We were delighted here at Solos when one of our lovely candidates landed herself a temporary assignment when she is past retirement age.  When most ladies would be putting their feet up Freda McSweeney decided that she needed more out of life and we were over the moon to help her back into work.

Intrigued we asked her what instigated the job search? This is what she wrote…

What do I get out of working at the ripe old age of (almost) seventy-one?  I tried retiring last year, but once I had redecorated the house and more or less tamed the garden I didn’t know what to do, I’m not a great one for volunteer work (selfish, I know) and I couldn’t live comfortably on my state pension so work had to be the answer.

I applied for many jobs, mainly in the NHS which is where I last worked, and got a lot of interviews, but although this world is not supposed to be ‘ageist’, I knew that I was more than qualified for the work but I failed to get anywhere. I had just about decided I had to dye my hair, get a face-lift and forge the information on my passport, when I was contacted BY SOLOS.

This job with the NCC was the first one they put me forward for, and I knew by the day after my interview that the job was mine, which to me points out that they look at CV’s carefully (and they also phoned a couple of times for a chat) to marry up Clients and prospective Employees.  I love working here, it’s as comfortable as a pair of old slippers and has given me a new lease of life. I didn’t want a high-flying post, just a job that I could do to the best of my ability, then go home, relax, and not worry about it.

I think that ‘oldies’ have a lot to give. Many of us have qualification which go back a long way, but even without bits of paper, we have years of life experience, of learning how people react, and (especially in my case) a lot more patience than we had at twenty.

As an afterthought – SOLOS is the best agency I have ever worked for – even my first payday went without a hitch!

image courtesy of Stuart Miles @ freedigitalphotos.net