My godmother was born on June 11, 1913. When I think back, the various talents that she had from my childhood perspective come to mind: although she remained childless, she had a talent for dealing with us children. With me in particular, because I loved being allowed to go on "vacation" to her in Zurich. She persistently gave me swimming lessons in Lake Zurich because she was absolutely convinced that a child should be able to swim. I was so proud when I could! She taught me various card games, especially canasta. She drew my attention to England because she had been there as a young woman until before the war started. She loved the royals and proudly told me about her return trip to Switzerland by plane. She could tap dance and fortunately 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, in keeping with the custom of the time, she no longer worked outside the home after her marriage, but took care of all the work within the family, including the budget and bills.
She was my mother's sister-in-law and best friend, who truly also had talents. My mother - concentrating on us children, the family and ultimately on her increasingly ill parents - also knew how to use her talents. She was a very good cook, looked after my parents' large circle of friends in the best possible way and, as a trained seamstress, provided us children and later the grandchildren with the best clothes. She even organized a super tartan fabric and sewed an "original" tartan skirt 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 created trust.
Think about it, dear reader: what talents do you have? I'm not just talking about the obvious ones, such as bookkeeping, computer technology, carpentry, etc., but rather the hidden ones!
The German philosopher Manfred Hinrich said: "Everyone has the talent to misjudge their talent." Is that what we want?
Seniors@Work aims to find talented, retired people with skills, knowledge and motivation in an uncomplicated way. And, of course, also specific specialists for administration, for example. For bookkeeping. For auditing. For project work.
But what I want to say with all this is: seize the opportunity and apply confidently for the job that catches your eye. When you are older, you not only have a great deal of specialist knowledge, but have also strengthened all your talents through life experience, perhaps throwing some of them overboard and discovering new ones. You need to put them to good use. In doing so, you not only bring joy to yourself, but also to those around you.
And I hope that there are also employers who read this blog, open their eyes and recognize the hidden talents of job seekers.
Beatrice Isler
