Aging and Caregiving

THE OPINIONS EXPRESSED IN THIS ARTICLE ARE SOLELY THOSE OF THE AUTHOR.

The suggestion for this topic came from a reader who wishes to remain anonymous. I appreciate the interest and am delighted to respond. Anyone else who has a topic they would like me to address is welcome to send me a message.

Aging and caregiving are two different things; accordingly, I will consider them separately.

Aging

A person "of a certain age" walks into an interview using cane. The cane wobbles and, for sake of argument, he grabs a chair as a lifeline. He sits down and the interviewers all go into "talking to grandpa" mode. He does not get the job offer.

A person "of a certain age" walks into an interview using cane. As he enters the interviewers all look at him like he is their grandfather. But then he says, "I can't wait until the end of the month when the doctor assures me, I can get rid of this damn thing. So, before you ask me what my biggest mistake was, it was zigging when I should have zagged." He gets the job offer.

The problem with aging is attitude. If you act like you're old, you'll be treated like you are old. If you act like you are experienced, know how to deal with adversity, and have a track record of helping younger colleagues advance in their careers (and you can prove it by using them as references), you will not be seen as old but as an investment in the company's growth.

It's your decision: You can age like you will be a burden or you can age like you can be an asset.

Caregiving

Caregiving can be for a person of any age. What's the difference between a sick or infirmed child or parent? From the perspective of the job market, nothing.

If the recruiter, hiring manager, whomever, is an idiot, they will consider it to have been of no contribution to a candidate's professional development. "Being a housewife is the most difficult job," is just a meaningless platitude. All stay-at-home wives (or husbands) do is a little cooking, a little cleaning, some laundry, a lot of talking on the phone, and even more watching idiotic daytime talk shows and soap operas. Or so the idiots would believe.

And because a job applicant has to assume that they will be dealing with an idiot, their resume must explain the skills, experiences and accomplishments required to be a successful caregiver. Who knows better the importance of patience, how to manage the healthcare system, budgeting, scheduling, employing vendors, and more, than a caregiver?

So, my advice is, don't make being a caregiver a gap on your resume, because it isn't. But I have said this all before, when I wrote about returning to work after an absence.

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