Households and placed staff, at any hour: (206) 014-6182

LarchcombeSeattle · Est. 1961

For families

The placement process

Eight stages, usually eight weeks, and the same care at each whether we are placing a part-time housekeeper or the manager of three houses.

ConsultationAt the houseThe briefWritten by us, agreed by youSearchOur register firstShortlistThree or four filesInterviewsAt the house or oursTrialPaid, usually two daysPlacementAgreements signedFirst reviewWe call both sides week 4week 8
  1. Week 0 Consultation. At the house.
  2. Week 1 The brief. Written by us, agreed by you.
  3. Week 2 Search. Our register first.
  4. Week 4 Shortlist. Three or four files.
  5. Week 5 Interviews. At the house or ours.
  6. Week 7 Trial. Paid, usually two days.
  7. Week 8 Placement. Agreements signed.
  8. Week 12 First review. We call both sides.
Fig. 1 A typical permanent search, in weeks. Searches for house managers and estate security take ten to twelve.

Most permanent searches take about eight weeks from the first conversation to the first day. Some take three; a few, for the most senior roles in the largest households, take six months. The stages are always the same.

1. Consultation week 0

A consultant visits the house and meets the principals and whoever runs the house now. We ask a great many questions, some of which will seem unnecessary. They are not. There is no charge.

2. The brief week 1

We write the brief and send it to the household within three working days. The household corrects it, and we do not begin until it is agreed. For retained searches the retainer falls due now.

3. Search week 2

We search our register first, then approach, discreetly, staff we know to be open to a move. We advertise only when a household agrees, and never with its name, its neighborhood or anything that would identify it.

4. Shortlist week 4

Three or four candidates, each with a written file: their history, our interview notes, the references we have taken and the vetting team’s sign-off. We will not send a longer list. A longer list means we have not done our work.

5. Interviews week 5

The household meets each candidate, at the house or at Tarrant Place, once with us present and, for senior roles, once without. We debrief both sides the same day.

6. Trial week 7

The preferred candidate spends one or two paid days in the house, doing the work. The household pays the candidate directly at an agreed day rate.

7. Placement week 8

We prepare the employment agreement, the confidentiality agreement and the placement letter, and the member of staff reads and signs the Residence Code. Our fee falls due on the first day.

8. First review week 12

We call the household and the member of staff, separately, at thirty days and ninety. Most problems that arise in a placement can be solved in its first ninety days, and almost none after a year.

What we ask of households

We ask households to tell us the truth about the role, including the parts that are difficult; to keep to the salary and hours in the brief; to give us their decisions promptly, because good candidates do not wait; and to let us know at once if something changes. We ask, too, that households not approach candidates we have introduced except through us until a placement is agreed.