Singapore Maid Agency – How to Choose the Right One

Singapore maid agency – there is a “secret” checklist you must know when choosing the right Singapore maid agency to recruit a good Singapore maid for your family.

Basically a maid in Singapore is what is commonly called an “ah-mah” or a domestic helper or a nanny. They are an integral part of life here in Singapore. This is especially so because the pace of life here is pretty fast.

If you are an expatriate living in Singapore, having a Singapore maid to help out at home is more a necessity than a luxury. Although, these are maids working in Singapore, most of them come from the Philippines and Indonesia. There are others who come from Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and even Nepal. Currently, there are about 150,000 foreign domestic workers or Singapore maids in Singapore.

So, how do you go about find the right Singapore maid for your family? One way is to do it yourself. This is a good option if you know of any good Singapore maids or you have friends who can recommend their maids to you. However, do watch out for some employers who say good things about their maids so that they can “pass her on” without buying an air-ticket to send her back to her country of origin.

Yet another way is to find the right Singapore maid agency or professionals to help you. After all, you are talking about someone working and living in your home!

Here’s the checklist to help you find the right Singapore maid agency for this very important task:

1. Under the Singapore government regulations, only fully licensed and accredited Singapore maid agencies are allowed to operate. Be sure to check their licences and accreditation documents. That is to say, the agency has to be licensed by the Singapore Ministry of Manpower and accredited by the Consumers Association of Singapore (or the Association of Employment Agencies). The keyword here is “and” – it cannot be “either or”.

2. Another important point to note is whether it is a reputable employment agency. Big size does not mean a good agency as such agencies are usually run by employees who sometimes couldn’t care less, and sometimes their bureaucracy can get the better of them. A smaller agency specializing in your needs may be better.

3. It is important to ask around and find out from friends and colleagues about their experiences and which Singapore maid agency they recommend. Go one step further if you know of any maids. Ask them which maid agencies they go to when they want to find a new employer. This will give you some indications as to which Singapore maid agencies are popular amongst the girls. Normally, popular agencies should have a pretty good selection of maids for you to choose. Moreover, such agencies are likely to be fair to the maids – that is why they are popular amongst the maids.

4. Make sure that the maid agency has testimonials from satisfied customers. This may mean that they are doing a reasonably good job such that their customers are willing to say good things about them in writing. Check that these are real testimonials (by asking for the originals) because people can easily invent them. Another way to check is to see whether the testimonials provide details. Invented testimonials normally say things like “they are a good agency, and they provide good maids and good service.” Duh! 😉

5. Talk to the staff of the maid agency about how they go about finding the right maid for your family. The Singapore maid agency may have suppliers of maids whom they work with or the maids themselves recommend their friends and so on. Most importantly, check whether the maid agency has a system in matching the right Singapore maid to your family. After all, it’s “different strokes for different folks”! A maid who doesn’t work out for one family doesn’t mean that she won’t work out for another family. It’s like sometimes, you simply “click” with a person, and sometimes you don’t, no matter what. The key here is, does the maid agency has a way to increase this “clicking” factor?

In conclusion, do your homework and don’t rush into employing just any maid. Get your first step right. First, find the right Singapore maid agency to help you. And then, they will help you find the right Singapore maid to match your family’s needs.