Sittercity or Care? I am an employer and curious about nannies and sitters' opinions on the positives and negatives of both of these sites. Which do you prefer and why? Where do you live and which gets you more job options? I am curious about both the overall nanny perception of the sites and if there is a geographic preference. No need to compare to agencies or CL unless you desire. Thanks.
22 comments:
I've got a lot of jobs off Care.com and like it much better than sitercity... but I still think agencies are the way to go if you want a really great nanny!
I like SitterCity because I can et my exact rates, I feel they are more responsive , and I've found more jobs on SitterCity.
Care.com isn't bad, but in my opinion they are more interested in making money thant matching nannies with families.
I also find sittercity to be more effective for me. I am a member of 4 nanny websites and sittercity is the only one I've gotten responses and jobs from.
I prefer an agency over a website. I've used Sittercity, Craigs, and Care. Care had the highest paying families in my area. Sittercity ranked 2nd. Craigs is a joke. But when I lived in NJ, Craigs had more job opportunities than Sittercity & Care.
I prefer Care to Sittercity, mostly because I like the layout of the site better. I've had good luck with finding jobs on both sites though.
I hate both those sites. Care was better for me since I've always gotten many responses and job offers but the families on both sites were crazy or very cheap. My last three full time long term positions were found on Craigslist. They all paid great and offered decent benefits. I also found local online mom groups to offer decent wages but I just signed with an agency and will go through them for my next position. I'm sick of screening tons of families and going on interviews with nuts.
I don't use SitterCity, and I don't care for Care.com, because it seems as though families who post there are rude and ignorant, only seeking inexperienced caregivers: out of all the responses I have sent to families on Care. com most of the time I do not get a response back. I didn't realize that experience is a bad thing. :( Of course not all families on Care.com are like this; it seems as though in a college town like mine, young, inexperienced nannies with minimal knowledge of child development are preferred.
CL is full of insane, cheap, crazy parents seeking nannies at childcare center rates, along with true insanity. (Note to MPP: I miss the WTF column.) Some of the ads there are downright ridiculous, as we have see with the WTF column.
I love CL, as I have found 3 houses and 4 jobs. My old nanny job with J, my last center of 3.5 years, along with my current job caring for A, and my new job which I started this week were found on CL.
Recently, CL was there for me again as my cat who ran away last year (she took off 7/1/11) was posted as found on CL. I took a long look at the pictures posted, and emailed the lady who posted the pics. The next day, I got a call from the humane society, telling me they had my cat, who is chipped. After being gone for nearly a year, Miracle Magdalene Rose is FeLV negative (re-test in October) flea and tick free, eyes, ears and coat are fine, and no other complications, with the exception of a scab healing on her foot and neck. I do have to watch her for Lyme disease.
All in all, I would still do CL, as it has been good to me in the past.
Note to MPP: I really, really, really miss the WTF column...that's a hint for you.
UMass: I want to apologize for the attack on a different thread...I had to reason to say that.
I use both websites and I live in San Diego, CA.
Overall, I have met the best families on Sittercity. With Care, I have only had bad luck...however in my case, I think it was just the luck of the draw.
Care.com has more jobs available in my area, plus they advertise a lot on T.V. so I think more families will eventually use Care.
What a lot of families do not realize is that ANYONE can post a babysitting profile on both of these websites just like they can for CL.
If I were looking for a great and competent Nanny for my children, I would most definitely use an agency. I personally do not think the screening process is that great for these websites...I mean they complete their background checks in less than a minute.
Technology cannot be that fast.
They are both crap sites.
Umass,
Can I ask why you think that in more detail? I have found some really amazing part-time babysitters on there. Lots less total scammers than CL, though I still prefer CL employer ads for ft nannies.
Do you have a site you prefer? I use local mom groups, but honestly find those have a lot of "inbreeding" issues. The sitters tend to get recycled among a small group of moms and I feel references hold back a lot of negatives because it is such a small community.
I do think parents *should* pay, but I wonder if adding some very small nominal fee (like $5-10/year) for nannies to be members would solve a lot of the problems with care and sittercity. But maybe not.
Just wanted to say I've found good people on CL and agencies as well.
It's all hit or miss. Unfortunately there is no way to skip out on the process. I wish I could at times.
I have met some amazing families on Sittercity but on Care.com I seem to play email tag with a few parents only to never hear from them again. Both sites post quite a number of jobs daily in my area; I've just had better luck with Sittercity.
I prefer the layout on care.com better and I found my current job on there. I have found jobs on CL and my last long-term job I found on nannies4hire.com. I never had any luck with sittercity.com.
Ok, this is totally off topic, but, Bostonnanny, I LOVE your shirt in your moniker pic. It is adorable! Just sayin :)
I've used both sitter city & care & find that care has resulted in more interviews but sitter city in more jobs. Interestingly enough, I like care more, I think it's the layout of the site. If you're safe, CL is no problem. I've gotten jobs, sold things, bought things, met people, & found apartments on there.
I have a profile on both. I have met way more families on Care than Sittercity, so for me Care works better.
One thing I really dislike about Care though is that in order for me to respond to families, my profile needs to be public. On Sittercity, I can respond to positions and still have my profile set to private.
off topic,
thank you, its actually a dress :)
Ads like those below are why I left Sittercity & Care.com. They just became too ridiculous.
This is a full time live in position for two babies ages 16 mos and newborn (2 wks old) . The job is a 5 day a week position Monday thru Friday from whenever our toddler wakes up in the morning (usually between 5am to 7am) to when she goes to sleep at night (usually between 7:15pm-8pm). In the evenings the nanny will have a 2-3 hour break and then will be on night duty with the toddler if she should wake up. Generally she does sleep through the night and only needs her pacifier put back in her mouth if she cries out at night. The off days would be Saturdays and Sundays. Only non-smokers, with their own transportation need apply. Looking forward to meeting you! $500 weekly.
Seriously?
I now work with an agency only.
Abby...that ad sure makes me sick.
As if the Nanny didn't need any sleep.
What a joke!
I like care.com. I also like nannies4hire.com - I live in L.A. and go to school, and I love that nannies4hire always has Dr. Phil Show babysitting gigs available, because they fit my schedule. I hate agencies, for the most part. I think the biggest problem with care, sittercity, and nannies4hire is the families on those sites aren't as affluent and they don't tend to offer salaries in my range. Unless you're a newer nanny starting out, they aren't great.
I don't care for nannies4hire one bit.
I found one of my best jobs on CL
It truly is a hit or miss.
I have tried CL a few times but I don't really trust it. I have had 2 positions through Sittercity, 1 of which I currently have. Both great families. My first time on Sittercity I applied and it was a huge scam that scared the crap out of me. The job seemed great and paid a good amount, but they sent me a check ahead of time and "accidently" sent too much money, asked me to go to my bank, cash it and send them back the difference which by that point it would bounce and they would get all MY money. I caught it in time, but it really scared me because they had my number and kept calling me too. Well I have found my other REAL positions on there since then, and have gone on about 2 other interviews where I did not get the job. This position took months of me applying. Actually I applied to about 30 positions a day for months, and I have a lot of experience with children. Parents get up to 100 applications, and they don't even have a chance to get to our application sometimes. I would like to check out Care though for something on the side.
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