Something good happened, something I wanted to tell you, and now I can’t remember what it was. Honestly, my mind is like a butterf—OH! I remembered! It was that someone asked me what I did, and I had an answer other than “I’m home with the kids.” That question, with its “home with the kids” answer, was one of my many reasons for GETTING this job. Whatever I personally think of the job of stay-at-home motherhood, it’s an instant conversation killer.
Saying “I do in-home elder care” is AWESOME. Everyone wants to talk about it. EVERYONE! They want to know what sorts of things I do, and they often have a reason for asking, such as aging parents/grandparents. People ask if insurance covers it, if we do hospice care, if I, like, have to, you know…change diapers.
And it seems to give a very positive impression—like if I said I was a teacher, or a nurse: it strikes people as A Good Thing To Do.
And it’s something that even if people don’t know precisely what I do, they get the GIST of it right away, so can immediately make comments and ask questions. It isn’t like “I’m an accounts receivable clerk” or “I’m an HR analyst,” where people aren’t even sure enough to ask a starter question or make a starter remark. It’s the sort of job people are aware of, and may have wondered about.
It has been so pleasing to be asked, and to have a good answer, that it seriously enters into my decision-making process about whether to keep the job.
That would be pleasing. I have a job where NOBODY has the gist of it from my title so I am in an on-going process of trying to come up with a pithy descriptive sentence instead of my current two minute ramble.
I also think your job falls into the “oh, I could never do that” category for many people so they automatically give you bonus “excellent human being” points, which is always satisfying.
Your job is definitely a good conversation kick-starter! I would consider this a big plus in the “keep job” column, too. And every one of the questions you mentioned are ones I’ve wanted to ask.
Oh man I really would love that aspect of a job. I’m so tired of the “HARDEST JOB IN THE WORLD AMIRITE” comment as they then wander off to talk to someone more interesting.
Ooh, that’s a good way for me to think about whether I’d like another job someday! When I worked, I did enjoy saying “I’m an auditor for the state – we audit state departments, cities, schools, etc.” People thought that was a cool answer and had questions about fraud cases and such. And I liked my job! But…I still aways felt meh about it when people asked.
But when people ask now and I say I stay home, which is clearly a more boring answer, I always get this almost weird, certainly not on-purpose, face-transforming smile. I love this answer! It’s what I’ve always wanted to do!
It’s funny, as soon as I had a baby people stopped asking me what I did for work. I mean, they literally asked my husband (who was standing next to me) and then went on to other topics of conversation. I’m glad to hear this may change once babies are bigger! Especially since I can honestly think of one person I’ve met in the last 10 years who stays home full time with their kid(s).
I agree with the above commenters, I think your job would sound very impressive to a lot of people. It’s an interesting topic to discuss, and it certainly sounds challenging to do.
Ha, no one knows what I do / can ask about it, and it does suck. I usually answer very dismissively about how I do something in software blah blah so tell me more about your job? But I *used* to work for a very cool company, so I would talk more about the neat stuff the company did, and everyone was super interested in that. But now I work for a much more normal company that doesn’t sound nearly as fascinating to discuss. Alas.
so I’ve been reading your blog for a while and the posts about starting this new position, and I just wanted to say THANK YOU for doing what you do. My FIL is 90 years old and has dementia, but is otherwise healthy. He wants nothing more than to be in his home and until that becomes unsafe/unreasonable/unaffordable, that’s what we are trying to do. It is because of people like you, that we are able to do so — two women who work 4/3 days, who live with him 24/7, to ensure he eats, takes medication, bathes, and is happy. (He thinks he’s on a date all the time, so its working for him. :) What you are doing, even if sometimes frustrating to you bc of scheduling, your own family needs, etc. – is so very much appreciated by your patients’ families, if not the patients themselves.
That is a good benefit of the job. I’m a computer programmer, and no one is ever interested in that. I have a cousin who worked for NASA, on the Space Shuttle, and I always thought she won the contest for having the job people are most interested in hearing about.
I know what you mean! I have similar feelings about working in childcare–people always want to know how old the kids are, or what kind of activities I do with them, or if I have any funny kid stories. (And boy, do I ever!) And not only does it feel like a worthwhile way of spending my time, but it also gives me a sense of responsibility that I enjoy. Like, these parents are TRUSTING me with their kids! And I have to TEACH THEM THINGS and ENTERTAIN THEM and KEEP THEM SAFE!
One of the most interesting pieces of advice I ever received was from one of my journalism professors. He told us you don’t have to like every part of the job as long as there was one part of it you loved. I’ve thought about that a lot since college both because I didn’t love any part of journalism enough to overcome what I disliked about it, and because I’ve never heard another person give quite that advice. It’s usually some variation on “do what you love” or “discover your passion,” which for someone who dislikes a lot of aspects of a lot of work, even child rearing (which I assumed I would love wholeheartedly), is such a discouraging thing to hear. What if I never FIND what I love? All that to say, I think it’s perfectly reasonable to really like the part of your job where it’s easy to talk with people about your job and to take that into account when deciding how to go forward.
This is one of the things I like about being a nurse! People have a baseline of understanding of what it is I do all day, AND their knee-jerk reaction is always how great nurses are and what a great person I must be by association.
I am LOVING the posts about your new job! Right now I stay home with my kids but your new job sound like something I could definitely see in my future once my little guys are older. If it’s not too nosy, could you tellme what previous qualifications you need to do what your are doing? A Nursing license or something? I don’t have any formal medical training but I kind of love the idea of helping the elderly as a profession. Thanks, Swistle!
Sure! They prefer a CNA/LNA (Certified Nursing Assistant or Licensed Nursing Assistant—same 6-weekish program, but some states call it certification and some call it licensed), but I don’t have one of those (or any other medical experience of any kind) and they hired me anyway. They took into account my parenting and homemaking experience, and also my daycare experience. They asked if I had any experience with the elderly, any at all, and hired me even though I really didn’t; I mean, I helped my grandmother grocery shop a couple of times, and that’s it. They checked my criminal record, my driving record (which has to be pretty impeccable if you’ll be doing any transportation), and also a record I forget the name of that is specific to caregiving-related violations.
There are different levels of the job I’m doing, and they can do different things. I mostly do homemaking (cooking and cleaning), companionship (playing cards, chatting, whatever), transportation (like to doctor appointments), personal care (assistance with showering, lotion, wiping after toileting). If you’re a CNA/LNA, you can also do blood pressure and some other things such as catheter care, and you can also do more difficult clients, such as those who are difficult to transfer from one place to another, or clients who are completely bedridden. The pay is a little higher, too. I’m thinking of going back and getting my CNA/LNA, not just for the pay, but because they teach a lot about how to move people without hurting yourself, and I’d like some more training with that.
It seemed to me that they were willing to make trade-offs for certain things. For example, I had no experience with the elderly, but I could work some evenings/weekends and it’s very hard to staff evenings/weekends. I didn’t have any nursing/medical experience, but I had a lot of general caregiving and homemaking experience, and a perfect driving record, and I could speak English (this is a HUGE requirement). The staffing coordinator said my college degree looked good too, even though it’s in business: just “having a degree” looks good, apparently. I don’t need full-time or benefits, and I don’t care if some weeks they have no work for me, and these things also counted in my favor.
Thank you! As always, you provided the perfect info!