Are you considering hiring someone to clean your home? Read this first!
People who lead busy lives are more than happy to find someone to look after the house while they are outside, taking care of their careers, or taking their children to extracurricular activities. Finding good help at a cleaning company is a completely different matter, and often you need to consult dozens of housekeepers before finding one you like. Here are a few tips to help you find a reliable housekeeper who can hold the house in charge without worrying about what might happen.
Check references
Most of the time, people look to job boards or local agencies for salaried help. Those who are registered with an agency have likely already been vetted, but don't rely on them. It is your duty to do some research and ask for references first. And check them out. Pick up the phone and talk to previous employers instead of relying on a written testimonial, no matter how shiny it is. Also visit special forums and ask about this person. You may find someone you used to work for who can give you an honest opinion.
Ask for a background check
Don't be afraid to hurt their feelings by requesting a background check. You cannot be expected to trust someone you see for the first time in your life. After all, that person has full access to your house and everything in it. To make their job easier, suggest using an online character verification agency like the following link for the ANCC service popular in countries like Australia, New Zealand and also with employers in the US – https: // www. australiannationalcharactercheck.com. au / and offer an online service instead of having to enter a police station. These types of agencies are accredited and their controls are every bit as good as the ones you get from the local authorities. You can even order a background check by phone as all you need to do is fill out a form with basic identification information plus a photo. They will send you the result by email. If it turns out they have no criminal record, you can hire them. Remember, you must ask the candidate for consent before commissioning a background check. It's illegal to do it behind your back.
Check out their social media
If you hire someone to be the housekeeper, you will likely become friends on Facebook and Instagram too, because that's what people do. Take the opportunity to ask about their social media during the interview and see what they post. See what kind of person they are and what kind of friends they have. Google their name at the same time and see what comes out of it. Hopefully nothing. Still, there is always the possibility of finding a troubling fact about someone. Google knows everything about everyone these days. These checks are becoming increasingly popular with hiring managers because the Internet has a long memory and you can get posts about events that happened many years ago.
Ask for a medical exam
If that person is in your house every day cleaning and sometimes cooking for you, then you need to know that they do not carry any communicable diseases. It's not just about Covid-19, this will eventually pass, but there are many other diseases that a person can carry and sometimes don't even know they are sick.
Bonus tip: make sure you like the person you hire as the housekeeper. This is someone you need to see and talk to every day and if you feel uncomfortable around them it will be very uncomfortable to say the least.
