Is 35 past it?

26 February 2008

2 minute read

Thanks to age discrimination legislation, banks are said to be hiring older bankers with all the zeal of teenagers purchasing alco-pops. Is this really true?

A study by financial services recruiter Joslin Rowe suggests older people (ie, anyone aged 35+) now account for 18% of people changing jobs, up from 14% five years ago.

The same study suggests that people aged over 56 are also moving into new finance jobs more freely than before - these days, the 56+ contingent account for 0.5% of people changing jobs, up from 0.1% in the ageist days of 2003 (a 323% increase, as Joslin Rowe's PR points out).

Putting aside for a moment the question of whether 0.5% really represents a new paradigm in anti-ageism, do banks really want to hire older people?

The answer, sadly, is no. The chief exec of one front-office search firm says there's a 90 year-old somewhere in the City, and there might be a bond salesman who's had the same job for 20 years somewhere else, but on the whole banks are still clamouring for the elixir of youth.

"It's all about control - it's much easier to control someone in their 20s than in their 40s and 50s," he says.

And if you lose your job once you've hit a certain age? Don't count on walking into another one quickly.

Figures from Fairplace, an outplacement provider, suggest it takes a redundant banker an average of three months to find a new job. For people aged 50+ that time is doubled.

AUTHORSarah Butcher

Global Editor

Se
Senior
25 August 2009
I am 54, have been in banking for 18 yrs, college degree, licenses, all that...It means nothing.... I have been turned down for every banking job that I have applied for in the southwest Florida area. The few times that I have had an interview, they have been conducted by a person of about 30 yrs old. They are very defensive and insecure during the interview. The last bank that I interviewed with was for a assistant manager position. The manager that interviewed me was about 30 and had been in the position for 2 months!!! She said to me that the manager before her was here for 14yrs, it was time for him to go!!! Unbelievable....Needless to say I did not get the job. Having years of experience to bring to the table means nothing in the banking industry. I never imagined that at 54, with years of background , that I would be looking for an entry level job..OH yes, I have been turned down for those as well....
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an
anonymous
20 March 2008
My experience is quite unusual as I left 5 years ago my sales job by a major investment bank because of family reasons. I currently work as a free lance adviser but I miss adrenaline I had by major Firms. Now I am 37. I looked (and I still do) for positions where liaison exec are expected to deliver strategic and coherent rethinking about products, distribution and customers. These days prove a deep understanding of dynamics within Firms and on the customers side is required. I didnt get (yet) them as "You are by far the most suitable candidate, but in the current conditions Firms hardly hire outside as they have inside plenty of resources that would do whatever to hold a job". Frustrating but, still, encouraging. Feedback I receive keep being positive (and my age seems a plus), but the last step remains hard. To me, being experienced, committed, hard working is the only way to be appreciated; quality has no age, the younger the better, but not necessarily.
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Ma
Master of the Universe
6 March 2008
When you hit 50 as I will this year, you should be an employer not an employee...and if you cannot make it back into the factory of investment banking, then you should be independent...but if you do not have clients and relevant relationships, then you should not have been in banking in the first place.
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BW
BW
3 March 2008
To "Another Recruiter" - has it occured to you that by instructing you not to send CV's of individuals over a certain age, your clients are potentially breaking the law??!!
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An
Anonymous
1 March 2008
It depends on the side of the business your on. In long only fund management, generally you won't get your hands on proper funds to manage until your older, because clients and consultants typically favour experience over ability. Long only fund management is full of deadwood over 40 who manage to maintain their positions by touting the amount of years experience they have, whilst being pretty clueless about what's going on in their markets...
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