Discover your dream Career
For Recruiters

"I'm 66-years old and have impeccable credentials. I'm looking for a new job in finance"

I am 66 years old and I am ready for my next job in finance. I am fit, I am healthy and I have impeccable experience and a long list of contacts. 

Who, though, will hire me?

I graduated from Cambridge University in 1979. I have 15 years' experience in bond sales at Lehman Brothers, Bear Stearns and Credit Lyonnais. I was a very good bond salesman, but I stopped in 1995 to set up an investment trust investing in media and content firms.

 

As the market has changed, I endlessly reinvented myself. In the years running up to the financial crisis, for example, I was a headhunter with a staff of six, but when hiring dried up our revenues fell 90%. We had £400k in the bank; when that dropped to £40k, we called it a day.

Immediately after the financial crisis, when liquidity was thin, I set up a bond sales team for WH Ireland. When liquidity roared back, I became an equity research analyst. When I was laid off three years later, I decided to something completely different.

I've spent the past decade running a hotel and a firm of mountain guides in the Spanish Pyrenees and the Western Alps around Chamonix. It's been excellent fun and one of the best jobs I've ever had, but I am now ready to move back into finance. I'm already discovering that it may not be easy.

I have an unblemished record. I am very fit and very healthy. I have a huge Rolodex - my past decade has been spent taking elite professionals hiking and off-piste skiing; people know me and trust me. But when I apply for jobs in finance, people see only my age, and my time out of the market. 

This shouldn't be the case. I have a huge amount to offer. If anyone has any suggestions or has had a similar experience, please let me know in the comments box below. 

Click here to create a profile on eFinancialCareers. Make yourself visible to recruiters hiring for top jobs in technology and finance. 

Have a confidential story, tip, or comment you’d like to share? Contact: sbutcher@efinancialcareers.com in the first instance. Whatsapp/Signal/Telegram also available (Telegram: @SarahButcher)

Bear with us if you leave a comment at the bottom of this article: all our comments are moderated by human beings. Sometimes these humans might be asleep, or away from their desks, so it may take a while for your comment to appear. Eventually it will – unless it’s offensive or libelous (in which case it won’t.)

author-card-avatar
AUTHORWilliam D'Arcy Insider Comment
  • Fe
    Fernand Danan
    17 March 2023

    Friday 17 March 2023


    Like very much the approach of this Gentleman of 66. Can you tell him to call me on +33608763679 or WhatsApp for an interesting Airline Business opportunity

    All the Best to efinancialcareers


    Fernand Danan

  • Hi
    Hiblife
    16 March 2023

    Very unlikely anyone hires you unless it’s a personal connection you’ve made. Surely you understand the reality having been in recruiting ?!

  • SA
    SAFC
    14 March 2023

    The entitlement is unreal. We all "have something to offer", but these roles are in such short supply,it's just not fair or realistic to be upset about that. The hubris to talk in that tone,like the world owes you this and if it's not being offered the only reason is age discrimination.

  • Ta
    Tabby London
    13 March 2023

    I would invite you to do a career SWOT then look at the opportunities in further detail. Go for a walk or somewhere creative and then think more about the opportunities and who needs you.

  • Ja
    Jasper King
    12 March 2023

    Most BB Investment Banks have Senior Relationship Management (SRM) teams. These teams are responsible for covering the top institutional clients (C Suite level) of the markets franchise (across S&T / Research), but also cross sell in other parts of the bank like M&A / Capital Markets. They sit as a horizonal across all products and ensure you are covering your top clients as best as possible - you are both a problem solver and salesman. Having decades of industry experience and great senior contacts is a prerequisite, so sounds like it would fit your experience well! Good luck

Sign up to our Newsletter

The essential daily roundup of news and analysis read by everyone from senior bankers and traders to new recruits.

Boost your career

Find thousands of job opportunities by signing up to eFinancialCareers today.
Recommended Jobs

Sign up to our Newsletter

The essential daily roundup of news and analysis read by everyone from senior bankers and traders to new recruits.