I'm a career coach for job seekers over 40. The key to landing a job isn't passion - it's prioritizing.

"The biggest risk for older job seekers isn't rejection; it's the silence from hiring managers that can turn a career dry spell into long-term unemployment, executive career coach and strategist Loren Greiff told Business Insider. She sees it happen all the time in her work with executives over 40 years old. "Smart, credentialed leaders get stuck because they're running on an outdated operating system," Greiff said, adding that while younger workers are often hired for potential, older executives aren't."

""When passion leads the narrative, employers often translate it into 'unfocused,' 'expensive,' or 'overqualified.' That's why Greiff doesn't tell older executives to abandon passion - she advises them to sequence it differently. She believes passion should simply become a byproduct, not the pitch. 'Those who lead with passion first don't usually get rejected outright; they get stalled,' she said. 'And that's how well-intentioned 'I've earned this' thinking quietly turns into long-term unemployment.'"

"To rewire these experienced candidates to become more hireable, the first thing Greiff asks them to do is think about their next role and rank their "3 C's" - culture, compensation, and challenge - in terms of priority. Once the self-exploration has been established within the framework of the 3 C's, Greiff guides older job seekers to push past their own goals and think from the perspective of employers."

Experienced job seekers face the greatest danger when hiring managers stop responding, which can turn short gaps into long-term unemployment. Older candidates are evaluated through a lens of cost, immediacy, and risk, while younger workers are often hired for potential. Leading with passion can read as unfocused, expensive, or overqualified, causing candidates to stall rather than be rejected outright. Job seekers should first clarify priorities among the three C's — culture, compensation, and challenge — then reframe their narratives to demonstrate how they will solve hiring managers' problems. Passion should emerge as a byproduct of fit, not the initial pitch.

Read at Business Insider