How To Become An Elder: What It Is and Career Path

What is an elder and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being an elder. For example, did you know that they make an average of $15.48 an hour? That's $32,205 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 36% and produce 1,185,800 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreElderUS Average

Salary

2.5

Avg. Salary $32,205

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability Level

8.2

Growth Rate 36%

Growth Rate 0.3%

Diversity

2.9

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.44%

Asian 6.75%

Black or African American 12.05%

Hispanic or Latino 9.19%

Unknown 4.01%

White 67.56%

Gender

female 70.65%

male 29.35%

Age - 52

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 52

Stress Level

8.2

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity Level

10.0

Complexity Level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work Life Balance

5.3

Work Life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become an elder

Explore elder education requirements

Most common elder degrees

Bachelor's

47.7 %

Associate

17.5 %

High School Diploma

12.4 %

Start to develop specific elder skills

Skills	Percentages
Vital Signs	14.97%
Blood Pressure	14.08%
Caregiver	13.35%
Home Maintenance	8.42%
Meal Preparation	7.71%

Complete relevant elder training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 3-6 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New elders learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as an elder based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real elder resumes.

Research elder duties and responsibilities

Work on achieving goals with child base on yearly ISP reports.
Be able to assist clients with ADL's, such as bathing and grooming.
Fill in as substitute caregiver for other assignments.
Administer medications, assist with meals, laundry, mobility and ADL'S.

Prepare your elder resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your elder resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on an elder resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Elder Resume templates

Build a professional Elder resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your Elder resume.

Apply for elder jobs

Now it's time to start searching for an elder job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How do elders rate their job?