My godmother was born on June 11, 1913. When I think back, I remember the various talents she had from my childhood perspective: Although she remained childless, she had a talent for dealing with us children. With me in particular, because I loved being able to go to her in Zurich for the "holidays". She persistently gave me swimming lessons in Lake Zurich because she was absolutely of the opinion that a child should be able to swim. How proud I was when I could! She taught me various card games, especially Canasta. She made me aware of England because she had been in England as a young woman until the war began. She loved the royals and proudly told me about her return to Switzerland by plane. She could tap dance and luckily had an old clinker floor in the entrance to her apartment. Oh, it sounded wonderful when I could persuade her to show me the steps. However, according to the custom at the time, after her marriage she no longer worked outside the family, but took care of all the work within the family, including the budget and bills.
She was my mum's sister-in-law and best friend, who also had real talents. My mum also knew how to use her talents when she was concentrating on us children, the family and ultimately on her increasingly ill parents. She was a very good cook, looked after my parents' large circle of friends in the best possible way and, as a trained seamstress, looked after us children and later our grandchildren with top-notch clothes. She even organised a fantastic tartan fabric and sewed an "original" kilt for me and our daughters, which we wore with pride and dignity! And last but not least, she was cheeky, funny and full of laughter. With the latter, she opened doors to other people and built trust.
Think about it, dear reader: what talents do you have? I don't just mean the obvious ones, like accounting, computer technology, carpentry, etc., but rather the hidden ones!
The German philosopher Manfred Hinrich said: “Everyone has the talent to fail to recognize their talent.” Do we want that?
Seniors@Work wants to find talent in an uncomplicated way: retired people with skills, knowledge and motivation. And of course also very specific specialists for administration, for example. For accounting. For auditing. For project work.
But what I'm trying to say with all this is: seize the opportunity and confidently apply for the job that catches your eye. When you're older, you not only have a lot of specialist knowledge, but you've also strengthened all your talents through life experience, perhaps throwing some overboard and discovering new ones. It's all about using them. You're not just making yourself happy, but everyone around you too.
And I hope that there are also employers who read this blog, open their visors and recognize the hidden talents of job seekers.
Beatrice Isler
