Household Assistant/Helper

[skinsfan]

I've been thinking about how helpful it would be to have a helper or assistant around the house. My wife and I both work full time and want to prioritize and maximize time doing things that are important to us including: 1) spending time with our young family, 2) being fully focused on work while working, 3) health and exercise, 4) socializing with friends.

We would need someone part-time who could do different types of things and has flexibility. Some of the responsibilities would include:

-Helping with child in the (early) morning on weekdays, between 6am-8am. I am home during this time, so not fully baby sitting, but general helping and supervision.
-Laundry
-Cleaning
-Grocery shopping
-General organizing
-Light yard work
-Miscellaneous tasks

Does this sound realistic to people and does anyone have experience hiring this type of position?
How would I go about finding good candidates for the job?
If anyone's done something like this, how much did it cost?

[rascott]

Most of it minus the yard work. That's typically not going to be in the scope of someone you hire for household help for the other items.

This is kind of a cross between a nanny and housekeeper. Typically people do one or the other, but you can likely find someone to do both.

Try Care.com

[softwaregeek]

Agree on care.com.

I have used them to find three nannies. Also nextdoor.com in my area. Agreed on the yardwork, different skill set. Although my current nanny used to run a plant nursery, so ymmv.

Rates are hyper local. Here in silicon valley, it is more expensive by far than areas an hour away, maybe 20 percent more.

[veindoc]

I've been thinking about how helpful it would be to have a helper or assistant around the house. My wife and I both work full time and want to prioritize and maximize time doing things that are important to us including: 1) spending time with our young family, 2) being fully focused on work while working, 3) health and exercise, 4) socializing with friends.

We would need someone part-time who could do different types of things and has flexibility. Some of the responsibilities would include:

-Helping with child in the (early) morning on weekdays, between 6am-8am. I am home during this time, so not fully baby sitting, but general helping and supervision.
-Laundry
-Cleaning
-Grocery shopping
-General organizing
-Light yard work
-Miscellaneous tasks

Does this sound realistic to people and does anyone have experience hiring this type of position?
How would I go about finding good candidates for the job?
If anyone's done something like this, how much did it cost?

My neighbor found a wonderful person on care.com. She gets kids ready in AM, drops them to school.
Spends remainder of the day doing light housework such as picking and cleaning up of kids toys and their laundry. She has done errands like pick up birthday cakes, dry cleaning etc. She also helps my friends mom in various tasks like dyeing her hair or whatnot. Then she picks up kids and shuttles them to various activities. She does not cook as my friends mom takes care of that. I don’t know how extensively she cleans other than kids areas.

The job was advertised as such, so no surprises. I believe they pay $18/hr. And she uses their car during the day.

[skinsfan]

Thanks everyone. I guess this is sort of a nannie/ housekeeper hybrid. I'll check out care.com and see what I can find.

[Nowizard]

There are more than 20 states where the cost of child care exceeds the average mortgage according to a recent article. What you want is understandable, but complex. An employee with a job description you mention essentially becomes a part of the family, and the balance between employee and respected "professional" is important.
You can expect to pay significantly more than you might think and to probably go through more than one person. The thread title immediately suggests a title that potentially contrasts with the expected job responsibilities.

Tim

[skinsfan]

There are more than 20 states where the cost of child care exceeds the average mortgage according to a recent article. What you want is understandable, but complex. An employee with a job description you mention essentially becomes a part of the family, and the balance between employee and respected "professional" is important.
You can expect to pay significantly more than you might think and to probably go through more than one person. The thread title immediately suggests a title that potentially contrasts with the expected job responsibilities.

Tim

Appreciate your input. What would you title this type of role based on the job description?

[veindoc]

What you are describing is pretty much in the realm of what a nanny does and the description won’t seem odd. This will likely attract an empty nester parent rather a recent college grad. The only difference is that a nanny will do light housework. Picking up things and returning them to their homes as well as laundry. If you are looking for someone to mop your floors and clean toilets, a nanny might not be that person. But any little bit helps. I used to grumble about my cleaning person not doing an in-depth job. When I fired her I found it was so much harder. I didn’t mind doing the dusty blinds and cleaning behind furniture or wiping down walls when most of the immediate items had been taken care of.

You could get a nanny and hire a dedicated house cleaner once every two weeks to do the deep cleaning.

[ICMoney]

Have you tried grocery delivery/pickup? This single service is an incredible timesaver/stress-reducer for families in my experience (large family with young kids here). Grocery delivery is likely cheaper than hiring someone on care.com to grocery shop for you, some services will even bring them to your kitchen and/or put them away for you as well.

Best, ICM

[Nowizard]

Good question on the title. I suspect applicants have one they prefer, possibly Nanny, but that is one that has connotations that could serve the applicant seeking higher wages than their activity level might support. I think I would stay with yours in terms of negotiating pricing, but it could result in applications from those who clearly might not meet your requirements. In other words, if you can get a "Nanny" for "Household Assistant/Helper" wages, that might be the best outcome for you and would give you the opportunity to increase pay based on performance if you wished to do so. Being picky, I might just use the term "Household Assistant" since it is classier than "Maid" but less so than "Nanny."

Tim

[2commaBH]

Another option, if you have the housing room and are so inclined, would be an au pair. These are typically found through local agencies that connect you with college-age kids from other countries. An added bonus can be that your children get exposed to a new culture/language.