I held senior roles at Bank of America and EY. At 56, I can't find a job, and it led to a bit of a midlife crisis.
A 56-year-old former senior executive at Bank of America and EY shares her struggle to re-enter the workforce after relocating. She highlights the difficulty of navigating modern hiring processes and the systemic age bias faced by highly qualified professionals.
Why it matters
It sheds light on the 'hidden' job market and the challenges experienced by older, overqualified workers in a shifting economic landscape.
Siobhan MacDermott Gabriela Hasbun for BI This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Siobhan MacDermott, a 56-year-old tech founder based in Menlo Park, California. It's been edited for length and clarity. I've never been underqualified for any job that I've applied to. I was vice chair at Bank of America and principal at EY. I held senior roles in cybersecurity at AVG and McAfee. I've sat in boardrooms with Fortune 500 CEOs, advised governments, and built practices from scratch. Then, in early 2024, when I was 54, I had to relocate from New York City to California for family reasons, leaving the management consulting job I'd held as a partner at The Consello Group.
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