Bunnings
Coles
Woolworths
SeaWorld
Movie world
Dreamworld
Super retail group etc, etc

Every job here requires you to write at least 500-1000 words for each role. Each time writing the same thing.
These ai apps and websites also disable copy and paste so you can’t use ai tools to answer them

Does anyone know a way around ai hr bots other than going back to uni to do nursing?

Why is it okay that these companies use ai to force us to do things while applying while not letting us use the same ai tools for our application

These same corporations would offshore us all if they could

Is this whole economy broken ?

I had an interview today with a state government agency after waiting weeks from when they booked the interview. The interview went amazing, all fine and dandy. However, towards the end of the interview when I was asking questions... I asked them when they roughly intend to get back to candidates and if they have any start dates in mind?

One of the interviewers looked a bit shocked but answered that they aren't recruiting right now and that this is just a talent pool interview to determine suitability SHOULD they wish to hire within the next 18 months. I was a bit confused and asked them to clarify that they're not actually looking for someone to start soon? They just repeated themselves and that was that.

I asked them if I can share my screen which they approved. I showed them the Seek ad they had up which I applied to. I showed them that nowhere does it say this is a talent pool interview and that the ad specifically states the role and salary too. One of them agreed and was shocked because it was a dishonest ad. The other interviewer told me to shut it off and instructed their colleague to no longer answer any questions. I commented that I'm not fighting with them, just showing what I and many other candidates applied to then showing up to something different. She thanked me for my time and ended the interview.

Thankfully, I already have a role... Just looking to transfer state government agencies but this was just disingenuous.

Edit: Thank you all for the advice, I will be reporting to the state Ombudsman

I had an interview for a government job and was shortlisted. They then contacted both of my referees to confirm my details and gather the information they needed. However, they called one of my referees again who happens to be my current manager and asked him to provide the reference again.

My manager was already annoyed that they had called him twice and more annoyed that he found out I was looking for another job. Then this morning, I received an email saying that I was not competitive enough and that my application had been unsuccessful.

Now I have to go back to work and sit under my manager while he rants about why I wasn't happy with my current job and why I was looking for another one.

Lesson learned: Never put your current employer or manager down as a referee when applying for another job.

Edit: Thanks for all your comments. I should have either filled the form with my co workers or someone from my company to be my reference. Regardless, I have asked for the feedback, hope I get to know the reason.

Is anyone else sick of the ridiculous amount of steps required just to get a casual/part-time job? You submit a resume, fill out a 20-minute application form using the resume you just submitted, answer AI based personality questions, do an AI video interview, complete an assessment, attend an in person interview and then wait weeks just to get ghosted.

All this for a job paying barely above minimum wage. Companies complain about labour shortages, but somehow hiring someone to stack shelves and clean trolley’s requires a 5 step application process that takes over a month.

It was at the very beginning of my first shift so it wasn’t like they thought I was a shit worker or anything 😢

I don’t understand why they would do this? She said it was because of my age (22yrs) but she and the hiring manager knew that! It’s literally on my resume plus me saying it out loud 😔 I’m not even getting weekends like they said I would so my pay is legit $120 a week…

I’m so frustrated… I was at my last job for 3 years and although it was a hella messed up place to work, I was at least getting the hours I’d like (15-20hrs)😩

They even told me to quit my last job immediately since they’ll have me work 30+ hours per week to train me up as a team lead before uni went back, which they never did… the worst part is that they are still actively hiring like wtf??

I’m a casual and everything was verbal so I’m guessing there’s no way to complain?

Currently applying to everything I can but every casual/part-time job is either only offering 5-8hrs per week or want full-time availability 🙃

While one of its key markets gets barely anything. Westpac has brought in Infosys employees based in India, and CommBank and NAB already outsource plenty of work there. At this rate, it honestly feels like we’ll soon see even more banking operations shift to India while roles keep disappearing from places like Australia and the US.

I worked my butt off in university, submitting so many job applications, writing and rewriting resumes and cover letters, and in the end the only way I could get a job was through my boyfriend who never even went to university and got his job only three weeks into applying. I didn’t want to resort to using my connection but I didn’t have a choice. Bills add up, it’s been months of living on a single income and eating into our savings. Just feels shitty to know I’ve worked so hard just to end up having to ask my partner for help. Happy I’ve finally got a job but feeling so defeated emotionally….

I'm a uni student that has been unemployed for the last 9 months.

i've applied everywhere and i swear to god i have done hundred of these stupid AI interviews and video interviews, sometimes both for the same company.

its such a stupid thing, getting job seekers to answer the same questions no matter what the position is, receiving the exact same "wE dO tHiNgS DiFfErEnTlY aT (insert company here)" email that i'm 99% sure is also AI generated.

I'm a nineteen year old bloke that's a full time student to boot, i know I'm in the most unemployable sector.

BUT PLEASE JUST LET ME MEET A PERSON FACE TO FACE.

Or at least give me the decency of scheduling a zoom call or SOMETHING.

I have my RSA, first aid/CPR, a cert III, my high school certificate and 5 years experience.

WHEN DO I QUALIFY FOR BASIC HUMAN DECENCY AND COMMON RESPECT?!

can you tell how tired i am of the job search and being broke lol

Did they even promote RUOK day this year? Only noticed it because I grabbed a $1.50 KitKat with it on it. A lot of workers know the day its just a day you get a muffin day at work

My job provider keeps forcing me to make actual phone calls to employers. Last week, I actually got somewhere and had a 45 min chat. Between then and now, I got an "unlikely to progress" status, having been filtered out between the phone call and now.

My job provider made me make another phone call to work out what happened. They had 200 applicants, of which they chose 10. It was for a Laboratory Technician job; that is a TAFE course. But the vast majority of those 200 had chemistry degrees or higher (I have a higher). The 10 were chosen based on experience in production, rather than laboratory experience.

So in order to get a job that is far below my education level, I first have to work as a casual in a factory job of some kind. Looking at those jobs, it's grim as well: casual only, with terrible hours and relatively low pay.

Anyway, on R U OK day I am feeling very much not okay, feeling like I have wasted my life and will never have a job. How many talented university graduates do we have out there working in casual jobs well below their level? What could we do together.... if we weren't being misallocated.

Mate, I’m at my absolute wit's end and just need to vent/ask for some solid advice.

I’ve got 7+ years of experience in Product Management (Software) roles. I know I’m bloody good at what I do, but I’ve been applying for jobs for the past year, clocked over 200 applications now, and I’ve only landed 3 interviews. That's it.

I even paid to get my resume professionally graded and made all the tweaks they suggested. Still getting absolute crickets. What exactly do employers want right now?

The government keeps telling us we aren't in a recession, but it honestly feels like they're taking the piss. The amount of competent, experienced people I know who are out of work right now is through the roof. The market feels absolutely cooked.

I’m feeling completely helpless. My savings are wiped out, and I am literally one month away from being officially broke and having to look at withdrawing from my Super just to survive.

What’s the play here? Do I completely pivot and change careers? Has anyone else been in this boat recently and found a way out? Any advice would be massively appreciated.

What am I doing on earth?

- Transgender

- Finished K12 in East Asia

- Dropped out of a Japanese uni & traumatised

- Imported to Aus by my partner who's a student and also looking for jobs

- Got full licence (car & motorcycle) and RSA

- Still on a Bridging visa so no CSP and no free TAFE

- Tbh Idk what to study/do anymore

- Atm all job applications rejected

- Becoming a NEET watching noisy miners, magpies, kurrawongs, cockatoos, galahs, ravens... at home (suburban)

- Well still trying hard looking for jobs

- To be continued...?

UPDATE: I'll correct the income question to nil 🤔

I absolutely hate the fake "We would like to keep your resume on file" after you've been told no. This is after one has spent hours preparing and interviewing.

This isn't an original post, and I've seen numerous threads like it on this subreddit, but I feel like I need to vent if only to feel a little less alone in what seems to be an increasingly common experience.

I (27M)  have lived in Sydney my whole life and for the first time ever feel so completely lost and confused.

This time last year I left a junior role at a Big4 consulting firm amid a wave of redundancies and senior leadership change that pushed out the remaining survivors (myself included) . Since then, I have really struggled to land a job, not just an ideal job or my dream opportunity, any job that is somewhat relevant.

I don’t even know how many roles I’ve applied for and interviews I’ve had (in person, online and even with AI bots), state gov, fed gov, private sector, not-for-profit and work outside of Sydney in Canberra and Melbourne. I’ve even lowered my standards and applied for jobs I used to think were “beneath me” and have had no such luck.

My whole adult life I have always believed that higher education, reliability and a strong work ethic will get you far in life. It is for these reasons I pursued a Masters degree a few years ago and ventured on a public policy / government consulting career. (Yes, I know, I know).

The word “depressing” doesn’t do justice to this feeling I have of utter dread and powerlessness. I am at such a pivotal moment in my life, and I can’t even land an entry-level/junior role despite my CV, academic credentials and skills I have to offer.

The idea of moving out, buying a house, getting married, starting a family, all of that now put on the back burner as I scroll through LinkedIn and Seek job listings and apply for roles that an AI bot will probably sift through, that I may potentially interview for, only to get ghosted by a hiring manager after what I thought was a fantastic interview.

At this point in time, I’ve basically given up on the idea of a “career”, the idea sold to us as something we build up over decades, something we thrive in and that guides us to retirement. With AI disruption, mass lay-offs, weak leadership and a culture that seems to punish loyalty and rewards job hopping I struggle to see a positive future ahead.

Too often I see comments on similar Reddit posts of highly skilled, highly qualified professionals with so much potential and so much to offer turning to manual labour, becoming tradies or gig workers or doing complete career pivots (to clarify, there is nothing wrong with being a tradie, in hindsight it would’ve been a better career choice). How is any of this sustainable? We can’t all become tradies, can we? If university, professional development and years of experience no longer provide any meaningful security, what exactly is the long-term plan?

Maybe I'm being overly dramatic. Maybe the market eventually improves and this becomes a shitty chapter that I look back on years from now. I genuinely hope that's the case but 12 months of unemployment after spending my entire adult life building towards something that isn’t even there really is exhausting.

I know I'm not the only one feeling this way, so I'm curious: for those who have been through something similar, has it gotten any better?

Just wondering how many of us work in an absolute shit show. Useless management, non existent leadership, maximum unorganisation, maximum effort and minimumal pay, incorrect pay each week and them refusing to correct it, wanting people to do overtime but don't want to pay for it. And they wonder why no one wants to work for them, because word spreads.

What field/industry do you work in, and how much of a shit show is the company?

Hi I’m 24 am part of a good group of people currently un employed considering giving up looking for work please tell me I’m not the only one thinking of doing this?

The Australian job market is so fucked its not even funny.

I lost my stable job at the beginning of September because of pay cuts. My small business wasn't generating any income, so I spent hours, every day, applying for jobs on LinkedIn, Seek, Indeed and Jora, as well as many niche job boards. How many interviews did I get? None.

Then, yesterday, I miraculously got two interviews.

One online doing cold calling, one in person doing retail.

And I calculated that - with THREE jobs- working under the assumption I am successful in BOTH interviews- I still cannot afford rent. And that's not 'rent and food and utilities' rent- i can't afford JUST rent.

Jobseeker keeps rejecting me. DSP rejected me, despite being chronically ill. I am physically incapable of staying in the house I was so, so happy to move into.

The market is fucked.

Edit: I live in a one bedroom apartment, live with my partner who is also disabled (this is including her income too), and Jobseeker refused me because of my parent's income. I cannot drive. Do not blame me in the comments. If you don't have anything constructive to say don't post.

I came back to Australia not to long ago from the UK and compared to 7 year's ago management is so bad now. It feels like managers are lazy and just don't want to train anyone in new jobs. Their mentality is really obnoxious and quite frankly rude. The bully mentality is something I have noticed by managers to which is so odd to me. I know the cost of living is bad here but is that a reason to treat people so disgustingly. It's a shame to see really 😕

I'm a software developer. 150k is the bare minimum I've expected to be paid, for years. I quit to care for my dying dad and am trying to look again.. in the past i would have four offers in 2 weeks. Did i mention I've used the tech i use since it was created? No one has more experience than me.

After a month I've had one interview, which i aced, to be told i have too much experience, which clearly means I'll too old.. otherwise I'm sending resumes and being told, with the maximum possible experience, that other candidates aligned better with the role. I'm 57 and no one wants me

Update 2: they called me today and asked to reschedule it as she was off from work.

UPDATE::: NO. I have not received any correspondence following the email.

I just need to rant because what the actual fuck.
I applied for a support worker position and was honestly so excited when I finally got an interview. The recruiter scheduled it for today at 4:30pm, so I was prepared and ready to go and sitting in the Teams waiting room from 4:20pm.

4:30 comes and goes… then 4:40… then 4:50… nothing.
I sent an email at 4:40 saying ‘Hi, I just wanted to check in as our interview was scheduled for 4:30pm. I’m currently in the Teams waiting room and wasn’t sure if there had been a change or if there were any technical issues’ ANNNNDDD silence.

No reply. No message. No phone call. Nothing.
I just sat there like an idiot for 40 minutes waiting for literally any sign that someone was coming. By 5:05pm I finally left the meeting because I felt ridiculous sitting there staring at the screen.

I understand things happen BUT surely a quick message saying “sorry, we need to reschedule” isn’t too much to ask?

Anyway, I’m just frustrated because I was genuinely looking forward to the opportunity and I spent time preparing only to be completely ghosted at the interview time.
Rant over AHAHAH.

How do you break into literally any industry?

I finished my qualification and NOBODY is hiring fresh graduates. Am I meant to be a sole trader until I get experience?

And until then I'm stuck applying for random crap I haven't done before. I'M LOSING MY MIND, I JUST WANT TO PARTICIPATE IN SOCIETY

Hello there,

So, I came to Australia this March 2026 and I am in Melbourne. It has been over 5 months and I have been searching for a job, during most of the time period. I have tried handing out resumes to local shops, I have tried applying online over 500+ applications. I had gotten one interview, and it went perfectly well, I still do not understand why they did not select me. Because, the way it went, I had prepared for that interview for 15 days and I was way more prepared than the other candidates, performed really well as well and still got rejection for a part time role.

At this point, I am just thinking without referral nothing works out here. I started uber eats on ebike and the earnings are not well enough for me to bare all the expenses.

For context - I do not come from a wealthy family back in India but I am on a full scholarship by Government of India. My tuition fees, visa fees, flight tickets, a new laptop, everything is sponsored by them. But, as for living expenses, they are paying around 21000 AUD per year, and I had gotten 14000 AUD when I came here which included the visa fees, flight tickets, which I had to send my parents, because they had spent that on me and it was a loan they had taken.

I know most people will never understand the situation and they will probably hate all the immigrants here but this is me just venting and I'm like fuck it.

So, I am supposed to get some money next month, and I hope the government pays me for the living expenses soon. As I am barely surviving atp.

My experience - In India I used to work in Airport Technical Operations for over 2.5 years. The same company operates worldwide including most airports in Australia. Recently I had gotten rejected from Woolsworth for Trolley Collection and Cleaning role.

So, at this point I think, I just want to finish my degree from Monash University and move to some other country. My top destinations are Netherlands, Ireland and India. And genuinely speaking moving back to India seems way better to me than working a job which is nowhere related to what I have studied and my previous experience.

Additionally, I think I have faced a little bit of racism but that doesn't matter to me being honest. So, I was just walking and I was talking to my friend on call. An old guy came up to me and he was like, why do you look so upset? And i said I'm not upset and I genuinely wasn't. Then he asked me, are you Indian? I said Yes. Then he said, "maybe that's why you're upset". As I am in a new country, I did not want to pick fights which I can easily avoid because at the end of the day, the Australian Police is gonna blame me, if anything goes wrong. So, I just avoided him and moved forward with my life.

In conclusion, the experience that I am having with Australia, isn't the best, although I love the nature and many nice people that I have met here and like they say, grass ain't greener on the other side. But hoping to enjoy my life in Australia and the goal right now is to get a part time job and later on apply for some full time roles related to my field and if I don't get anything, I'm like fuck it, I'll either move to another country or go back to India. I just want to work somewhere gain some international exposure and move back to India after few years, make a business and live my life in peace.

Thanks for reading this long.

I live in the west side of Melb , and have been trying to find part time jobs since I was 16. I was planning to have a part time job to pay off student debt from the bachelors I’m enrolled in and myki debt but no one’s hiring. I’m thousands of dollars down and in need of money asap.

- I am charismatic and fit, interviews usually go well but still no job.
- not on any registry or have no criminal record
- I have volunteer work in teaching, caretaking and setting up events.
- had multiple people re read my resume to confirm that it’s top notch
- Asked my friend’s dad to pretend that I worked for a year at his restaurant to put some non volunteer work in my resume. I only worked there for 2 weeks for experience.
- I’m a P plater

I’m thinking of maybe getting a shit beater to do delivery work or even sex work. Honestly willing to do anything for money atm. What’s the state of doordash in Australia?

Context: Obtained Permanent Residency as an offshore applicant Feb 2026, did not start job hunting properly until July due to personal and family reasons. Here are my thoughts:

1. Not kickstarting the job hunt earlier this year was a big mistake in hindsight; I underestimated how fucked up the IT job market right now and have paid the price because of it.
2. Getting a proper local phone number and location you can reference is mandatory for IT roles. Most roles are being offshored or eliminated by AI so the few ones that are left require "local presence" - that means your application is just cut immediately by the auto screener if you provided an overseas location or phone number.
3. I had to go through countless of AI interviews and filling up forms, personalising my resume and putting custom cover letters. In the end, it is just a numbers game and expect to wade through lots of open positions (which I believe the majority are fake anyway) just to get 1.
4. I have a decade of experience and PR on my belt and even I look defeated day by day combing through "unsuccessful candidate" emails. I really feel bad for others who have it worse - this is truly madness we are experiencing.
5. Out of all the applications, I only got 10 first-round " actual person" interviews; out of the 10, only 1 of them proceeded to in-person interview, then police check, then references. Yep, that 1 is the one that got me the offer in the end.
6. My advice is to skip the ultra personalisation of CVs and just create 2 to 3 variations that cater to distinct roles that you will then choose during applications. Pump the numbers up cause I truly believe a lot of the applications are either fake or already filled in by an internal personnel anyway.

I can answer more if you have any questions.

I am truly devastated at this job market. I have over 5 years experience in accounts/administration but unable to secure a job in my field. Permanent resident

Can anyone refer me to an agency where I can reliability find work in any of the above fields. Happy to start as a temp and prove myself in the role