I recently applied for a job with a small community bank. The hiring manager called me within a week to find out more about my banking background. I described the various roles and experience and incorporated it with my sales experience. I have 17 years banking experience and for the past 16 years I've worked in sales on commission. I pressed for a face to face interview. I had the face to face the following week. Something during our initial phone conversation bothers me. He asked me my age. I was honest because I felt he would eventually find out. I stayed in touch with him weekly to find out if a decision had been made. I learned last week I did not get the job. I wouldn't normally think of age discrimination but out of the hundreds (literally) of jobs I've applied for, I've only had 5 face to face interviews. I felt I aced the interviews but at the same time, I never get the job. I'm 54 so I still have years left to work. I've reached out to job placement companies and even had one guy ask me if I knew of any recent college grads that might be interested. Why is age discrimination so hard to prove? I'm not stupid. I'm not lazy. I apply for many jobs weekly. Is it really coming down to this with no way to prove it?