Advice on getting a helper

Hi,

My husband and I have not had a helper before but, due to work pressures, have decided to employ someone.


I am a little overwhelmed at the prospect of recruiting direct and wonder why so many people do it. Is it not easier to find someone already here about to finish their contract? Or is that not as easy at it seems?


Any thing else I should be aware of?

Many thanks for any advice given.

Hi, you can call Asiaxpat (look for Evelyn)..she can assist and give you advise in finding your helper.

The reason people hire directly from overseas is that they like to get someone new to HK, with fewer friends to tell the helper when their employer is exploiting them. As soon as a helper has been here a while she will know what is reasonable or not for an employer to ask. Personally I think that anyone hiring a complete stranger to work and live in their house is completely mad, and deserves any trouble that they end up with. How many people running a business would employ someone that they had never met? And this is someone that may be looking after your children...

Yes, I agree.

Thanks for the advice.

I disagree with the generalisation that people who choose direct hire do so because they want a DH with few friends and won't know when the employer is exploiting them. I have just chosen a direct hire DH because I tried and failed to get a local hire one. The direct hire helper I chose has relatives in HK who will support and advise her, and even if she didn't I have no intention of exploiting her.


Another reason for choosing direct hire is that some employers may want a DH with little or no experience because they fear a more experienced helper will be stuck in her ways. Therefore direct hire may suit an employer who is particular in their ways but patient enough to train the new helper.



Quite a few friends of mine have found it very tough to find a local hire helper without a terminated contract, and it's even harder to get someone with a good reference. So please don't make an assumption about why people are choosing direct hire.


Lastly, yes it makes me feel nervous to hire someone I've never met, but really if you think about it, how well can you know an applicant after one interview and a one day trial?


I think it's a bit harsh to say that people who choose direct hire deserve any trouble they end up with ... we all have limited choices and just have to do our best to pick from the options available to us at any given time.

How odd. I have never found the slightest trouble finding a helper with a completed contract, already in HK, who I could meet, talk with, introduce to my family before hiring.

Hello i am mary joy..I am currently working in hong kong for 2 and a half year from now..If you like i am willing to work in your family.thanks.

kittycat2,


I'm so glad things have worked out better for you! A friend of mine and I have both been looking for a helper for over a month and neither of us have been able to find one. My friend is really desperate and can only accept a DH with a finished contract who will be able to start straight away, she's such a lovely lady and not picky at all, but she's been trying and trying to no avail.


As for me, I tried for a month to get a local hire but no success. I am not so desperate as my friend, so I can accept someone with a terminated contract, so long as there is a good reason and the DH is a suitable one, but despite this I couldn't find anyone either! I gave up and tried direct hire as I thought at least I'd be able to get someone.


I've been using an agency for a month and I've chosen 5-6 helpers (one after the other) and they've all 'cancelled their application' for various reasons. Most before I could even interview them, one after a detailed webcam interview during which I thought the candidate and I got on really well. That was the one who cancelled after we'd both signed the contract and I'd paid the agency fee ...


On the other hand I do have another friend who, like you, found a DH with no trouble at all. She said she only phoned one candidate from the Asiaxpat webpage, found her ideal and hired her and she's working well! So I think it can go either way.

I appreciate that you shouldn't generalise in terms of nationality, but I have interviewed primarily Sri Lankan helpers and have never had a single cancelled interview or a no show. Also have had absolutely no trouble with the common helper/employer issues (mobile phone use, untied hair, borrowing money).


(Oh, did have one cancelled interview - the helper's employer called and said she'd sprained her ankle playing cricket - couldn't have made that up...)