I would like to know becuase I hear so many conflicting stories. Please share.
I'm sure others will benefit from the info as well!
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We've been here 14 years and have had 4 helpers we absolutely loved/love. 3 left us to go on to have lives of their own. The first 3 we got from neighborhood-word of mouth/personal recommendations. The last (current) lady, from an agency, "International". She is also fantastic. The agency were fine, had good candidates and were easy to work with.
In the mix, about 6 years ago, we had 1 helper, recommended by someone I thought of as a friend, who was terrible. An overall terrible person; this so-called friend admitted to a mutual acquaintance, she had lied through her teeth to get me to hire this woman. She had thought she was terrible as well, but they were 'cheating' on her exact leave-dates/work-dates and needed her cooperation, so in exchange THEY had to find a new position for her. GENERALLY; word of mouth should be the best possible way to hire someone, but in this one instance we still got burned.
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I would suggest asking a friend who has had a helper for some years for a reference from the helper. Mention what duties are most important. A long time helper is not likely to make a bad recommendation as it would anger her employer.
There are often helpers who need work because their employer has moved out of the country. Helpers talk and know who is available.
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One from a 'friend' who was leaving and gave us a recommendation, despite having problems that we only found out about later. Two from this website, both good, but as people always say, hard work sifting through all the others. Last one as a recommendation from our previous helper, who promised she would be a good match for us, and she is.
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Our helper came to us from close friends, who were leaving. She had worked for them for a few years, so I knew what she was like, and she came highly recommended. She is an absolute gem and I can't believe how lucky we are, especially when I hear some of the horror stories about other people's experiences with helpers. It wasn't without the odd 'teething' problem to begin with, as our needs were different to that of our friend's family, but once we got everything sorted out, I couldn't fault her. We're hanging on to her for as long as we can!!
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