For some people, providing care to those in need is a deeply rooted part of their personality. It is what drives them and what motivates them. Caregivers are people who would do nothing else and get great satisfaction from the simple act of helping others. But a career? What opportunities are there that provide a great income and, at the same time, that great feeling of knowing you have made a difference?
The answer: In-Home Care.
Become a professional caregiver
There are many different types of caregivers. You can be a family caregiver, taking care of a family member in need. Or you can work privately as an unlicensed caregiver, which can have many positive and negative aspects. Or you can work for a Home Care Agency, where they provide training, certifications, and opportunities to become a well-rounded, well-trained, professional caregiver.
There are also educational opportunities for learning more about caregiving. The one we use is Home Care Pulse www.homecarepulse.com/training/ but there are others including Home Care Academy (www.homecareacademy.com) that are great places to get professional training.
Working for an agency will generally allow you to take as many classes as you like and the agency pays for it. That is a great advantage! Some agencies, including Sequoia Senior Solutions, provide financial incentives to take these classes and become very educated in the skill of caregiving. It is definitely a win for the caregiver, but also for the agency and its clients.
As you can see, caregivers play an important role in the lives of their clients! Check out this recent article for more information.
Most agencies are not providing live training at this time due to the on-going COVID-19 epidemic. Read more about training in this post: Getting Started as a Professional In-Home Caregiver: What You Need to Know
Scheduler
So… you love being a caregiver but are ready to take the next step along your career path. You might consider becoming a Scheduler for a Home Care Agency. The Scheduler is responsible for getting the right person to the right client at the right time. But there is so much more to this position. Almost all activity surrounding clients and caregivers goes through the Scheduler. He/she is the one that really gets to know clients and caregivers because their job is to interact with them almost daily. The Scheduler is a huge help in deciding which caregiver best matches the personality of the client and which caregiver has the skill set required to best serve the client. Often, the Care Manager will consult with the Scheduler to determine which caregiver is the best match for the client in terms of personality, skill set, and availability.
Care Manager
Now you have excelled as a caregiver and learned the technical aspects of scheduling. You have learned a great deal about working in an office environment and you know the needs of both caregivers and clients. What better person to promote to the Care Manager position?
The Care Manager has the overall responsibility for the quality of care provided by the agency’s caregivers. As a Care Manager, you will learn to assess the needs of your clients and update their Care Plans as conditions change. You will be involved in the hiring, training, and the supervising of the caregivers. In most cases you will be assigned a certain territory for which you will be responsible. You will often visit hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, and other medical facilities to discuss the clients that they are referring to you. Depending on the size of your territory there may be quite a bit of travel involved, though it probably doesn’t include any overnight stays.
This is a great opportunity to hone your supervisory and other management skills. You may have some budget responsibility, but most importantly you will be coaching and training your caregiving staff to ensure the highest quality of care for your clients.
Sales
This may seem like a stretch for a caregiver! But working in sales is another great way to ensure you are taking care of the greatest number of people you can. Home Care Sales is not the same as selling used cars. Home Care Sales is much more of an educational job. You educate potential clients on what a high-quality caregiver can do to improve their living conditions. You educate the Hospital Discharge Planners on what your agency can do to help them improve outcomes and reduce hospital readmissions. In most agencies, the new client assessments are performed by the Sales Team, although these duties are often shared with the Care Manager.
Marketing
Marketing of in-Home Care services includes your traditional fliers, advertising, and corporate image, but today most companies are turning to Social Media to increase their business. Understanding what drives people to your website and then from the website to calling for an assessment is what can make or break a business. Your experience with working directly with clients and with their families will allow you to play a key role in your Marketing department. Here, you can combine your passion of helping people while exercising your creative side.
Area Manager
An Area Manager is responsible for all aspects of a given territory. This is normally a position with a very large company that provides services throughout the state or even the country. The Area Manager would be responsible for Sales, Care Management, and maybe even Scheduling for his/her particular territory.
General Manager
Once you have been successful in many of the above areas, you may look at becoming a General Manager or CEO of a Home Care Agency. Most smaller agencies are owner managed, but when those owners are ready to retire, they will either find another company to buy them out or, if they find the right person (you?) they might prefer to retain all or part of their company and hire a GM or CEO to run it. Being the General Manager may even include partial ownership of the company. It may even include the possibility of buying out those owners and becoming an entrepreneur. The possibilities are endless!
Conclusion
As you can see, there can be a very lucrative and fulfilling career in the Home Care industry. What are your goals in life? With a career in In-Home Care, you can go as far as you can dream!
If you’re ready to learn more about becoming a caregiver with Sequoia Senior Solutions, visit our “Becoming a Caregiver” section and fill out our interest form today. You can also read more about professional caregiving in our recent blog posts:
Top 10 Reasons to Become a Professional Caregiver
7 Traits of Successful (and happy!) Professional Caregivers
Learn more about what to look for in this recent article: 5 Things To Look For in a Great Professional Caregiving Job