Tips on hiring a maid

Are you looking for someone to live in with you or just a day house cleaner? I don't know the Vn term but we have what is called a "Helper" which is like a nanny who lives with us. She does light cleaning and washes the clothes and does most of the cooking. She also takes care of our 2 kids during the day while we are working. She is like family to us and has worked and lived with us for 3 years now. She is not family but was recommended by family.
We pay her about 4 million a month.

I'd just going to piggyback on this thread and ask some questions about maids as well:

I haven't had a maid before mostly because I've heard a couple of horror stories where people had found their ipads/etc to go missing and their maid would quit immediately afterward....Is this something that has happened to a lot of people or were my friends simply not diligent enough in looking for a trustworthy maid?

I'm planning on having some pretty expensive/nice things around ie macbook/ipad  so I'm wondering if hiring a maid is a worthwhile risk if it's not entirely necessary given my lifestyle. I'd like to not have to worry about laundry/cleaning but I'd much rather do it myself than lose peace of mind over whether or not my things will still be around after I get back from work.

Thoughts/experiences? Hiring family members isn't a viable option for me.

You can ask some of your friends. It sounds like you just need someone to come in a couple hours a day at max. A lot of the maids/cleaning ladies work several houses so you might be able to find someone that way. After you talk to them you may find out they may have an aunt or sister that is looking for work.
We have never had any problems with things coming up missing.

Let me offer you my perspective on this.
Finding a maid (Người Giúp Việc) has been a headache for the Vietnamese since time immemorial. It is really hard to find a trusty and hard working ones. If you get hold of one, hold on to her for your dear life.

My parents went through several ones in a short time period: thieves, lazy butts, liars, gossip traders (your family life will be common knowledge to the neighborhood since maids talk to each others),.. From what I have heard, it is the same now, at least in Saigon. They eventually got really lucky to get hold of a good maid. She eventually stayed with our family for over 25 years and became part of our family. When we left Vietnam, she went to stay with our aunt. I grew up with her and she was like my mother. I really missed her when she passed away.

The point is that there are really good people out there, but not easy to find.

People find it more convenient to have a person coming just a few hours instead of live-in maid. The maid is often willing to do everything you ask her to do, even though it is more convenient to assign fixed tasks out of their experience and skills. Working hours are also flexible, even though you don't want to misuse them. Treat them well then they will be really loyal to you.

Concerning salary, you'd wise to ask your neighbors since maids talk to each others, including their salaries. If you offer too much or too little, it is not good.

Another concern is that good maids sometime don't stay too long. As an incentive, my colleague in Thailand had an unusual tactics. She hired TWO maids (from the same town). The two maids knew each others, thus worked well together and did not find the job boring, and less likely to jump ship.

If you can, hire older maids. They tend to be more stable, don't get pregnant out of the blue, etc.

Forgot to mention that I also had a lady coming to my apartment to help do chores when I was in Vietnam a couple of hours a week. She was really reliable and trustworthy. I knew about her and her good reputation through my network, so I had no concern about her, and she proved me right.
I would suggest you'd do the same if you want to hire similar persons.

Thanks for the input! Do you usually have your maid(s) come while you're at home so you can let them in/supervise? Or do you give them a set of keys to get inside? I'm in and out a lot so while I prefer to be at home whilst a maid is cleaning, I don't know if I can consistently be at home for periods of time sufficient for a person to do laundry and such. Haha the more I think about all the hassles involved, the more I think that I should just stop being so lazy and do my own laundry....

As mentioned earlier, the lady who helped me was very reliable. I gave her the house key and she came to my apartment when I was at work. She did her tasks and locked it back. When she worked, she preferred to have the main door open, probably to prove her honesty but I did not ask her to do so. No one controlled how and how long she worked.

Having said so, I am not suggesting this is how it works in normal cases.

Hi,
I have a lady come every week twice to clean my house (No cooking, no laundry, no dish washing-Try not to be lazy), 4 hours per week, based on hour paid.
Most of the time I will be there when she cleans, but sometimes I go out and she does her work and throw the house key back in the house when she leaves (I don't give her the house key). She is not young, not so old so easy to communicate.
Many of my friends have maid come 2 hours/day; 5days/week; or 3 days/week; in these case their maid do laundry.

Hope it helps,
I can recommend a few contacts if you still need.

Cheers,
JANE,

Hi Jane,

Would you be so kind enough to recommend a few contacts- we are looking for a full time maid/ nanny .

Cheers