I was very excited when my husband was assigned an expatriate posting to Singapore. In fact, my two children and I couldn’t sleep for about two weeks prior to us flying over.
Soon after we have settled our housing and the schools for my children, we had to employ a domestic helper or a maid in Singapore. This is something very new to me because the helper will be living with my family. It is something pretty unheard of in my home country of France.
Firstly, we had to visit a reputable maid agency in Singapore to help us recruit the right helper. We were recommended to a maid agency who specializes in helping expatriate families in Singapore to employ a domestic helper.
We went through about 3 rounds of interviews. It was interesting talking to different helpers from the Philippines. Many of the helpers working for expatriate families are from the Philippines because many of them can speak pretty good English.
Some of them have worked in Singapore for 15 years! It was quite amazing. The agency did a pretty good job in matching our needs to the needs of the girls. After all, certain girls have certain preference in terms of the work they do.
Another thing that the agency mentioned is the matching of characters. They reasoned that certain employers like gregarious girls, and some prefer girls who are quiet. For me, I prefer my helper to be chatty. I like to talk.
Finally, I found Sophia, and she was a real joy to work with.
