SELF MARKETING TOOLS
Personal
Bathing, dressing, toileting, wheelchair transfers, catheter, personal grooming, hair, nails, teeth, ears, shaving, and exercises.
Household Inside
Meal preparation, special diet, clean up, dishes, household chores, laundry, ironing, floors vacuuming/shampooing rug, bathroom, dusting, washing and waxing floors, garbage, stove, refrigerator, changing linens, helping me move things around or organize my stuff.
Include the Frequency of Assistance
- Daily, Weekly, Monthly
- Live-in? Live-out?
- Weekdays? Weekends?
- Total hours per week
- Rate of pay per hour
- Seasonally, spring cleaning or
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CREATING A PERSONAL PROFILE |
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(A Personal Profile may be more useful if you want an assistant to live-in.)
Writing a personal profile can help you see what it is that you are looking for in an assistant. It may help you sort out more of your needs, wants, preferences, and where you are willing to compromise.
It can give you more of an idea of what is important to you. We all have personal preferences and some are non-negotiable, such as whether a person smokes, drinks, or has very active social life. You may not want a steady stream of visitors. You may enjoy a lot of people coming to visit.
We all have our own boundaries and comfort level!
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MAKING REALISTIC COMPROMISES |
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You need to take care of yourself and not make compromises that are difficult to live with.
Making uncomfortable compromises means an employment situation that will be stressed or short lived, creating more upheaval for you.
It is suggested that you use some discretion in giving out specific information. If you are not comfortable with a person you are talking with either in person or over the phone, do not feel obligated to divulge personal information. These marketing tools are to be of help not to invade your privacy and safety.
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WRITING A JOB DESCRIPTION |
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Take a look at needs assessments or do your own and make a detailed list for yourself. It helps to have the list of tasks you need the assistant to do and to go over with the potential assistant. Include it in your application packet so they know exactly what it is you need assistance with. It will also work as a reminder for the assistant on a regular basis. A job description also helps in evaluating their performance if it is not what you expect. It gives you a more objective tool if you need to talk with your assistant about not getting tasks done.
Some of the times we need assistance are not flexible, such as getting out of bed or going to the bathroom. You may be more flexible about the day of the week the household chores need to be done or grocery shopping. Put your schedule on the worksheet to give to the potential assistant so it is clear what is needed and when it is needed.
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