How To Find A Housekeeper

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You know you want - or need - help around the house, but wonder where to find a reputable, dependable and trustworthy housekeeper. Wonder no more! We've got all you need to know to find the help you're looking for.

Not everyone was born with the neatnik gene
A lot of people feel the need to justify the decision to not clean their own homes. Licensed family and marriage therapist Jody Gilmore, LCSW says, "Women are especially susceptible to feeing guilty for wanting or needing help. Often they see wanting to hire a housekeeper as a weakness, when in fact, it should be looked at being very practical and even beneficial." "I could hardly function without my housekeeper. She is a tremendous help, and keeps our house running smoothly," says Diana Crabb, a Crystal Lake, Illinois mom of four who works full time outside the home. She adds that she's even more grateful for the help now, as her husband frequently works out of the country. "It's well worth the money."

Cleaning house - vacuuming Gilmore says, "There are many very good reasons to hire help, and regardless of your personal reason, if hiring a housekeeper is good for you and your family, there's no reason to feel guilty."

It's true: acknowledging that you want - and deserve - help around the house can be liberating.

If you need help justifying it to yourself, here are a few great reasons to consider hiring a cleaning person:

Having a busy schedule
Allergies to dust or cleaning products
Disability or illness in the family
Pregnancy
You have a new baby (or babies!)
You're having company or houseguests
You're caring for several young children
You have a home-based business
You're returning to work
To help reduce stress from having a cluttered environment
Spousal/family conflict (house is always messy and stressing everyone out)
You want to have more spare time and can free up time you would spend cleaning and/or supervising cleaning to do something enjoyable and fun
Face it: You really don't like cleaning

Point and click your way to help
Following the example of website search engines designed at bringing two hearts together, several sites match prospective household employees with those looking to hire help. Although there are several localized options, these sites typically offer placement services throughout the US.

Angie's List
More than 500,000 members across 124 cities use Angie's List, an online peer referral service for household help, which is helping to level the playing field for many small "mom and pop" businesses. Big companies and small companies compete side-by-side on the List because it is based on caliber of work, not on an ad budget. A beautiful, clean kitchen "Angie's List its not about who's biggest or has the flashiest marketing campaign, it's truly about who provides our members with the finest quality service." [ www.AngiesList.com]

HireHousekeepers.com
Here, you can post an online job opportunity listing the criteria you're looking for. You have the ability to determine the level of experience, number of references required, hours and whether you prefer a non-smoker or have no preference. The service finds matching candidates for you to choose from; however the candidates can only contact you via the manner you select and at the time and date that you included in your posting. The cost to find a full-time person is $65 and you are guaranteed five responses. Searching for part-time help costs $39 and guarantees three responses. [ HireHousekeepers.com]

GoNannies.com
A 45-day membership costs $68, and gives you full access to the more than 7,500 US candidates' contact information. You can also post a job listing for a housekeeper, as well as other types of domestic positions such as child care or personal assistant. Members can also run background checks, verify employment or review driving records for additional fees detailed on the site. [ GoNannies.com]

HousekeeperHelp.com
Offers free browsing of individuals who have listed their experience, contact info, etc. You're free to contact as many potential employees as you'd like, but remember, you're responsible for coordinating and conducting all background and reference checks. You can also post a help wanted ad on the site that costs $59.99 and will run for up to six months. [ HousekeeperHelp.com]

DreamHomeStaff.com
Prospective household employers pay a membership fee of $39 to search the database of potential housekeepers. You select who you would like to contact and initiate the interviewing process. Also offering background checks for an additional fee, membership includes support services such as helping you establish an hourly rate or answer questions relating to hiring a housekeeper. [ DreamHomeStaff.com]

Five local options to find a housekeeper
There are also a number of local search methods that can be highly effective when looking for household help.