Should I hire her or not?

We are in the process of getting a DH. During the past week, we did nothing but interviewing helpers. There is one lady that I like very much. But she did not finish her last contract but was terminated. Therefore she cannot stay in HK while waiting for her new visa approval. She had worked for her previous employer for nearly 10 years. That alone shows that she is solid. The problem is I can't afford to wait for her since I need to report to work in 2 weeks. I have heard from agency that it takes 4 - 6 weeks normally to process the paper work. But from reading this board, I have come to the realization that it may take even longer than that.


Is there any solution other than getting another one that will finish her contract? We have a young child so any advice would be appreciated.

In my opinion you should get the one you really like. It is worth waiting a few more weeks. You can get a legal part time while you wait.


As for waiting times, they are typically 6-10 weeks.

A hard choice!


I've gone with the one i really liked twice - once successfully, once not. Perhaps my experience will help you make a decision.


The first (unsuccessful) time, I discovered that the helper's real talent was at the interview and her work was really quite poor. We terminated her after 10 months, giving her plenty of notice to find a new job - which she got before we had her replacement. We then managed without help for about 2 months until her replacement arrived.


The second instance was with my current helper. We had to wait 8 weeks for her to finish her contract (the employer was not renewing to avoid paying LS leave). I didn't want to wait that long and decided it wouldn't work. I kept interviewing but didn't find anyone else I liked as much. 3 weeks later I saw the helper I liked at the agency, the contract she had signed had fallen through and we signed her. It has been wonderful and we are now on our second contract.


I suppose my point is that you can't really know from one interview how that person will work out. Also, sometimes it can be easy to overlook potential problems (as I did in the first case) because, at the interview, one good answer makes you overlook a warning sign about something else.


Maybe you should go to an agency and spend this coming Sunday interviewing helpers who can start sooner - then interview the first helper again. If you still like her best, sign her. Hopefully you can make do with part-time help and try to get the contract process expedited if you need to.


Good luck!

Thanks everyone for the kind reply! I am still interviewing and hope to find someone who will finish contract. In regard to her termination, I called her prior employer to check. They wouldn't give much details but just said they terminated her because the economy is bad and they can't afford her any more. Well, that could mean anything. She told me during the interview that she had dispute with her prior employer about LSP. They did not want to pay her LSP because she had been with them for nearly 10 years ( I suppose her LSP will be quite a lot. ) They told her to resign but she refused. Therefore, the contract ended in a quite unpleasant way. Her reference wouldn't give much details is what makes me hesitate as well. I will definitely keep interviewing and hope to find someone that I like as much as her.

If you give immigration a good reason why you need a DH urgently, they may process the visa within 4 weeks. They did this for me just recently due to having a very young baby and returning to work.

Personally, I would go with the gut feel and see if you can make other arrangements for the weeks you might have to wait for. The above suggestion seems worth exploring.