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Hiring help


Olmsted

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Not investment-related, but I imagine many of you have experience and I seek your advice:

 

I am starting a job soon with more-intense hours, and am looking to hire some part-time or full-time household help to ease the burden on my wife.  You know, cleaning, shopping, maybe watching a kid for a few minutes here or there if necessary.

 

Having no experience here, how does one go about doing this?  How do buyers of services and sellers of services get matched up?  What kind of all-in costs should one anticipate?  How does one find someone reliable and trustworthy?  And any pitfalls I should be aware of?

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Care.com

 

We are currently in the same process.  We had 4 responses on the first day, interviewed our first today.  She had about 10 years of experience, with three solid references from local families.

 

We're interviewing the second tomorrow.

 

So it's all about checking up on those references -- making sure the person is reliable and trustworthy.

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Call your references when you know they will not answer the phone.  Leave a message to only call back if they have a reference.  This gives the original reference a chance to say no-way without being put on the spot.

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Care.com

 

We are currently in the same process.  We had 4 responses on the first day, interviewed our first today.  She had about 10 years of experience, with three solid references from local families.

 

We're interviewing the second tomorrow.

 

So it's all about checking up on those references -- making sure the person is reliable and trustworthy.

 

Thanks!

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Call your references when you know they will not answer the phone.  Leave a message to only call back if they have a reference.  This gives the original reference a chance to say no-way without being put on the spot.

 

Great strategy! I just wonder what the false positive rate would be from people who are just lazy or busy...

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Not sure about the US, but here in Canada, you can sponsor a live-in help for minimum salary.

They usually come from Philippines, Morroco, South or Latin America, etc.

Some people prefer an "au pair" (usually younger) that can teach their kids a second language while learning/improving their own English skills. Most of them come from European countries (i.e. France), are well educated, have a driving licence, etc.

 

This might help :

http://www.aupairinamerica.com/compare.asp

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Thanks! It seems like hiring an au pair would be very advantageous - if your primary need were childcare.  Our strategy is to hire someone to help with all the mundane household chores so my wife and I can focus on spending time with the kids, with light babysitting as a only a secondary or tertiary duty.  Seems like a better value-add for the kids' lives and ours.

 

Still, I'm going to file that agency website away for if/when it becomes germane. 

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