Over the last several decades, the medical industry has created a sub-field dedicated to providing professional care and services for senior citizens. Currently, there are over thousands of senior caregiver agencies that offer their care and expertise throughout the nation. Establishing a career as a senior caregiver will bring you much more satisfaction than just a means to make a living because by helping senior citizens maintain their independence in their own homes, you will enjoy providing them with a positive, better quality of life.
Positions in the Senior Caregiver Field
There are many different positions available for those interested in entering the senior caregiver field besides becoming an in-home caregiver, such as a human resources manager, field supervisor, scheduler, and after hours supervisor.
Skills and Duties
Although certain levels of education are a must, in order to be a great senior caregiver, you should exude caring and dependability. As a caregiver, you will be expected to take care of light household chores, wash laundry, prepare meals, assist with personal hygiene tasks, oversee medications, and help with physical exercises. If your patient is coping with memory loss or dementia, you may need to help them during social activities.
Expected Working Hours
If you decide becoming a senior caregiver is the right decision for your career, you will find this field to be flexible in its hours. A part-time caregiver will work with their patients several hours almost every day or a full eight hours a few days during the week while a full-time caregiver will help their patients at least eight hours a day, five days a week. And of course, there is the option of becoming a live-in caregiver, requiring you to spend several, concurrent days and nights in the patient’s home.
Expected Pay
As with any other career opportunity, the pay rate for a senior caregiver can vary depending on the region where they work as well as other factors–level of education, experience, size of the caregiver agency, and area demand. However, you can expect to earn anywhere from $8.00-$12.00 per hour for part-time and full-time positions and $90.00-$130.00 each day for live-in positions.
Pay Benefits
Many times senior caregiver agencies will give their employees certain benefits–yearly bonuses and periodic, performance based pay raises. A few agencies will even offer their caregivers attendance or on-the-job rewards.
Preparing for Your Interview
The US Department of Statistics has projected a 69.5% job growth increase in the home health care services industry over the next several years, meaning you will need to put yourself above other applicants if you want a chance to enter into this in-demand career.
The best way to start is by coming to your interview well prepared with necessary documents such as personal and professional references, resume, proof of relevant education, past employment information, record of immunizations, state issued identification or birth certificate, purchased background checks, and available work schedule.
If you are willing to go the extra mile, volunteering your time at nursing homes or senior day care facilities is not only a great way to boost your resume, but also help you develop useful, job-related skills.
