Finding work in 50's

[Draconis]

My friend has been a carer for the last few and hasn't worked. She previously held good roles in finance, earning around £50k
She's now in a position to go back to work but doesn't want high powered or stressful jobs and would be happy to do some admin work.
No luck though. Never even gets called for interview. Is ageism really rife or is it just bad luck?

I was job hunting at 58 and found that the NHS and Civil Service were not august. Probably local council would be the same.

Agist not august

Ageism is rife but is also sounds like your friend's expectations might be unrealistic. In my experience it is common to get a lot of rejections before you find something in a lot of industries. And that is with a current relevant role. Your friend is looking to change to something she doesn't have experience in. A temp agency might be a good place to start.

She previously held good roles in finance, earning around £50k

What was she doing? payables? receivables? credit control? management accounts? loans? finance covers a lot of jobs.

Ask A Manager is a US site but has a LOT of advice on CVs and cover letters. Tell her to ditch the age and qualifications unless they are very recent. If she fancies going back to finance at a lower level then tell her to look for some decent recruitment agencies - Robert Half and Michael Page/Page Personnel both have finance divisions. And think about temp work to ease herself in.

I couldn't believe how many companies didn't even acknowledge his applications

That could be sheer volume of applicants, not necessarily ageism (not that it doesn't exist).

Has she tried agencies? I'm in my 50's and started a "six week" contract in November 2021. The company I was working for extended the contract to 6 months after which I asked if there was a chance it could be permanent. The answer was yes and I'm still there and loving it. Granted it's not a "high powered" job but anything is worth a shot.