Interviewing maids and distance

**spork** · 25-08-12, 08:58

Hi

Me and my family are brand new to Jakarta. We're currently living in West Jakarta (Taman Angrek) and are looking for a live in maid. Many of the maids we've come in contact with say its too far away, as they're in Kemang. They say its too far for even an interview? I can understand this being an issue for a live out maid, but I wouldn't expect it to be so much of an issue for an live in maid. I'm assuming I missing something obvious here, but have no idea what. We've mainly been looking over the last week or so.
We have offered to pay for their return taxi ride.

I don't suppose anyone here might have an idea on what the issue is?

Thoughts that have come to mind:
- Its related to the recent holiday/ break season?
- There's something scary about the Taman Angrek area?
- It really is too far?

Aside from trying to find maids that live closer to here (We're working on that, though any other suggestions on where to find them would be great), does anyone have any ideas how to get around this problem?

Cheers

**naughtygab** · 25-08-12, 09:02

am sure there are a lot of live in and live out maid taken from tanjung duren area. tanjung duren area is not as hi maintenance like kemang, so the price should not even higher than maids from kemang area.
maybe you can ask your neighbor or the some people who works in the apartment. ask them to bring a girl who is willing to work in your apt. ..
taman anggrek is just not really a famous place for white people, but it's a good place for indonesian/asian .. so no worries ..

**Puspawarna** · 25-08-12, 10:51

Two thoughts - both strictly theories that could be totally baseless:

One possibility is that the wage you are offering isn't high enough to interest them, and it is easier to say you are too far away (then see if you offer more money to tempt them) than to say "I want more money."

Another possibility - how much time off are you offering? If you are asking for a 6-day work week, they might think that one day isn't enough time to travel back to their kampung, have a decent break with family, and return to work on time. You might try offering 2 days off, or at least one and a half.