Careers in Aging Week (CIAW) is just around the corner, March 26 – April 1. The Gerontological Society of America Innovation Fund in partnership with LeadingAge and many other organizations hosts Careers in Aging Week annually. The goal of CIAW is to bring greater awareness and visibility to the wide-ranging career opportunities in our field while engaging associations, businesses, clinics, coalitions, service providers, universities, colleges, and other parties globally. 

This year’s observance is particularly timely. We know that the general public is largely unaware of the variety of careers in our field. The aging services sector is often seen as ‘healthcare’ and careers outside of nursing are less visible. It is important for organizations to showcase the variety of settings and career opportunities available, the pathways to advancement, as well as the idea that staff can move between departments for new opportunities. LeadingAge’s Opening Doors to the Aging Services Workforce initiative offers suggestions for a variety of research-informed recruitment message frames, including:

Opportunities in a Wide Range of Jobs

A career in aging services is much more diverse than you may think. Whether you are a caregiver, a cook or a driver—you can apply your skills to support older adults. 

Stepping Stone to Advance

From today’s job as a caregiver, you can grow to be a certified nursing assistant, a licensed nurse practitioner and even a director. A job working to provide care and support to older adults is a job that keeps you advancing.

LeadingAge’s Opening Doors initiative also found that “to know us is to love us,” so part of our recruitment efforts need to ensure that people in the community get to experience all that we have to offer. CIAW is a great opportunity for organizations to open their doors and invite community members in, whether engaging with local students, hosting a job fair or open house, organizing a community building event, or engaging with friends and family of your current employees. Welcoming in the children of your employees is a great way to build the pipeline of future professionals in the field of aging. 

There are plenty of resources to help your organization celebrate CIAW 2023 at careersinaging.com/. And be sure to check out materials designed especially for LeadingAge members here. We invite you to join us for CIAW! Let’s raise one loud voice to celebrate careers in aging.