To worry I won't get a manager role at 57

[PastelWinterCouds]

I am a trained nurse. Senior, having worked in nursing all my adult life.
In my late 20s I became a ward Sister/ward manager. I loved it.
Then I stepped down from a management role in my mid/late 30s when I had children, as I wanted to leave work at work, and not sit at home doing all the extra layers of work that come with management in the NHS. I remained in a senior position in clinical care, but stopped the management role.
I was offered and took up another Lead Nurse/nurse manager position in my mid 40s, but I still had children at dependent ages and after 1 year I quit as I couldn't juggle both commitments, particularly as both my DC had complex needs.
So I decided to step down and deputise under a new manager instead, which was perfect as it meant I remained involved in the team at a senior level, but ultimate responsibility for things laid with the new manager, not me, which allowed me to concentrate on my family outside of my employed work hours (I say this because in the NHS you work huge amounts of additional hours outside of your employed hours if you are in a management role).
Anyway, my children are older now, less dependent, and I'm 57.
I've seen a Lead Nurse position that I'd really like to apply for as I am now able to give my commitment to the role now that my children are older.
My worry is my age though....do you think I'm too old at 57 to be newly recruited into a management role and lead a team? Would an employer recruit a new nursing manager who is 57 and hasn't been in a management position for years?
I don't want to make a fool of myself by applying and then being turned down because they are looking for someone younger than me!
Please be honest.
Thank you.

There's literally only one way to find out.

Good luck

Go for it! And good luck!

Why would applying make a fool out of you? Don't be silly. Go after what you want, full speed ahead. The worst thing that can happen is that you don't get the job, but if you don't try you absolutely won't get it.

Well I'll feel a fool if I apply for it, my CV reads brilliantly, get an interview, and then they meet me, find out I'm 57 and decide they don't want to recruit a new manager of this age.
I'd feel very foolish indeed!

Why would you feel foolish? If they behaved like that they would be the foolish ones.

Crack on and apply / stop making excuses / etc

How would you know it's because of your age that you didn't get the job? It's not like they would tell you that, and what's the big deal about feeling foolish? It's not as though the sky will fall down. You'll get over it.

If you want the job, you have to try.

You should absolutely go for it. They’d be lucky to have you. A younger manager could also leave in 6 months , 1 year, etc.

If that could be proved then they would be in breach of the Equality Act 2010. Age is a protected characteristic.

If people are going to discriminate, for whatever reason, they are not people you'd want to work for. Go for it. At the very worst, it will be good experience for you and practice for the next job application should you have no luck with this one.

It's easy to find reasons to doubt yourself if you are female - I forget the exact figures but it's something like, say there are 10 competencies in a job spec, a woman on average will only apply if she meets at least 8 of them, whereas an average man will apply if he meets just two of them.

At this moment, there might be a woman in her 20s thinking 'I daren't apply because they'll think I'm too young and inexperienced' - a woman in her 30s thinking 'They won't give it to me because they'll assume I will be off on maternity leave within a couple of years' - a woman in her 40s thinking 'they won't want me because I have young children'.

The sad fact is that it's all too easy to talk yourself out of applying, whatever your age. You just have to go for it and let your skills and experience speak for themselves.

I work in the NHS and my new line manager was appointed a few months ago (from a non-management role in a different department). She's 58 and bloody brilliant at the job. Go for it, if it's what you want there's really no reason not to.

Go for it

Do it for all of us over 50s full of self doubt

I’m the exact same, I’ve never thought about age in my work life before.

having sold my business I’m now looking to start another in the same type of industry but another dimension. I’ve found myself omitting to tell future clients my age. Personally, I do find the workplace ageist at times. However, my friend at 59 just landed herself a directors role in a multinational company and didn’t give her age a single thought.

So you go for it and let me know how you get on. Best wishes

From your own OP:
I stepped down from a management role in my mid/late 30s when I had children, as I wanted to leave work at work, and not sit at home doing all the extra layers of work that come with management in the NHS

Leaving aside the kids as presumably they are no longer a factor, why would you want a management job anyway? I've seen what management jobs do to people.

I think you need to gen up on your UK legislation if you want to be a manager, particularly the NHS which is public sector. What you're describing is direct discrimination on the basis of a protected characteristic, Age.

I doubt very much that you'll walk into the interview and they say nah she's too old. Or get away with that decision. They wouldn't even go there. They'd need a much better reason than that to justify not choosing you if you're the best candidate for that job.

just get in there and give it your best shot!