Jane - the Carer
Jane
Current role: Clinical Support Lead
Age at time of interview: 52
Length of time at IAS: 4 years, 6 months
Jane is a dynamo at work and at home. At work, she manages a great team of people in their 20s and 30s who inspire her and keep her feeling young. At home, she cares for her son who has learning disabilities and her mother-in-law. She also volunteers for a loneliness charity for older people.
My involvement in this project has made me think about age in the workplace differently, because I don’t see myself as being in my 50s. I’ve got such a young team that I feel as young as they are.
In many ways, IAS feels more like a family than a workplace. There’s a lot of support and it means I enjoy getting up on a Monday morning and going to work.
Time for the family
This role appealed to me as the hours fit in with my family life - there’s no shift work or working at weekends or on bank holidays. My son is 25 and has a moderate learning disability and my mother-in-law moved in with us three years ago. She has MS and numerous health problems and was struggling on her own.
My job is quite flexible, so I can make sure all is well at home before I leave in the mornings and am back in a reasonable time in the evening. I can give my mother-in-law injections for her diabetes and be nearby for my son, too.
How I got here
Before coming here, I was a general nurse for 16 years, and for nine years I was lead nurse for a private clinical research company trialling new drugs on patients. I loved the work, but the company was being taken over by a large company, so I started looking for something else.
A friend worked for IAS and told me about it. I applied for a job four years ago, got it, and became Clinical Support Lead just over a year ago.
My background has helped me so much in my role because nursing is all about looking after people, time management and documentation, which is a big part of what I do now.
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A typical day at work
I’m the Clinical Lead for the Preston area so I support a group of healthcare practitioners from different medical backgrounds. I monitor the quality of reports and audit reports, I sit in and observe the healthcare practitioners regularly and give them feedback, and I carry out training as needed for my team. I complete a lot of paperwork and take part in telephone conferences, and am on a support line a couple of days a week so that healthcare practitioners can ring in to ask my advice on cases.
I get a lot of job satisfaction from seeing my team doing well, and it’s wonderful that they’re all so enthusiastic. They talk to me about day-to-day issues as well as work issues, and we go out for a meal after work when we can. This makes for great teamwork and boosts morale in the workplace.
Alleviating loneliness
My job also means I have time to volunteer as a befriender for Silver Line, a charity for older people who are lonely. For around five years now, I’ve been ringing a lady called Josie every Wednesday for a half hour chat.
My ambition? To be happy
Looking ahead, my main ambition is to be happy at work and in my home life. I started to learn sign language a few years ago and would love to be able to go back to this. Apart from that, I’d like to work with the homeless. Right now, though, I just want to carry on and hopefully retire in reasonable health so I can enjoy family time with my grandchildren.
What's Great About IAS?
No two days are the same
There’s great variety in my role and you never know quite what’s going to happen on any given day. There’s also the possibility of progressing into a completely different role, if you want. There’s a lot of opportunity within the company.
You can balance work with home responsibilities
Working regular hours for IAS means I know I can be around to support my family. For various reasons, I wouldn’t be able to leave them overnight, so it’s good to know I can be there for mealtimes and to make sure they have their medication.
You’re learning all the time
IAS has a great programme of learning opportunities that we’re encouraged to take advantage of. I think it’s particularly important for mature workers to keep learning new skills as it keeps us on our toes and makes sure we don’t get stale or stuck in a rut.
“It’s a great place to work. I don’t have that Sunday night dread of going to work the next day.”
Jane
Clinical Support Lead, IAS
Jane's career journey
Jane's advice to others
Take a risk
If there’s something you want to do at work, you should just do it. Don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t. This is true whatever your age. Life’s too short to have regrets. Take a risk. You’ll never know what you can achieve if you don’t try.
Have confidence in yourself
My advice to anyone who’s over 45 and thinking of applying to IAS is to be confident in your abilities. At our age, we have a huge amount of life experience and we may not even recognise that we have a lot of transferable skills. Hold your head up and be positive. You have a lot to offer.
Challenge your assumptions
As a mature worker, you may have to try new ways of working, work in different kinds of teams, and learn new skills. But don’t assume that any of this will be a problem. You have as much to learn from young people as they have to learn from you. Be open to new experiences and enjoy the challenges!
Football fan, London Marathon runner, volunteer befriender at The Silver Line,
British Sign Language qualified
Just some of Jane’s interests and side hustles