Welcome to the recession/depression of 2008. You may be one of the millions who are worried to death. How will you pay the mortgage? The automobile? The food? The kids education? The Health Insurance? Those in the know tell us we should go out and take any job we can find. That will at least help to put food on the table. You may not go hungry but you might lose the house and auto. But at least you will survive.
My wife and I lived in a depressed area in Canada back in the late eighties. No matter what we tried to do to make a living, the economy of the area would not support us. We decided to move to the other end of the country, namely Vancouver, British Columbia.
When we arrived we had to find work. We didn’t know a soul. We were both 58 years of age. I had a grade nine education. My wife a grade eight. What were we going to do?
A few days after we arrived we saw an ad in the newspaper for caretakers (apartment superintendents) to live-in and manage a rental building. The ad stated “mature couples only”. That meant us.
Quickly we prepared a one page resume, mailed it and waited.
Three days later we had our first interview. We arrived an hour late due to the fact the ferry from Vancouver Island was wind delayed. The office was full of prospective caretakers. So was the hall way as well as the boardroom. We worked our way through the crowd to the secretary and told our names. She called someone who happened to be the property manager who did the hiring. We blended in with all of the applicants (they were all much younger than us) and waited. Five minutes later we were called in, a short interview followed in which I was asked to describe the use of a zone valve. After my satisfactory answer, we were hired. We couldn’t believe it. “What about all of those other applicants” we asked ourselves.
We soon found out that age matters in this business. The younger you are the less chance you have of getting hired. Property Managers want a couple (singles do get hired also) who are more mature. They are less inclined to want to move very often. They need less money than younger folks. They don’t usually start a family. They are, as a rule, less troublesome.
We were placed in a high rise rental tower for a short period of training under the caretaker couple who managed it. Three weeks later we were given our own smaller tower. That was all there was to it. We were in. Here we were all settled in to our new home. And we were getting paid for it.
We have learned plenty during the ten years we did this. Too much to take care of in one article. For those of you who may want to hear more about this career please check these articles:
Train to be a Building Caretaker or Building Superintendent
The Money End of Rental and Condominium Management
How to Pick The Right Condominium or Rental Building to Manage
At age Seventy Three we go Back to Work. Incredible Isn’t it!
Welcome to the recession/depression of 2008. You may be one of the millions who are worried to death. How will you pay the mortgage? The automobile? The food? The kids education? The Health Insurance?
Those in the know tell us we should go out and take any job we can find. That will at least help to put food on the table. You may not go hungry but you might lose the house and auto. But at least you will survive.
My wife and I lived in a depressed area in Canada back in the late eighties. No matter what we tried to do to make a living, the economy of the area would not support us. We decided to move to the other end of the country, namely Vancouver, British Columbia.
When we arrived we had to find work. We didn’t know a soul. We were both 58 years of age. I had a grade nine education. My wife a grade eight. What were we going to do?
A few days after we arrived we saw an ad in the newspaper for caretakers (apartment superintendents) to live-in and manage a rental building. The ad stated “mature couples only”. That meant us.
Quickly we prepared a one page resume, mailed it and waited.
Three days later we had our first interview. We arrived an hour late due to the fact the ferry from Vancouver Island was wind delayed. The office was full of prospective caretakers. So was the hall way as well as the boardroom. We worked our way through the crowd to the secretary and told our names. She called someone who happened to be the property manager who did the hiring. We blended in with all of the applicants (they were all much younger than us) and waited. Five minutes later we were called in, a short interview followed in which I was asked to describe the use of a zone valve. After my satisfactory answer, we were hired. We couldn’t believe it. “What about all of those other applicants” we asked ourselves.
We soon found out that age matters in this business. The younger you are the less chance you have of getting hired. Property Managers want a couple (singles do get hired also) who are more mature. They are less inclined to want to move very often. They need less money than younger folks. They don’t usually start a family. They are, as a rule, less troublesome.
We were placed in a high rise rental tower for a short period of training under the caretaker couple who managed it. Three weeks later we were given our own smaller tower. That was all there was to it. We were in. Here we were all settled in to our new home. And we were getting paid for it.
We have learned plenty during the ten years we did this. Too much to take care of in one article. For those of you who may want to hear more about this career please check these articles:
Train to be a Building Caretaker or Building Superintendent
The Money End of Rental and Condominium Management
How to Pick The Right Condominium or Rental Building to Manage
At age Seventy Three we go Back to Work. Incredible Isn’t it!
Welcome to the recession/depression of 2008. You may be one of the millions who are worried to death. How will you pay the mortgage? The automobile? The food? The kids education? The Health Insurance?
Those in the know tell us we should go out and take any job we can find. That will at least help to put food on the table. You may not go hungry but you might lose the house and auto. But at least you will survive.
My wife and I lived in a depressed area in Canada back in the late eighties. No matter what we tried to do to make a living, the economy of the area would not support us. We decided to move to the other end of the country, namely Vancouver, British Columbia.
When we arrived we had to find work. We didn’t know a soul. We were both 58 years of age. I had a grade nine education. My wife a grade eight. What were we going to do?
A few days after we arrived we saw an ad in the newspaper for caretakers (apartment superintendents) to live-in and manage a rental building. The ad stated “mature couples only”. That meant us.
Quickly we prepared a one page resume, mailed it and waited.
Three days later we had our first interview. We arrived an hour late due to the fact the ferry from Vancouver Island was wind delayed. The office was full of prospective caretakers. So was the hall way as well as the boardroom. We worked our way through the crowd to the secretary and told our names. She called someone who happened to be the property manager who did the hiring. We blended in with all of the applicants (they were all much younger than us) and waited. Five minutes later we were called in, a short interview followed in which I was asked to describe the use of a zone valve. After my satisfactory answer, we were hired. We couldn’t believe it. “What about all of those other applicants” we asked ourselves.
We soon found out that age matters in this business. The younger you are the less chance you have of getting hired. Property Managers want a couple (singles do get hired also) who are more mature. They are less inclined to want to move very often. They need less money than younger folks. They don’t usually start a family. They are, as a rule, less troublesome.
We were placed in a high rise rental tower for a short period of training under the caretaker couple who managed it. Three weeks later we were given our own smaller tower. That was all there was to it. We were in. Here we were all settled in to our new home. And we were getting paid for it.
We have learned plenty during the ten years we did this. Too much to take care of in one article. For those of you who may want to hear more about this career please check these articles:
Train to be a Building Caretaker or Building Superintendent
The Money End of Rental and Condominium Management
How to Pick The Right Condominium or Rental Building to Manage
At age Seventy Three we go Back to Work. Incredible Isn’t it!
Joe and Irma Mac Millan have enjoyed the Whistler Mountain and valley area of British Columbia for many years. They have camped, hiked and skied the mountains and fished and kayaked the rivers and lakes. Their website Whistler-Outdoors is a must visit for anyone considering a trip to Whistler as well as the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. They invite one and all to take a look.
Author: JOE MAC MILLAN