spoke of the powerlessness of not knowing what to do when faced with a situation where Pet First Aid training would have helped enormously. It was always a pleasure to watch people leaving one of my courses empowered with the knowledge that they could positively influence a situation should they need to.

Pet first aid hot topics

The subjects of CPR, correct bandaging, how to deal with shock in pets, snake bites etc. are all things that most of us hope that we never have to encounter both with our own pets or someone else’s but knowing what to do should the worst- case scenario ever happen is an excellent confidence booster.

It may surprise you to learn that, according to the respected house/pet sitter providers www.housesitmatch.com around 80% of enquiries for house sitting are from clients with pets. This alone highlights the importance of your petsitter profile and the likely value that a pet related qualification such as pet first aid can offer. It will certainly help in a pet minding petsitting assignment, especially where there are multiple pets.

Pet First Aid Training

Pet First Aid training is worth mentioning in your Petsitter profile, and especially if you have considered and undertaken the array of different courses available has grown I always recommend a high calibre online course for pet sitters. The reason for this is two-fold

• The petsitter has an opportunity to re-certificate and receive updates from anywhere in the world.
• Online courses can be completed at your own pace as we all take in information at a different speed.

What I particularly like about the course that I recommend is that it’s produced by a very respected veterinary nurse and leading animal behavioural expert, Caroline Clark and externally accredited by bodies such as the CPD standards office.

Although primarily for dogs, much of the course is applicable to cats too.  DETAILS CAN BE FOUND HERE

To find your housesitting pet-sitting solution register with HouseSitMatch: