4 Questions to Ask When Hiring a Myanmar Maid in Singapore

Being able to hire a domestic helper is one of the best things about living in Singapore. Employing a maid means you’ll get extra help in all the household chores and in taking care of the kids. There is someone you can rely when it comes to cleaning the house, cooking, babysitting, and doing the laundry. For working parents, having a maid is a big help to spend more time with the family.

Having a live-in maid also means someone will be living with the whole family in your home. So it is vital to find someone whom you can trust and is truly reliable. Maids from Myanmar are among the most in-demand domestic helpers due to their sweet nature and being trustworthy.

If you want to employ a Myanmar maid, here are some questions you may include in your interview questions.

Question #1: Why are you doing this job?

Ask the applicant why she wants to work as a domestic helper in Singapore. Finding out why she is doing this job will help you understand her motivation to work hard. Is she supporting her parents and family back at home? Does she have children who are studying? Is someone in the family suffering from an illness and requires maintenance? Is she saving to build a home when she goes back to her country? Knowing her future plans means that if you hire her you can help support her goals and both of you can plan out an exit plan.

Question #2: What are your schedules?

Asking her about her daily routine allows you to check what tasks she prefers doing first thing in the morning and what she does last. You will be able to determine how she organises her daily and weekly routines. For instance, in what days she will do the laundry? What time of the day does she vacuum the floor? How many times she will clean the bathroom? What days she will iron the clothes? It is important that you will know what chores she’ll be doing on a specific day and time so that you can compare with your list. If she does the laundry on Saturdays but you want it to be on Fridays, you can discuss this with her. You can adjust the schedule based on your preference.

Question #3: How do you discipline a child?

If the maid needs to take care of your kids, you need to know her style of disciplining a child. Will she give light punishment if the kids misbehave? Has it ever happened that she yelled to a child she’s babysitting? Or will she just do nothing when the kids misbehave? It is important for you to know how she will treat your kids when you are not around. You need to know if you can entrust your kids to her. Most applicants will surely say they love kids, but you need to dig deeper to know if the answer is genuine.

Question #4: What do you do on your day off?

While it may be none of your business to know what sort of things she does on her day off, it would be helpful in determining the maids personality. Does she love to party? Or does she go out with friends? Does she drink liquor drinks? What time does she come home on her day off? It is important to discuss these things with her to assess her personality. If you employ a Myanmar maid in Singapore, she became your responsibility so you need to have an idea what kind of person she is.

4 Qualities of a Good Maid Agency in Singapore

Today, the quest of finding your preferred maid has been made easier and less stressful. All you need to do is find a maid agency in Singapore and discuss your requirements, and then you’ll have a maid in less than a week (or less). Maid agencies provide solutions to common challenges that many employers face when hiring a maid. From the paperwork to the procedures, all these can be performed by the maid agency.

Plenty of maid agencies are readily available willing to extend assistance in hiring a domestic helper. However, choosing the best agency might come as a challenging task. With the overwhelming options, you might end up picking an unreliable one and might regret hiring them. So to help you out, here are some qualities to look for in a maid agency in Singapore.

Quality #1: Good Reputation

Having a good reputation is perhaps one of the most critical factors to consider when choosing a recruitment agency. Many agencies oversell themselves, claiming they are the best when it comes to providing Filipino, Indonesian or Myanmar maids. But you should be wary as they might be the opposite of what they are claiming to be. A good way to check the reputation of the agency is through the feedback of the previous clients. Check the social media channels of the agency and read some feedback from clients. A good reputation does not necessarily mean having no negative feedback, but if there are unfavourable comments, they should be able to handle it the proper way. If you can’t find any reviews on their social channels, you may get in touch with them and request a list of one or two existing clients whom you can call. Some agencies have non-disclosure policy so you might not be able to get a list. You can ask questions about the company to know their background.

Quality #2: Competitive Rates

Have you come across a maid agency that offers overly cheap placement fee and charges? Don’t be tempted! It might be a trap! A trusted maid agency doesn’t offer cheap rates, but competitive rates. The rates are not too expensive and not too cheap - market rates. You may find an agency that offers Myanmar maid at less than $100. Indeed, it’s pretty tempting. However, you need to make sure the agency offers quality service and their maids are highly competent. Many employers have fallen into this trap - they hire a maid from an agency that offers cheap rates and after a few days they returned the maid due to incompetency or bad attitude. Don’t be afraid to invest, especially if your home and family are at stake.

Quality #3: Licensed by MOM

Apparently, you cannot hire a maid from an agency that is not licensed by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM).  Through a licensed maid agency, you can be assured that the maids are eligible to work in Singapore and are not illegal. This helps you ensure that all requirements are met stringently and that your property will be safe when you hire the maid. Hiring a maid from an unlicensed agency put you at risk of being penalised - you will be in big trouble for not following the law.

Quality #4: High Retention Rate

The foreign domestic worker (FDW) retention rate is a key metric that is employed to determine the total numbers of domestic helpers who have remained with the same agency or employer within a year. Choose a maid agency with a high retention rate since it signifies that the company is committed to providing quality service to their clients.