Maid, nannies, helpers; How to find a good one?

[OnMyWay]

A few times people have mentioned they knew a good maid that was available.  Anybody know a good maid / nanny that would want to move to Subic and be our live-in?  We would pay the travel expenses if they commit for a year.  I thought maybe one of you might have family that would be looking for that type of work.

We prefer to get a younger girl (18-25?) that is not from this area, with no kids, who knows the basics of cooking / cleaning / childcare, ability to learn, has a sunny disposition, loves kids, a good work ethic, and of course, honest.  A dream?   

Responsibilities would be getting our 12 year old out the door to school every morning, keeping the house clean, some laundry, bathing the little ones, some cooking, playing with the kids., etc., etc.  After a trial period, we will pay SS and Philhealth.  One trip home per year will be paid for by us.  They would also have all the benefits of living here with us in a nice house and traveling when we take road trips.  Pay TBD dependent on experience, and a raise comes after a year.  We are fair and treat our helpers well.

We have had a couple of pretty good ones but it seems to be getting harder.  We had one from Bohol until Nov. 15th, and she left after only 6 months.  Friend of my BIL's family.  Unfortunately, she was not that bright and always told stories of her parents calling her dumb and degrading her.  I felt bad for her and she had no self confidence.  She really did not know how to work or cook, but she got us by during the birth of our second baby and after.  She decide to leave on her own, after only 6 months.

This past week we took a chance on somebody local.  She came to the door and said the maids next door had referred her.  Turns out that was not exactly right.  Somewhat older, 45-50, depending on what day she told you.  We interviewed her, explained the duties and pay, and that she would have to get a police clearance.  She was fine with everything and she knows many people that we know of in the area, as she has been working as a maid in the area for 17 years.  She said she was working as a stay out for some Korean's nearby for the past 6 years but now wanted a stay-in job.

She was supposed to start last Thursday.  No show.  She finally turned up mid-day Saturday and said she had to make a trip home thus could not start Thursday, and we had forgotten to exchange phone numbers.  I told my wife, no, we will not hire her now, but my wife really needs help and wanted to give her a chance.  She started that day and she was an excellent house keeper.  Everything cleaned thoroughly and she worked quickly.  She was ok with the kids.  Depending on what day you asked, she had 8 to 11 kids of her own, with the youngest 15.

So my wife chatted her up a lot to find out more about her.  She seemed to forget facts she would say and then next time she told a similar story the facts would change.  As I said, she was an excellent housekeeper and knew what she was doing, thus she did not want to take any advice or requests from my wife on how to do some things.  She is older than my wife and talked back to my wife quite a few times.  And, she seemed to resent that she had to help with the kids sometimes.  She would go on and on about how her previous employer(s) were so rich and had help for every single role, etc.  We had clearly explained the role but she was not happy with it.

So, Tuesday this week she tells us about 11 am she need to go to her last employer and officially end the job there.  (It is a long walk away).  My wife noticed her things were all packed up but she did not take them.  She is gone all afternoon with no contact, so of course she was a goner at this point.  I predicted to my wife what she would say when she got back and I was right.  She came back at 6:30 pm.  The old employer had offered her more money to stay.  Ok, fine, don't let the door hit you on the way out.

Live and learn.  She would be a very good stay out house cleaner for a single guy, which is kind of what the former employer is.  There is more to that story but I won't gossip any more than I already have!  

[RBM]

Finding a good maid reminds me of the needle in....

[Jack Peterson]

 It has taken us 5 years to get a good One, We are learning with the failings of each we have had. We find that you can read between the lines of these Ladies. Just now we have a 27 year old from a fair way off. 2 kids both at school and a husband that is in Work with the Town Mayor as a Driver/Handy man. She was there also for 6 months but she was last in and First out when the Mayors campaign faltered at election time and he thought he may not get returned, He did but it was too late, she had another Job. However that did not last Long ( 5 months) as the Employer came on to her and she just walked out. Perchance we needed one and we invited her to come and see us.

 She has been here now 6 weeks and loving it she tells us. I am Happy and the Stress has gone. I just hope it lasts. She only wants to go home once a month and her Mother and Aunt deal with the kids. The Husband is Busy so they would see little of Each other if it were any different. All around just now, Jack is a Happy Chappy. 

Edited January 26, 2017 by Jack Peterson
grammar

[OnMyWay]

9 minutes ago, RBM said:

Finding a good maid reminds me of the needle in....

We have known a few that worked for friends or neighbors, who were like gold!  We wanted to steal them!

[robert k]

54 minutes ago, RBM said:

Finding a good maid reminds me of the needle in....

Needle in the Eurasian continent? I mean a single particular needle?

[Dave Hounddriver]

A good maid depends upon the boss.  If you know how to supervise people to get the best performance out of them then you can find lots of good ones.  Most of us don't want to be bothered.  We want a maid who will self motivate, self teach, know what we want and get it done.  VERY rare, those ones.

EDIT:  Extremely rare in the under 25 age group but I had some luck in the past with the over 35 age group.  Still you have to find someone who has years of experience and is good at what they do.

Filipinos have good maids because they often dominate them to the point of almost abuse and the poor girls are frightened to not do a good job.  German employers are good at that too.  Perhaps that is their culture or perhaps its just the dominating Germans I have met here.

Edited January 26, 2017 by Dave Hounddriver

[Jack Peterson]

2 minutes ago, Dave Hounddriver said:

 VERY rare, those ones.

 I think I found her Bye George I really do 

[snowridr]

If you are working for a company here, have you considered asking with any co-workers?  A lot of things here seems to be who you know situations.  We were able to find our housekeeper this way (our expat forum) - she had worked for another employee for nine years and was looking for another family to work for.

Also, our housekeeper is 62 but that has been no impediment to her ability get things done.  I'm sure we ended up paying more for her services, but it certainly worth not having to teach someone how to do their job and worry about their trustworthiness. 

[jpbago]

We don't have a maid in our house. I live with 4 ladies (my wife, our 19 and 20 year old daughters, and MIL) so if they cannot look after the house, then I must be in the wrong house.

Many people have problems with maids, even some serious problems that makes the Panay local news.

[sonjack2847]

3 minutes ago, jpbago said:

We don't have a maid in our house. I live with 4 ladies (my wife, our 19 and 20 year old daughters, and MIL) so if they cannot look after the house, then I must be in the wrong house.

Many people have problems with maids, even some serious problems that makes the Panay local news.

If you have maid the last thing you want is to be counting things everyday.