Career Transitions: “I Took Care of My Elderly Parents”

In the words of Shirley MacLaine, “Perception is everything.”  To aging parents whose health is failing, a child who chooses career over family can be perceived as uncaring.  To a potential employer seeking an applicant with a consistent work history, a candidate who interrupts his/her career to care for loved ones can appear out of touch with current practices and tools.

Once family obligations have been fulfilled and you prepare for serious reentry into the job market, the solution to the employer’s preconceived notions is to alter those perceptions.  How do you accomplish this?  Depending upon the nature of the position you are seeking, you may be able to demonstrate during an interview that your absence from the workforce did not mean that you allowed valuable skills to lay dormant.

Start by listing and reviewing your exact duties in caring for your parents.  Then, assess their value in transitioning these skills to the workplace.  Did you speak with health care providers, serving as interface between physicians of diverse specialties in order to facilitate delivery of the best possible care?  Did you ensure that your parents took the correct medications and dosages at the proper times?  If so, you have demonstrated strong communicative abilities, meticulous follow-up, and a quality-oriented focus.  Did you schedule and/or transport your loved ones to medical appointments or diagnostic tests; did you get them there on time?  “Yes” proves that you possess the organizational and multi-tasking skills that employers appreciate.

Did you monitor your parents’ food supplies and other staples; did you purchase them?  Considering that the odds are high that they are on a fixed, if not restricted income, you must have shopped for the highest quality items at the lowest possible prices.  These abilities attest that you have sound analytical and decision-making skills.

What about your parents’ finances?  If you paid their bills, did their banking, managed their investments, and allocated their spending money, you are good at balancing payables against receivables to assure that financial obligations are met in a timely manner, budgets are maintained, and assets are preserved.

By understanding that your contributions were productive, and by articulating this in an interview, you will turn the interviewer’s negative perceptions into positives.  Considering you resourceful and responsible, he/she will view you as a valuable potential asset to his/her team.