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By Beth Stultz-Hairston | Updated September 2023 

Recruiting and retaining staff are some of the most challenging aspects of running any small business, including pet-sitting businesses. Don’t wait until you are desperate for help to begin your search for employees. Smart recruiting has to be part of ongoing plans. (If you’re not sure where to start with hiring and training staff, be sure to check out PSI’s Hiring Guide for Pet Sitters & Dog Walkers course + downloadable guide!)

Start with who you know—or come in contact with

Everywhere you go, there are possible candidates. Stay aware of people who impress you with service. These can be waiters, retail workers, home-healthcare providers—even your doctor’s receptionist. Workers in similar salary ranges are always possibilities and those in other service-industry sectors often have skills that translate well to pet-sitting positions. When someone impresses you, give them your business card and say, “I appreciate the great service you delivered today. Here’s my card. If you love animals and ever decide to change careers, I’d like to talk with you.” If you have a website, include a “Jobs” page where people can express their interest any time.

Many pet sitters have also reported finding great staff sitters by hiring local veterinary office workers, animal shel­ter or pet-rescue employees or volunteers, and even current clients. Keep in mind that employees of competitors are often off-limits out of mutual respect and sometimes because of non-compete agreements.

If a really great employee leaves your company on good terms, it’s a good idea to keep in touch. Mark your calendar to call former employees who left in good standing every 90 days or so, just to say “Hi” and ask, “How’s the new job?” Sometimes people make changes that don’t work but may not consider contacting the good employer they left, even when returning could be a win-win situation.

Advertising for staff sitters

Some pet-care business owners are hesitant about employment advertising. Such was the case when PSI President and founder Patti Moran began to expand her business. In the beginning, she was able to tap friends, relatives and neighbors for help when the workload became overwhelming. But, for some folks, this practice can present a whole new set of troubles. Even if it works, the well is only so deep and eventually you will find these resources exhausted.

Some of your advertising options may include:

Classifieds. Newspaper ads work well if the publication is still widely read in your area, but print ads are quickly becoming obsolete. Basic pricing usually comes with very limited space as well and you will want to describe your opening without such limits if you can. Fortunately, most newspapers offer ad packages that include online listings and some partner with several online placement services, such as Monster.com, which can give you very broad exposure to job seekers. Sample employment ads and job postings are included in PSI’s Hiring Guide for Pet Sitters & Dog Walkers course + downloadable guide.

Online job boards. At this writing, job boards are still very high on the list of places to go for job seekers. Most are free for candidates to search, but vary widely in employer posting rates. Although players like CareerBuilder.com  and Indeed.com still lead the pack overall, many more specific sites, some with free posting opportunities, are popping up in numbers. Sites specific to hourly and/or entry-level workers might work well for pet-sitting business owners, as well as sites that focus more on local jobs. Sites such as Snagajob.com focus on hourly and seasonal placement, with search-by-ZIP-code capability. Other job boards, such as jobs.diversityinc.com, serve as online career centers for diverse and LGBTQ job candidates and can help your business attract a more diverse pool of candidates.

Basic postings are typically free to employers on many job boards, but they offer paid packages that include more options, such as logo posting. Boards specific to animal care can narrow searches even further. For example, Jobmonkey.com targets “jobs working with animals” with reasonable rates for posting that include screening tools, criteria matching, blind email, etc.

Important note about screening tools: One of the downsides of internet recruitment is the massive volume of responses and/or resumes you might receive. Especially in a down economy, you can end up spending a lot of time going through resumes and emails, many of which are from people who do not meet the requirements stated in your ad. Screening tools can be very helpful in managing responses. Capabilities vary, but many have matching features and pre-qualifying questions that compare your requirements to the candidate’s qualifications, such as education, years of experience, etc. They can then weed out the candidates that do not meet your basic requirements. Some systems even offer online applications and can send automatic responses back to the candidates.

Most job boards include the ability for an employer to search their databases of resumes, which can be very helpful. Searching the available employment pool in your area can often yield as many candidates as you need to fill your opening.

Job search sites. Growing in popularity are search engines or aggregators that allow searchers to scan thousands of major job sites and boards, company sites, associations, classifieds and even blogs all at once. They look and feel much like Google. Indeed.com simplifies searching and offers seekers email alerts. Although an employer’s ad might appear in natural search results at no charge, they can advertise on a pay-per-click basis with sponsored ads.

Free online job posting. Most free job posting sites offer little in the way of employer resources, but they can be very effective for getting your ad in front of the most people. The most popular of these is still craigslist.org; however, there are cities of exception to the free part. In certain major metro areas, paid ads are required for job postings, but the rates are very reasonable (search about>help>posting fees) and their reach is phenomenal with more than 20 billion page views per month. Advantages include localization, ease of use, blind email and the popularity of the site. Although craigslist has been the subject of some security controversy, all advertising has risks.

Social-media recruiting. Every business interested in growing these days should have a social-media presence. Facebook pages, Twitter accounts and LinkedIn all offer recruiting opportunities through social networking. If you have a Facebook page or Twitter or LinkedIn account, you can post your job openings to an audience that already has expressed an interest in your business. If they are not interested, they will probably share your post with friends they know who have some commonality. It’s a great way to cast a broad net. A word of warning here—exercise caution in your communications and searches via social media to avoid making any kind of impression that could be misconstrued as discriminatory.

Employment Security Commission (ESC). The ESC, or a similar agency in a particular state, is essentially a joint effort between state and federal governments. It was set up as a result of the Social Security Act of 1935. Each state runs its own agency within federal guidelines and one of their responsibilities is to help the unemployed. States tax employers, using a formula based on how many successful unemployment claims are filed against them, but keeping unemployment benefits funded is a tremendous task. Therefore, job placement is a priority for ESC offices as well. Because one must list themselves as an available candidate with the ESC before they can obtain unemployment checks, it is a huge candidate pool. The ESC will assist you in recruiting for your opening and their services are free. They usually have an online job board where you can post and monitor your advertisement. You can also contact your local office by phone and speak with a career counselor who can help you get set up.

Other targeted recruitment options:

Organizations and individuals interested in pets are excellent groups to target in your recruiting efforts. Send a letter or electronic communication to notify groups of your openings. Sample recruitment letters are included in PSI’s Hiring Guide for Pet Sitters & Dog Walkers course + downloadable guide. Join and participate in their Facebook and/or LinkedIn pages and/or follow them on Twitter, where you can share your recruiting posts. Participate in veterinary technician school job fairs if possible also.

Examples of organizations that you might tap include:

• Humane societies
• Kennel clubs
• Civic organizations
• Social clubs
• Veterinary establishments
• Rescue groups
• Cause organizations and groups
• Pet stores
• Local pet publications
• Dog parks
• Trade associations
• Schools with veterinary and/or animal science programs

If you are a PSI member and have joined PSI's private, members-only Facebook group, you can also check out this group discussion with suggestions from other pet sitters on where they have had the best luck advertising for staff. 

Need more ideas? This post from Pets+ magazine shares 13 ways to attract quality job candidates to your pet business.

Casting a wide net

Keep in mind that spreading your recruitment efforts over several venues. This helps avoid the perception of discriminatory recruiting practices—and gives you more opportunities to find high-quality employees!

The goal of recruiting is to keep a pool of qualified candidates in your pipeline. To do this, you must diversify your sources and stay alert to those around you. Go out there and share the love you have for pet sitting with everyone you meet. It will reflect in your successful business and the caliber of pet-loving professional sitters that you attract.

Bonus Tip: What is an Equal Opportunity Employer?

All employers are required to follow federal and state anti-discrimination law. Identifying yourself as an Equal Opportunity Employer simply puts the public on notice that you do not reject applicants on the basis of race, age, sex, religion, disability, color, national origin or other protected classes under federal or state law.

Instead,each applicant is reviewed based on his or her qualifications, work experience and education. It is a statement of adherence and ethics that companies should display with pride.

Don't forget that finding quality staff members is only half the battle. Is also important that you are able to keep your high-quality team once they've been hired! Check out these 4 ways to keep your employees engaged and motivated.