Graduate finds rewarding career, salary boost in administration

Shi Lei, 26, from Changsha, Hunan province, graduated from the senior care administration and management program at Changsha Social Work College in 2011 and has worked in senior care for four years. He is director of the training department at Kanglenianhua Senior Care Service Co, a senior care service consulting company in Changsha. Here he talks about his career:

I applied for several programs, including senior care administration and management and accounting before college.

I was aware of the aging issue in society, so when I was recruited by the senior care administration program, I thought, why not?

This is how I entered the senior care business in 2008 at Changsha Social Work College. That year, 76 students were in our program and only four were men.

It was a three-year program and I began an internship at a nursing organization in Shanghai in the fall of 2010.

In 2011, I joined a consulting company in Changsha providing senior care services and training to nursing homes.

I have risen from being an entry-level staff member to director of the company's training department in four years and increased my salary by about 100,000 ($16,000) to 120,000 yuan each year.

The decent salary is an important factor keeping me in senior care.

When I worked as a nursing intern caring for seniors in Shanghai, the patients I looked after asked me why I was doing this. "You are young and you should do something big," they said.

There is a belief in some quarters that a job in senior care is like a servant's. I can explain my decision to my family and friends, but not to everyone.

Now, as a professional who has worked in senior care for four years, I've seen the sector grow, with both the number and diversity of senior care companies increasing.

Previously, senior care program graduates had limited choices after leaving college, with the majority working in nursing homes. Such work paid about 1,500 to 3,000 yuan a month, but there was a limited career development path for them.