# Don't get distracted by the ageism argument

- **Episode:** [187](https://agents.truthliesandwork.com/episodes/187.md) (2025-04-10)
- **Type:** interview
- **Tags:** ageism, career-focus, mindset
- **Time:** 23:12–27:03 (start 1392s)
- **Listen:** [https://truthliesandwork.com/187?t=1392](https://truthliesandwork.com/187?t=1392)

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[23:12] Leanne Elliott: And is this what you mean when you tell your clients to focus, divert their focus away from ageism and towards adding value to an organization?
[23:19] John Tarnoff: Yeah, I think we get distracted by the ageism argument, and I'm, I am absolutely, uh, part of this cohort of, of professionals in this space that are calling out ageism regularly. And, and I think it's, it's Obscene and unnecessary and stupid, and at the same time, I don't think that that's a way to get a job. Right? And I I really encourage people when they are posting on LinkedIn and they have been out of work for a long time and they are frustrated by this, don't take it out in public on LinkedIn. Don't. Complain that you've been out of work for 6 months or 9 months or a year or 3 years, and you've made all these applications and no one's getting back to you. Don't share that information. As much as you want the comfort and support of other job seekers, of other peers on the platform, the people you are looking for to hire you are also reading these messages. Right. And if you are whining about your situation and the fact that you haven't been hired, they will probably say, well, there's got to be something wrong here. You know, stay away from that person. But if you're looking for a job, you want to bypass ageism. You want to not— you don't ignore it. You strategize around it. And the way you strategize around it is to Define the value that you provide and the deliverables that you have delivered and are offering to potential employers, clients, if you're going to go into consulting, and really focus on the value. If you start by focusing on the value, really define what it is that you stand for and what it is that you deliver. That gives you the platform to connect to more people who are potential clients, potential employers for you, potential recruiters who need what it is that you offer. So that is the basic process that I think is much more important than continually applying to open positions, which is going to be frustrating. Because first of all, who knows how many of the positions that you apply to are real positions? Many of them are ghost jobs. And you're going to get this ageism problem where they look at your, at your resume and the ATS kicks it out. Uh, don't think that by hiding your age, by hiding your dates, that they're not going to figure out how old you are. They will. If they are ageist, they will find you and they will reject you. So there's no getting around it. I will say on the, on the other side, I have worked with some people in the past. I don't tend to attract them for whatever reason, who are, who push back, who basically cling to this identity and to this privilege and this sense that, and they'll say in the, in the, in our initial strategy call, I will either see their eyes glaze over when I start talking about the self-reflection process and the need to kind of reevaluate their identity and reevaluate where they are and focus on their value. And some of them have even said in the past, look, I really just want to get the next job. And I will say to them, well, then I'm not the right coach for you because I don't focus on the next job. I focus on the rest of your career