Is Sittercity safe? Does Sittercity have sitters that you can trust and depend on? Read on and find out.
Connecting to a sitter online is not just a matter of letting people know. First and foremost, you need to be very careful with what you say online. You just can’t go online and announce to the whole world that you need a sitter. You’ll end up with a lot of shady applicants.
While it is very convenient to connect to sitters via sites like Craigslist and other online classifieds, if you are not careful, you can get connected to scammers and worst of all, to criminals. These are the kind of people you want to stay away from.
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Some folks can’t help but try their luck online. They use their social media accounts to try to connect to sitters. Even though that’s a very dangerous way of connecting to sitters, they still go about doing it thinking they’re going to be spared.
When it comes to childcare, are you willing to take chances? What you need to do is to find a credible childcare service provider online. That’s where Sittercity comes in.
There are more than 7 million parents across the United States who trust Sittercity for their child care needs.
Sittercity is an online childcare service provider that’s been in business since 2001. There are more than 7 million parents across the United States who trust Sittercity for their child care needs.
The site’s mission is to connect parents in need of sitters with trusted, reliable, and qualified sitters. Basic access to parents is actually free.
As a member of Sittercity, you can take a good look at the profiles of the babysitters posted on Sittercity. The company has a lot of useful features and tools to help screen for sitters. You can do all of these within the comforts of your home.
You will also be given access to a database of experienced and screened sitters. Hence, this makes it safer for you and your family as compared to looking for a sitter in an online classified jobs market.
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Highly Committed To Family Safety
Sittercity recommends a four-step process for screening and finding the best sitter for your family. This screening process includes the use of the site’s internal feedback system, conducting personal interviews, checking references, and conducting thorough background checks.
By following this four-step screening process, you can put your mind at rest and be able to make better hiring decisions.
Background checks are available for parents or sitters to purchase and process. The background check processing is completed by Sterling Talent Solutions. Sterling is considered one of the best in the world when it comes to checking and verifying the background of anyone.
Sitters are screened through the Family Watchdog database, both with the information provided at registration and continuously thereafter.
Sitter identities are authenticated at registration by Experian, who compares user information against publicly available data. This helps Sittercity determine that the person who created the profile is a real person.
You would think the high level background and database checks would be enough. Well, Sittercity realizes you can never be too careful. They take safety and security so seriously that they have a third party review process. The profiles of sitters are reviewed again for identity verification and quality review.
One of the great things that I like with Sittercity is the ability to do background and identification checks right within the site.
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Background checks are available for parents or sitters to purchase and process. The background check processing is completed by Sterling Talent Solutions. Sterling is considered one of the best in the world when it comes to checking and verifying the background of anyone.
However, Sittercity doesn’t stop there.
They’ve also partnered with an organization called Family Watchdog, which tracks down registered sex offenders within your area, for added security in your screening process. I think that is also really a great feature that parents should be aware of.
Sittercity’s comprehensive background check includes an identity check, a national criminal search, traffic violations, and a check through the sex offender and violent crime registry.
As a heads up, a background check using Sterling costs $15 per background check per person. Sittercity’s comprehensive background check includes an identity check, a national criminal search, traffic violations, and a check through the sex offender and violent crime registry.
However, most of the time, you will find that a sitter already has a background check in their profile. If such is the case, then you wouldn’t have to do one as the background check was already done by other parents or subscribers, or by the sitter themselves.
According to Sittercity, it is pretty common for sitters to pay for their own background check in order to complete their profile and make it more convenient for parents to hire them. By having a complete background check in their Sittercity profile, a babysitter usually has a better chance of being contacted by parents since they are making it convenient and cheaper for parents to hire them.
By the way, even if sitters request for their own background check on Sterling, there is absolutely no possibility that sitters can influence or tamper with the findings in the background check.
While identity and background checks are extremely important, being able to read reviews about a sitter from other parents is priceless.
Aside from being able to do background checks conveniently as a Sittercity member, you can also read actual reviews on the sitters left by other moms and members of the site. While identity and background checks are extremely important, being able to read reviews about a sitter from other parents is priceless.
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Sittercity also allows you to contact the sitters’ references directly so that you can talk to them to learn more about the sitter that you are interested in hiring.
In addition to all of these, sitter profiles on the site also come with photos, experience, training, safety skills, availability calendars, reviews and more. You can interview sitters before making a final decision. In fact, it is highly recommended that you do so. You are always in control of the whole process.
Like any other online sitter service, there is no guarantee that the system is fool proof but as long as you use common sense and do your own research on applicants, then you should be safe.
Like any other online sitter service, there is no guarantee that the system is fool proof but as long as you use common sense and do your own research on applicants, then you should be safe. If one sitter has a five star rating and good references and the other has a two star rating and nothing to back up their application, then the choice is obvious.
A Community Of Parents And Sitters To Connect With
You can definitely make the right connection online as long as you take advantage of all the services Sittercity offers you. The background checks can get you useful information that’s very critical to your decision-making.
Suffice to say, Sittercity makes it safe for you because of all the features it offers. You can get insightful details about the applicants from their profiles and background checks. Related read: Sittercity vs Care.com, a side-by-side comparison
More importantly, you can also get direct feedback from other parents who have hired sitters you are interested in as the platform allows parents to rate and provide feedback on sitters.
In addition to those benefits, the selection process of Sittercity also makes it safe for you to connect to a sitter online. It’s a simple process but so long as you follow it, you’ll easily be connected to a sitter online.
Commitment To Safety
Sittercity is committed to make your online search for a sitter safe. As long as you make use of all their safety features and tools, you will never have to worry about connecting to a dubious sitter.
A nerd at heart (haha), I have been following and analyzing the world of online sitters for a couple of years now and have seen a lot of innovations and changes in this market. In between taking care of my loving (and demanding 😜) family and writing, I also do a lot of “traveling” on the Travel Channel and Discovery Channel. Read More
I feel a lot safer with Sittercity than the other services. The babysitter’s identity is verified before her account goes live on Sittercity. Who knows if the other services actually do that?
I think the other services also verify their babysitters’ identity. But the thing I like about Sittercity is that it has always been consistent. The quality of their sitters and service has never been compromised. It has always been top-notch and that makes me feel really safe. I know of other sitter services that have ended up in the news in a very bad light.
I’m all for privacy and that’s the reason why I feel very uncomfortable on social media. The fact that my posts could be shared with other people, other than my friends, is scary. I wouldn’t want the whole world to know that I am looking for a sitter. I might attract the wrong kind of sitter. 🙁
Sittercity is a membership-based website, meaning it’s not available for the whole world to see. That gives me some peace of mind since the members who are signed up are focused only on getting the right kind of childcare. Nothing more and nothing less.
I don’t take chances. If I’m going to hire a sitter for the first time, I make use of all the safety features of Sittercity. I read the reviews and run background checks. Even if the sitter already has a background check badge, I still run one. But if I’m going to hire one of my regular sitters, I usually skip the background checks.
It’s important to always look at the background checks of the sitters on Sittercity. For sure, they have some kind of background check. In case, the sitter has an enhanced background check, I go on and check if she has badges on motor vehicle records check, First Aid, and CPR. Then I choose which one among them I will run. If the sitter already has a basic background check, I go on and run an enhanced background check. My point is, I always run a background check on the sitters so that I can be sure of them.
We started using Sittercity when my daughter was just 3 months old. Now, she’s four and we’re still using Sittercity. As a matter of fact, it’s the only childcare service we’re using. We wouldn’t have been using it this long if it weren’t safe at all.
Our regular sitter from Sittercity is a lovely college student named Sara. She speaks Spanish and she’s wonderful with my kids. She always has a lot of activities lined up. Drawing, board games, walking in the park are just some of the activities she patiently does with my kids. She tries her best to keep my kids off their tablets and she does a good job on that. She has her own car and she’s certified to administer CPR. My kids enjoy her company. I really wouldn’t know what to do without her.
She sounds heaven sent. 😊 She can even teach your kids a second language.
The profiles on Sittercity are verified. This means, you will never come across a bogus profile. Some sitters might not have badges for background checks. In that case, you can always run one yourself. If a sitter has a background check badge displayed on her profile, I suggest you check on the date it was done. If the background check has been done months ago, better to run another one for your peace of mind.
It’s very tempting to hire a babysitter from a free website. There are a lot of babysitters advertising their services on Craigslist and social media websites. I am not saying that these babysitters aren’t any good …I really wouldn’t know. But at the same time, I wouldn’t risk hiring babysitters from free websites. I just think that if you’re a serious babysitter, you’d rather be on websites that specialize in childcare, right?
Make sure to check the date of the sitter’s Enhanced background check. You’ll see it right under the badge. If six months (or maybe even a year) have passed since it was completed, I suggest you run a background check on her.
Sittercity’s safety net is their selection process. Their easy-to-follow selection process encourages the parents to be more proactive in their search. Being proactive in your search is a lot better than being reactive, in case things don’t turn out so well.
But if you’ve been with Sittercity for years (like me) it will be very easy for you to connect with the regular sitters. You can always send them a message on their profile and that’s one feature I really like about this service.
Sittercity is safe if you do your homework. You gotta dig in. Don’t expect everything to turn out without your due diligence. It doesn’t work that way but that’s just my two cents.
The sitters have to be approved to be on Sittercity. They just can’t create an account and post their profile. It doesn’t work that way for Sittercity sitters. They have to be checked and approved by Sittercity. It’s a far cry from another sitter service that I know of.
Sittercity is not just helpful for moms but also for single dads like me. I wouldn’t know what to do without it. The sitters are amazing. They come over and watch my kids. That allows me to focus on my work. Now don’t get any crazy ideas about the sitters and me (being a single dad). I am talking professional sitters here. These are hardworking ladies who patiently watch and even teach my kids at times. I truly appreciate them.
I can imagine how many folks out there want to babysit just so they could earn a couple of bucks. I get that and, in a way, it’s good for moms like me who are always looking for a sitter.
Having said that, it’s very important for childcare services to screen the sitters who are signing up. This where Sittercity comes in because even way before the lock down, Sittercity has always been careful with their selection of sitters.
I am not taking any chances these days. If I need to hire a sitter, I’m only hiring from Sittercity. It’s the only childcare service I trust these days. It gives me the liberty to dig deep into the sitter’s background. That’s peace of mind for me.
You said well and I totally agree with you. There is no guarantee that the system of online sitter services is foolproof or to put it bluntly, safe. As parents, we should find ways to make it safe for our kids. Investigate and get to know the sitter more before hiring. Avoid hiring for the sake of just having a warm body around. Safety starts with the parents and not with the service.
How safe is the site for the sitters? How can we know for sure these are real people with actual children and not just random perverts?
Hello Zakaria. As mentioned in this article, Sittercity does its best to keep both parents and sitters safe. However, even sitters will definitely have to take the necessary precautions to keep themselves safe. You might like to check this article on 10 Top Safety Tips Every Babysitter Should Know For Personal Safety. You also might like to check your local sex offender registry website. I believe that there is even an app for this that you can find on the Apple App store or Google Play. Hope that helps.
You are absolutely right! There’s a ton of sex offender registry apps. I just checked now and I’m quite surprised by it. As a parent, I think it’s worth looking into those just to be sure.
Thanks for sharing the 10 Top Safety Tips Every Babysitter Should Know For Personal Safety. I want to sign up for Sittercity as a sitter and your article is a big help. It’s pretty timely as well.
Sittercity encourages parents to interview the sitters first before hiring. Aside from conducting background checks, they should meet up with the sitter first to see if she’s a good fit. I think it should be the same for sitters. Before a sitter takes on a job, she should meet with the parents first to make sure she’s meeting with real people with actual children.
I’m just wondering. How much exactly would it cost me to run a background check on a babysitter? Over and above the membership fee, I would have to pay additional for the background check, right?
Hello Nelly. You can find background check pricing details here. And yes, you’ll have to pay additional for background checks. However, if the sitter already has an existing background check shown on their profile, you would not have to pay for it.
It took some time for me to get used to Sittercity. I had never spent a lot of time looking for sitters in the past until I joined Sittercity. Then when I got used to their selection process, I stuck to it. I realized it was a lot safer that way.
Sittercity is the only place where I can find a sitter who meets all the qualifications I’m looking for. It’s never an easy search but there is always someone who is right for the job.
I think it’s safer to look for a sitter in a venue that focuses on childcare alone. If I go around asking for a sitter on any of my social media accounts, I’m going to irritate some people. Of course, there are some mommy groups that I can get with but there’s still no guarantee. Unlike Sittercity, which really is a venue for parents to connect to sitters, I can easily find someone who is also looking to babysit.