"Since I hit 45, banks will only employ me in contract jobs"
If you're looking for a highly experienced Oxbridge graduate with top academics to work as the COO for your macro - or other - sales team, I know someone you should hire: me! I have decades of experience as a COO in trading businesses, and yet for some reason I am like soiled goods.
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It's my age. Since I was 45, the only jobs I have been able to get in banks are contract roles. I mostly get these roles through old friends. At the same time, I keep applying for full-time jobs, but the response is unbelievably bad.
In the past year, I have applied for literally hundreds of jobs. I fill in repeated application forms, wait, and then four months later I'm finally rejected. Despite my experience, I haven't had a single interview for at least 12 months.
The problem is partly the nature of COO roles. To succeed as a COO, you need to know how to navigate people and systems. This means that the jobs often go to internal candidates who already know how things work.
It's hard. I'm still applying for full-time jobs, but it takes its toll on morale. There's a lack of kindness in the market. Recruitment seems to have been taken over by an army of low skilled people who don't even understand the roles they're filling: I've applied for jobs identical to my previous full-time job and have been told I lack the right experience. It's madness.
In the meantime, there's contracting. Contract jobs aren't bad. They are typically six months long, and I earn £500 a day. But I still have children at home and I really need something more secure. Advice in the comments below would be much appreciated.
Pier Leuvers is a pseudonym
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