Transcription
It is really hard to find a job in Australia in 2025, and I cannot stress it enough.
Honestly, the job market in Australia right now is cooked. How are you all going in the job market at the moment? I'm applying to so many jobs but don't get any response.
The Melbourne job market is absolutely cooked. I went for a job interview the other day and the lady told me that there were 400 applicants for one role.
So, I did this little experiment where I applied for 3,000 jobs in one month just to see what had happened. And why do I even test myself? Like 100 responses and none of them offered me a job.
I've been looking for a job in marketing for the past 6 months. Employees will literally replace you. They don't care care about your financial situation. They don't care about what's going on in your life. They will just do it.
It's going to take you months to find a job. You did everything right. Got the degree, built the resume, sent out the applications, and now you're stuck in a loop of rejection emails, unpaid internships, and job listings that want five years experience for an entry-level role. Welcome to the Australian job market, where the rules are broken, the ladder is missing, and the people in charge are still blaming you. This isn't a skills gap. It's a reality gap. There are more applicants than jobs, more hoops than opportunities, and more exploitation than anyone wants to admit. Casual contracts, zero-hour shifts are trial periods that never turn into paychecks. And if you complain, you're labeled entitled, lazy, unemployable. Meanwhile, the government brags about low unemployment. As if working one shift a week at a fast food joint counts as employed. As if undermployment isn't a crisis. As if people aren't silently drowning in debt while pretending to be fine. This isn't just a tough market. It's a rigged game. One where the jobs don't pay, the pathways don't exist, and the future feels like a scam. And the worst part, they're still telling you to just try harder. As if effort alone can fix a system that's already cooked.
So, I did this little experiment where I apply for 3,000 jobs in one month just to see what had happened. And why do I even test myself? Because I got so far, like 100 responses, and none of them offered me a job. Uh, albeit they all look for experience in different roles and different industries and whatever, but 3,000 jobs is pretty significant. I think I apply for every single job under the sun. So, I think the job market's [ __ ] in Sydney, if you have to ask me in a very frank and specific way. I really am baffled as to how people get jobs. What is this city coming to where you can't live, you can't work, and you can't play? That isn't that what Sydney, Australian culture is supposed to be? Well, it certainly is not that anymore.
I have just moved to Australia around 5 days ago. And I need a job. I need some money. So, today I have printed off some resumes and I'm going to go hand them out. I've already applied for jobs on Seek, Indeed, Gum Tree, Facebook group. I've literally done everything I possibly can, but I think it'll be better if I actually walk into the places and so they can see me, see what I'm like, and also actually physically look at CVs cuz they're easy to get lost online. I've also applied for my tax file number and I signed up at a bank and got my phone number the other day and my physical bank card has already come. I didn't expect it to come that quick, but wish me luck. Hopefully this goes well. If not, we'll just try again tomorrow.
How are you all going in the job market at the moment? I know it's all doom and gloom, but I know there's a lot of success stories out there. I want to hear from you. How are you going in the 2025 job market? We are at the end of June. Let me know in the comments.
Honestly, the job market in Australia right now is cooked. I understand why so many grads are really worried about it. And you hear a lot about negative stories. And honestly, here's the truth. While competition is tough, industry like engineering, healthcare, IT and traders still crying out loud. So the key to adapting is I think uh networking, tailoring your applications and staying open to opportunities. You might not really think of it in the first round. You can always come back to your ultimate goal or ultimate position, but I remember being in the position after uni and it it definitely wasn't easy, but persistent really did pay off. So yes, it's really tough, but definitely not hopeless.
I know you're on the verge of rage quitting your job, but let me just stop you for a second. Just hear me out. So, me and 200 other people applied for this job. Now, I'm one of the lucky five people who got a call back. So, I just had a phone screening and I've just found out that this is a five-stage interview process. So, I've just passed the first round of the phone screening, which means I then get to have an interview. And if I pass this interview, then I get to do a case study. And if they like my ideas um and all the work that I put into that case study, so the free work, I then get to meet the team in person. And then if the team like me, then I get to do some psychometric testing, which just takes a couple of hours to do online. And then if I pass that, they have to prefer me over their two internal candidates who are also going for this job. And then I might get an offer.
You've probably noticed that, and as I've been saying in all of my lives this year, the 2025 job market is actually quite dismal. If anything, it's worse than 2024, in my opinion. Anyway, is that what you're thinking? Probably. So, even then, it doesn't mean that you shouldn't be applying for jobs. It doesn't mean that you should be looking for more money. It just means that the job application process is harder at the moment. In saying that, people are still getting jobs. My clients are getting jobs. They're getting job interviews. They're getting job offers. My grads are getting into their first jobs. So, it absolutely, you know, you absolutely can do it. You just have to have a strategy. Nobody told you that when you graduated uni after spending 3 years on a degree in marketing that it would be so difficult to find a job. Like, it's insane. I went for a job interview the other day and the lady told me that there were 400 applicants for one role. I've been looking for a job in marketing for the past 6 months and I've gotten interviews. I've gotten through to the last round and nothing. So, I need some advice. I'm like, do I just go traveling in 4 months in September, go to Asia for a couple months and then just come back next year and keep looking or should I just like keep looking for work and getting debilitated and rejected? Like I honestly I I don't know how much I can take of this [ __ ]. Like it's actually so debilitating. Oh, and I forgot to add I have experience. It's like I've been working in the field for like 3 years.
Australia's job market has turned into a parody of itself. You scroll through listings and see the same absurd demands. Entry-level roles that require 5 years experience, internships that last 6 months with no pay, and casual jobs that expect full-time availability, but offer zero stability. It's not a career ladder, it's a treadmill. You run, you sweat, you hustle, and you stay in the same spot. Employers want you trained, polished, and desperate. They want you to bring value on day one, but they won't invest in you. They want loyalty, but offer no security. And if you push back, you're not a team player. You're entitled. You're not hungry enough. Hungry. People are literally skipping meals to afford commuting to unpaid trials. And the government, they call this flexibility. They celebrate job creation while ignoring the fact that most of those jobs are casual, underpaid, and designed to keep you poor. They point to unemployment stats and say, "See, uh, it's working." But working where? For whom? Because for most Australians, the only thing working is the exploitation. Kuma says, "I'm applying to so many jobs, but don't get any response. So are thousands of other people in this job market. It's really tough. It's really tough because we've got hundreds and hundreds of people applying to jobs, which I haven't seen before in Australia, right? It was a lot if a 100 people applied to your job. Now there's 800. 400. That's insane. So, um, you know, if you don't have the experience, you're not even going to get looked at. It's it's an employer's market. They've got the cream of the crop. They can pick whoever they like, and it's hard."
It is really hard to find a job in Australia in 2025, and I cannot stress it enough. If you have no experience in anything, nothing to show on your CV, it's going to take you months to find a job. There are a lot of workshops in Australia that people go to to try and find a job. But realistically, you need to have something to show on your CV. There's no point going to a workshop, but then you have nothing to show to any employer. Do you know what I mean? Like you need to do things before you come to Australia now in 2025 because it's too hard to start from scratch here and there is too much competition. There is work in manual jobs because that's usually what Australians don't want to do. Meaning there's a skill shortage, meaning there's jobs there. So, if you're able to get some experience back home, even if it's a couple of nights a week in anything, waitressing, uh, dish pit, um, whatever you can think of that is manual, try and do it because then you can show to an employer that you already know what you're doing and they don't have to train you. You are going to beat competition. It's just really good to have some sort of skills when you come here because that means you'll be able to make income straight away, pay your rent. You know, it can be very stressful when you're having to pay bills and you can't find any work.
Hi guys, my name is Kika and I want to talk about the Melbourne job market as a whole. I've been unemployed for a week tomorrow and quite literally happened out of nowhere. I was covering for maternity leave for roughly 7-8 months. Um my contract was set to end the start of August, but they pushed it forward and let me go last week without any reason really. Um because I'm I'm a fixed-term contract, they can technically do that and give me one week notice. I didn't work the one week notice. They still paid me out for that. Employees will literally replace you. They don't care care about your financial situation. They don't care about what's going on in your life. They will just do it. And it's never really the right time to ever lose a job. I would say in my mind, I had 2 months to look for a job, right? And then now it's just been pushed forward. The job market is quite literally [ __ ]. My role, what I do specifically is recruitment and HR, predominantly internal recruitment. And there's just a lack of roles in that department for my field specifically. And I'm applying for all these roles. And I'm getting so many rejection letters. And I'm just like, what is even the point? If you're on LinkedIn, you can see how many people have applied for one specific role. The job will be up for like an hour and already over a 100 applicants have applied. Now, why the [ __ ] would I want to apply to that? Because I'm literally one out of a 100. I'm one out of a 100. And there's probably people that would have so much more experience than me. I literally want to cry because I've only gotten two interviews in the past week, which may seem a lot, but it's not enough when you're [ __ ] about to go on holidays and need the funds. Oh, they're not getting this parking spot. I don't know what they're doing. I just wanted to rant about that because it's just like there is so many applicants going for like one job. Statistically, from what I've read, it's actually the toughest the market has been in terms of like jobs being raised. Like, there's a lack of jobs and so many candidates. Anyways, watch this space because I'm probably just going to off myself at this point. The Melbourne job market is absolutely cooked. As of today, they've got the highest unemployment rate in the country. And it's really sad to see. I started my recruitment career in Melbourne and it was thriving. There were heaps of jobs. There were heaps of candidates, lots of movement. But now 80% of my career consultations are people from Melbourne who are having a tough time getting a job. And I'm finding that it's even harder for people that have moved interstate to Melbourne from elsewhere cuz they don't have any local experience. Of course, it depends on the industry, but that's what I'm seeing at the moment. So, are you in the Melbourne job market? Are you having a hard time getting a job? Let me know in the comments.
You got the job. Congratulations. It's casual, pays minimum wage, and gives you 12 hours a week if if I if you're lucky. You're technically employed, but you're still broke. Still living with your parents, still juggling side gigs, still praying for more shifts. Welcome to undermployment, the new normal in Australia. This isn't laziness, it's design. The system rewards employers for keeping workers on short leashes. No benefits, no sick leave, no stability, just enough hours to keep you off Centrelink, but not enough to build a life. And the government. They count you as employed. They pat themselves on the back. They say the economy is strong, but strong for who? For the CEO posting record profits. For the landlords raising rent, for the politicians who've never had to choose between groceries and petrol, and underemployment isn't a side effect. It's the business model. It keeps wages low, workers desperate, and the stats looking good. And the people stuck in it, they're not lazy. They're exhausted. They're educated, they're skilled, they're doing everything right and still falling behind. Because in Australia's job market, effort doesn't equal opportunity. It equals exploitation. And the only thing growing faster than the economy is the number of people working two jobs and still living below the poverty line.
Hey guys. So, I'm in Beach in Australia. Um, I'm actually doing my working holiday season here. I'm doing my 18 days. Um, and yeah, I've printed out my CV and my cover letters, and I'm hoping to get a job in the travel industry because that is what I love. Um, there's a few travel agents here, so I'm going to go and try my luck. Um, one that I've been wanting to work at for a while now. Um, yeah, and actually have my RSA yet. Um, I've been having some technical difficulties, so that's why I'm looking at applying for jobs that aren't like hospitality related. Uh, but it is what I want to do anyway. So, I'm hoping that I do get a job like this, like in a travel agency. um since that is like main thing I want to do anything travel related. So here are my CVs and cover letters. Um I'm a little bit stressed cuz there's in my hostel people have been there like long term for like a month or two looking for jobs. So it is it is quite scary. You can see early beach. They told me that I have to apply online even though I called and they said I could bring my CV in. So that's annoying but it's okay. I'll apply online. Um yeah I wrote a cover letter and everything. So, this is a strip. There's loads of different travel agencies. This is the area. It's really good cuz there's so many different travel agencies like as you look down the road. Um, yeah. I went again to another place and they told me that they're not hiring, but they'll take my CV, but they didn't take it cuz they said that I need a picture with my CV, which I didn't know about. Uh, they're only accepting CVs with photos, so I need to get a photo added. So, so far it hasn't been very successful, but I've tried. I'm going to keep trying because I still have my CVs in my bag. Um, but yeah, and I'm going to if I don't get anywhere with this, I'm going to obviously add some photos and do the stuff online and print out more tomorrow and definitely do my RSA. If I don't get a job early, I am considering um going somewhere else like Portugules or something, but I'm going to give it a go a bit more. It's literally only my first day. Just went into another one. And again, I've been I've been told that they've just hired. So, that's annoying because I've been here like over a week and I haven't bothered to do anything until today. Maybe if I got in a few days early, I would have got something. It's really annoying. But, he says that they have a really high turnover. So, there's a high chance they'll be hiring again soon, which is good. So, I went into another place and they said they're looking for specifically sales experience and I've got tourism experience, but apparently that isn't enough. So, um yeah, annoying. Um, they just said I have to time it right. Um, because it's all about timing. Like they just hired people and they've got a high turnover, which is good. But yeah, I'm gonna watch the sunset instead.
Yeah, I'm just watching the sunset because getting a job right now seems difficult. I have not even left a single CV, which is annoying. I still have them in my bag. Oh, what a mess. No, I wish I had done this earlier. I arrived a week ago. I should have done it like first day dot. I don't know what I was thinking. I didn't realize it was that bad. Like I thought that they would at least take it. Do you know what I mean? Put it aside and then if they need someone, they give you a call, but no, they didn't even take my CVs. They didn't even look at it. I know there's nothing wrong with it. It's just annoying. It's fine. It's okay. I'll definitely find something. I know I have a good feeling. But in other news, look at the trees. So beautiful. So slay and beach is so so pretty. They added a Ferris wheel as well that was not there in March when I came here. But yes, come back for part two of finding a job. But at least there's a beautiful sunset. Look at that.
If you can't get a job in Australia, please just listen to this. I'm going to tell you a 100% guaranteed way to get any job pretty much in Australia. You're going to need two things, okay? They're simple. Number one is you're going to need a bit of personality. You need a bit of energy about you. You can't be rocking up to an interview not looking like you want the job. Head down, closed, body language, whatever. Just be open, be smiley, be happy, and act like you really care about the job regardless of what it is. If it's in a coffee shop, you are the biggest coffee connoisseur ever. You love coffee, whatever. If it's in a gym, you are a diehard gym person. Even if you've never stepped foot in a gym before, your dedication and your everything to the gym is that's all they need to know. Even in a restaurant, okay, just tell the people that you love food, you love talking to people, you love making people feel good. That's all you need to tell. Number two, it's so simple, but no one does it because it's bad, but you know what I mean? You want a job or not? Skip, Seek, skip Indeed, or any of them websites. They don't often work. Find the company, find the email, and find the manager's email. Write them a massive paragraph. 6, 7, 8, however many you need to do to get your point across. I need you to mention a few things. Number one is how much you care about this job and how much you want this job and cannot let this opportunity go. Number two is that you just beg that they give you one interview and that's all you need because you know they're going to love you. Number three is a little bit unethical, but just lie a little bit. Okay? If you are going to work in a clothes store, say you've dealt with a clothes store before, you helped out with a family business, you've done this, you've done that. If you worked in a coffee shop before, just say you used to help out on the weekends doing this or doing that. If you worked in a gym, say you used to help out in the gym, that's all you need to do. Just a little bit of something that shows you have a little bit of experience. It doesn't matter how true it was. You don't need to be a full-time employee with five years worth of tracked history. You just need to tell them you've had a little bit of experience. Okay? So, it adds to when you're given the energy and you're giving this, you only need one shot of the opportunity. That's it. I guarantee if you email five and if you get the interview at one of them, you stand a very, very, very good chance at getting that job. And you can thank me for that so you're not homeless. All right, enjoy.
Okay, today is the 1st of October and my role was made redundant on the 1st of July. So, it has been 3 months for me without a job, 3 months of job hunting, etc. And this morning I did freak out. This morning I was like, okay, oh my god, like it's been 3 months. I thought I would have had a job by now, but it's okay. It's fine. I'm all good. Um, but now I'm feeling better. I have been like I've just been like thinking about it and and reflecting on it as I've been like looking for jobs today. And my redundancy was not a choice. Let me make that very clear. It was not a choice at all. It was very much hey your role doesn't exist anymore at this company. There's no place for you here. So you got to go. That's what the redundancy was. Um however, if it had been a choice, I still would have made the decision to go. I really truly would have even knowing like now as who I am that I still wouldn't have had a job up until this point. I still would have chosen to go because this version of me is so much better. I can't even begin to tell you how miserable I was 3 months ago. I was in such a bad place and I'm just I'm so much more recovered. I'm I'm rested and my confidence in my like ability to work was just so shattered. Um just because of like circumstances with who I was working with, but whatever. Um and you know what too, actually after that redundancy had happened, maybe like a week or two after it had happened, I had an interview. Like it just timing worked out really well. Maybe not even two weeks. Like I I really do think it was only like a week after it it had gone down. And I went in for this interview. It went really it went like quite well actually. Got along really well with the people, but I remember just feeling so nervous in that interview. Like I I was just thinking things like, "Oh my god, they hate me. They don't want me." Like it was so bad. Like my thought how I was thinking about myself was terrible. And I obviously I didn't end up getting the job cuz you know, here I am. Um but I think that was even for the best too cuz I was not in a place to go into like another job again. Like I really needed to rest and recover. I really did. And you know, I I actually um I'm originally from Queensland. I've said that a few times, but I'm originally from Queensland. So, I went back to Queensland for a couple of weeks. Just spent time at my mom's house with my mom, saw like friends and family while I was up there and just and had my birthday too while I was up there. So, had a really nice time. When I flew back to Melbourne, my mom actually came with me and stayed with me for a few weeks and just like took care of me. She just like really like just like mummed hard and that's what I needed. And I've since like had like a couple of other interviews and they've gone so much better cuz I've been so much more confident. I've like just believe in myself a little bit more now than what I did 3 months ago. Like truly, I'm in such a better place. So if you are also someone who is like job hunting and you are job hunting because maybe you you like left a like bad situation at work um you made redundant whatever your case is like try to appreciate this time. I know it's hard to because like it's stressful as well to like not have a job. It is. I'm not like minimizing that at all. But I'm I'm so much better now with like this time. I really am like cuz you know I was looking for work too while I was still at my old company. I was even looking for work then. I was being a lot more picky like with where I was applying to cuz I had a job. Um but I was still looking cuz I wanted out. I wanted to leave that company so bad. But if I just gone from that job to another job with with no time, I would have had no time to recover. Like no time to rest. And I would have still just been like insecure, like second guessing everything I was doing. Not even second guessing, like third guessing, fourth guessing, not even wanting to try something cuz of how much my confidence had been shut down. So yeah, if you were someone who was going through it, be gentle with yourself and like truly just rest. Like you deserve to rest and recover, especially if you had been in like a bad like work situation. Be so kind to yourself. Like you really do need it. It's so important. It really really is. You really need to like look after your mental health. Like a job is not worth your well-being. It so is not. And it sucks because we need money to live. Like unfortunately, we do need jobs to like live a life. Um, but you also just need to live your life too. I feel like I'm just talking in circles now. But if you're in this time, just try to like be recharging your battery as best as you can. That's I guess like what I'm trying to say.
They told you the job market was strong, that unemployment was low, that opportunity was everywhere, that if you just worked hard enough, stayed positive, and kept applying, you'd land something, anything eventually. But here you are still waiting, still refreshing job boards, still rewriting your resume for the hundredth time, still pretending that "we regret to inform you" doesn't sting anymore. Because the truth is, Australia's job market isn't strong. It's not healthy. It's not fair. It's cooked, burnt to a crisp, and the people in charge, uh, they're still serving it up like it's gourmet. This isn't a skills issue. It's not a motivation issue. It's not a "young people don't want to work" issue. It's a systemic issue, a structural failure, a rigged game where the rules keep changing, the ladder keeps disappearing, and the people who need a break the most are the ones getting broken. You're told to just get a job. But what they don't say is that the jobs don't pay. That they're casual, unstable, underpaid, that they expect full-time availability for part-time hours. That they want 5 years experience for a role that pays less than your rent. That they'll ghost you after three interviews and still call it competitive. And if you push back, you're the problem. You're entitled. You're not hungry enough. You're too picky. As if wanting a living wage is a luxury. As if asking for stability is selfish. As if expecting to be treated like a human being is somehow unreasonable. Meanwhile, the government brags about low unemployment. As if working one shift a week at a fast food joint counts as employed. As if underemployment isn't a crisis. As if people aren't silently drowning in debt while pretending to be fine. They'll tell you the economy is booming. That the numbers look great. That Australia is open for business. But open for who? For what? Because for most people, the only thing open is the gap between effort and reward, between what you give and what you get, between what you are promised and what you're living. This isn't just about jobs. It's about dignity, about identity, about the right to build a life without begging for scraps. Because when work becomes unstable, everything else collapses. Your housing, your health, your relationships, your future, and the worst part, you're made to feel like it's your fault. Like you didn't try hard enough, like you didn't network enough, like you didn't manifest enough, but you did. You've been trying for months, for years, and still the door doesn't open because the door was never meant for you. It was built for someone else. Someone with connections, with money, with time, with safety nets, with a last name that opens doors before they even knock. And the rest of us were left outside in the cold, in the queue, in the algorithm, competing for scraps while being told to smile. But here's the truth they don't want you to hear. It's not you. It's the system. It's the policies. It's the priorities. It's the decades of deregulation, outsourcing, and casualization that turned stable jobs into gig work. That turned careers into contracts. That turned workers into data points. This didn't happen overnight. It was built, engineered, enabled by governments that sold off public assets, gutted unions and told people to adapt, by corporations that replaced training programs with unpaid internships. By a culture that worships hustle and punishes rest. And now we're living in the aftermath. In a country where full-time work is a privilege, where job security is a myth, where burnout is normal, where people are working two jobs and still can't afford rent, where the dream of upward mobility has been replaced by the reality of downward pressure. But the government still wants you to believe, to keep applying, to keep hoping, to keep pretending that effort equals outcome. That if you just try hard enough, you'll make it. But what if the ladder is broken? What if the game is rigged? What if the system isn't broken, but working exactly as intended. Because let's be honest, this isn't about helping people. It's about managing them. About keeping them just desperate enough to accept anything. About creating a workforce that's too exhausted to resist, too broke to quit, and too scared to speak up. And the people who benefit, they're not struggling. They're thriving. CEOs posting record profits, landlords raising rents, politicians collecting pay raises while telling you to tighten your belt. They're not in the job market. They're in the winner's circle. And they're not letting anyone else in. But here's what they didn't expect. People are waking up. They're angry. They're organizing. They're refusing to disappear. Because when survival becomes political, silence becomes impossible. This isn't just about jobs. It's about justice. About who gets to live with dignity and who gets pushed aside.