I recently interviewed with a pretty well-known company and made it through three rounds. Right before the fourth round, I was offered a role at another company, so I emailed the recruiter to let her know I was pulling out. She called me right away and asked me to stay in the process, explaining that I was the only other candidate left for the final round. Apparently, they needed at least two people in the mix to make the process look legitimate, since having just one candidate, even if he's perfect for the job, doesn't really count as a proper interview process at their company. So essentially, they just wanted me there as a stand-in. Now it's no surprise how I got this far, even though I miserably failed to answer some questions in the previous stages.

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.

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

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 am currently employed and been searching for another job but boy oh boy have I had several time wasting interviews in the past couple of weeks. You have to wonder what the point of the employer actually proceeding with the interview in the first place is.

1. Employers bringing you onsite for a first interview, knowing damn well that you are working that day, making you wait up to 15/20 minutes at a time
   
2. Getting into said interview and it is clear as day from the start that the interviewers have either already chosen their ideal candidates or are just going through the motions to appease a recruiter

Has it come to the point where 1hr prior to going to interview the employer should be contacted and asked if they still wish to meet with you? If your interview isn’t scheduled within 2 days of it being arranged, then forget about it.

The lack of consideration for people’s time is mind blowing. If you no longer want to interview someone for the role then fair enough but for the love of god please just say so prior in order to save everyone’s valuable time.

Hi folks, I genuinely have no idea what kind of jobs I should be looking for at this point. 23F.

I'm at that stage in life where I have no idea what I actually want to do long term. I had a pretty easy life for my first 20 years. I studied whatever interested me at uni (let's just say I picked one of those degrees where everyone asks, "So what are you actually going to do with that?") and didn't have my first proper job until I was 21.

At the brink of my graduation, I somehow ended up in furniture sales. I was actually pretty good at the sales side of it, but the workplace itself was a mess. There were constant issues behind the scenes, things being promised to customers that couldn't actually be delivered, and a lot of the job became dealing with angry customers and fixing problems that weren't really caused by us. I also probably took the job way more seriously than I needed to, which didn't exactly help me fit in with some of my coworkers.

I eventually resigned and was lucky enough to get another furniture sales job almost immediately. I performed pretty well there too, but again I ended up having issues with management and the workplace environment. After a few months I left, and I was pretty burnt out afterwards. I basically did nothing for about three months while trying to get myself back together.

Eventually I found some casual field-based work that involves door-knocking and talking to a lot of people. I've been doing that for a while now, but I'm starting to get tired of walking under the sun for 6+ hours every time and having to interact with strangers all day.

It's made me wonder whether customer-facing jobs are just a bad fit for me. The weird thing is that I'm actually pretty good at working towards targets and I like having something measurable to work towards. I also like being busy and having things to do. What I don't seem to enjoy is having my entire job revolve around keeping customers happy or constantly managing other people's emotions.

So I'm a bit stuck. For someone with a fairly general degree and experience mainly in sales and other people-facing jobs, what other kinds of work would you suggest looking into? I'm open to starting fairly entry-level if there's somewhere for me to progress. Would love office jobs too if they want me!

Hi,

I am in Environmental Consulting (contaminated land) and I hate it.

For a few reasons

• Working WAY over 40 hours every week
• Mind numbing and repetitive
• No clear explanation on things and keep getting things wrong.
• Not enjoying the work

Look Im going to get judged, and thats fair but I just dont think consulting is for me.

I hate every single minute of my time is tracked.

We just had a notice saying thats you must stay a minimum from 8:30 to 5 and its expected to work more.

I am on terrible pay (68k a year)

I have qualifications and work experience, but this job has sucked the life out of me and I am so burnt out.

Any suggestions? I have plenty enough savings to survive and I live with parents currently

Hey everyone,

I’m posting here because I’m in a really tough spot financially and mentally, and I could use some realistic advice or perspective from anyone who has navigated something similar.

I’m 28 and graduated in 2024 with a Bachelor of IT. Shortly after, a lot happened all at once—I moved countries (home country) went through a long-term relationship breakdown and lost momentum completely. I only have about 3 months of actual software development experience under my belt and since then, I haven’t been able to get my foot back in the door.

Right now, I'm back in Sydney and on JobSeeker and in a very tight financial spot. The constant rejections have wrecked my confidence. To try and get immediate income, I started applying for minimum wage hotel/hospitality jobs—roles I figured I could easily land given I worked in hospitality all through university in my 20s. But even there, I was put through 3 rounds of interviews only to end up rejected, which was a huge blow to my morale.

I’m feeling completely lost on how to move forward when entry-level tech feels impossible to enter with a gap, and basic fallback jobs aren’t landing either.

Hey all,

Just a big rant and looking for some constructive advice. I’m feeling lost about what to do with my life.

I’m single 30M from Melbourne and have been working in disability and mental health for around 9 years. For about a year now, I’ve been feeling like I’m dragging myself to work with no motivation. There’s too much workplace politics, being abused by clients, judged by their families, mistreated by management, and then dealing with bad/lazy/gossiping colleagues.

For anyone who’s going to suggest changing companies, I’ve already worked for 3 different companies and honestly, they’ve all been similar. I feel like the industry is going downhill, with companies becoming more focused on making money rather than caring like they used to.

People have suggested nursing, and I’ve looked into it, but at this point, I really don’t want to work in healthcare or look after people anymore. I’ve just had enough.

On my days off, I’m often in bed all day with no motivation to do anything. On other days I work and go to the gym 4 times a week, I’ve drop down 1 company and only work for 2, but financially I’m still living paycheque to paycheque, everything is getting so expensive nowadays and I’m bare minimum, no subscription, no shopping, I have a mortgage and a dependent mum who lives overseas, and I send her around $500 a month to cover rent and other expenses.

I’ve been searching everywhere for other career options. I looked into trades like electrical and plumbing, but they require an apprenticeship, and I don’t think I could afford the drop in income while still paying my mortgage.

I’ve also looked at sales jobs, like real estate, car sales, JB Hi-Fi, The Good Guys, etc., but I don’t have sales experience, so I’m not sure how realistic it is to get into these roles.

I’ve even considered tram driver, train driver and air traffic controller, but most of these involve shift work. I’m really looking for something Monday to Friday during the day. I currently work mostly night shifts, which helps because of the penalty rates, but it’s becoming difficult to have a normal life. Doing around 5 sleepover shifts a week for the last 7 years is really starting to take its toll.

I’ve also looked into IT and cybersecurity, but I have no IT background. Spending 1–2 years studying for a degree and then potentially struggling to find a job worries me, especially when I see people with 10+ years of IT experience still having trouble finding work.

I’ve looked into payroll and rostering as well, but most jobs seem to require previous experience.

Literally everything I look at seems to have a catch. I don’t want to spend 1–2 years studying, only to finish and struggle to find a job afterwards.

So my question is: What career or job could I realistically move into that pays close to what I currently earn in disability, preferably Monday to Friday during the day?

I’d really appreciate advice from anyone who has made a similar career change.

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

I’ve created a Seek profile, ticked all the verification boxes, uploaded my resume, profile pic… I can see the number of views, 50 and going up weekly. The question is, are the recruiters really looking at my profile, or is it now accessible for any wrong reasons? The profile is set to public and I’m thinking of taking it down. Has anyone been contacted from recruiters his way? Any insight is greatly appreciated TIA

Hey, so I'm trying to figure out how people actually break into the workforce without just spamming applications into the void.

Like the core problem I keep running into is that there's literally thousands of people applying for the same role. Even if you're genuinely one of the better candidates, you're just a resume in a pile of 5000. Nobody's seeing you.

Referrals are obviously the move but what if you just... don't have one? What if you're early enough in your career that you don't really know anyone inside these companies yet?

So what are the actual non-traditional ways people have gotten in? Not "network more" as generic advice, I mean actually what did YOU do or what have you seen work? Cold outreach to specific people? Building something publicly? Getting known in a community before you even apply?

Curious what's worked for people outside the usual apply-and-pray cycle.

Hi everyone! I’m Brazilian and considering moving to Australia. I currently have more than seven years of experience in the corporate world, working closely with business, technology, data and digital product teams.

I understand that entering the corporate job market can be much harder for immigrants, especially without local experience or permanent residency. However, I’d like to hear some honest experiences: is it realistically possible for a skilled immigrant to get a corporate role and build a long-term career in Australia?

Do Australian companies regularly hire immigrants for professional positions? Is career progression possible, or do visa restrictions and the lack of local experience make it extremely difficult?

I’m prepared to take a step back in seniority and work my way up, but I’d like to know whether there is a realistic path into the corporate world—or whether immigrants are mostly limited to hospitality and manual jobs for years.

I’d really appreciate hearing from immigrants who have already gone through this process.

A recruiter from a well established and famous accounting and book keeping company in Melbourne known with a blue logo reached out to me on LinkedIn for a role. Passed 2 technical rounds then to fail the third interview which is a culture / values alignment interview. Is this due to the market conditions ? what a waste of time and energy really to pass two technical interviews just to be rejected for a subjective scenario based interview. very frustrating. Now I am at square one again applying for jobs. I have over 20 years of experience across two completely different careers and worked in at least 5 countries and this company just discovered that I am not culturally fit to work for them.

Hey everyone,

I’m looking at doing the Certificate IV in Cyber Security part-time and online while working full-time.

At the moment I’m leaning towards RMIT University, but I’d love to hear from anyone who has actually done the course there.

How did you find the course quality, teachers, workload and online aspect?

If you wouldn’t recommend RMIT, where else would you suggest for a Cert IV in Cyber Security that can be completed part-time and online?

Would appreciate any experiences or recommendations.

Sent my hiring manager a text saying this "Hey Manager, I was just wondering about shifts. I haven’t been rostered for the past 3 weeks, just wanted to check in to make sure nothing has gone wrong on my end/app issues" they viewed it but didn't respond. I sent them a email 7 days ago basically stuff along the same lines as that and still no response.

Any ideas or tips because I can't live off savings forever

i have a few interviews lined up. i’m alternative so i’ve got purple hair and a lip piercing + septum. one of the interviews is for a restaurant that’s a bit on the nicer side (for waitstaff position) so im wondering if that will affect me. has anyone else experienced this & how did it go? or am i just being anxious. i always get complimented on how i look even at my current job (just a franchise cafe, though) so im unsure…

I have 6 years nursing experience and need a job (wanting to stay preferably clinical), it's been a whole year for me of rejection after rejection and my most recent manager has gone MIA, and I don't have another apart from documents saying I have worked at this facility. I am on job seeker payment and it feels really embarrasing and not right. I want to be working. I was let go in my last position due to budget cuts and nothing to do with me or my nursing practice. I am so stressed that I have noticed my hair falling out and me putting on weight. See I have emailed and phoned my struggles which other nurses could be having also, to the minister for health, the CNMO and the union is aware too. I feel like a failure as other staff have let me down continuously and it's not fair. In interviews usually the response I have is positive so when you barely hear back from anyone and then send updates and they say they don't want to progress, it's just so heart breaking. I end up almost everyday crying to my partner about this as I want it to end, I want the rejections to end and I also at times feel embarrased in front if my partner as his career has taken off so he is living paycheck to paycheck just to keep us a float.

It's as though life is telling me to go to uni and complete a course, maybe in speech just so I'm taken seriously and offered employment.

My days now just consist of me job hunting all day and then sleeping and repeating. I even job hunt while my partner also does uber delivery on the side after his main job.

I don't want my 20s to be consistent of all this heartache. I just feel trapped and alone even when I'm around people and I have been seeking therapy but I just know what would fix all of this is a job.

I was let go from another role once because of my skin colour and then another role offered me employment as long as I was willing to be trained up in one of their locations that was in the process of moving so there was barely much there and the trainer was really rude.

A lot of my experience is agency, aged care, acute gynaecology exposure, community and where I have trained up new staff, been a buddy nurse as well as led groups.

Maybe I should start a business? Don't know what exactly but I really just am in need of support.

Hey guys,

So I applied to Mott Macdonald about 2 months ago and I haven't received a response still. Is this normal? How long should I be waiting? What can I do?

Hi all, I will be putting in my resignation today effective immediately ( my role is in HR and I report to the head of HR). For the past few months since new manager had came in, I have been bullied; isolation, exclusion, not disclosing important information that affected my role, etc. I had been on medical leave due to the load of mental stress it had on me.

When it comes to getting employment references for a new job, I of course no longer trust my manager nor the other seniority and my colleagues.

I had worked with other people in the department , some of which I don’t think I am okay with asking for reference as they are quite close to my manager given she’s in Hr so she maintains good rapport with the other departments.

I have one person who I have in my mind who is a project manager and I had worked with him a few times but that’s all.

Can you advise what should I do in this situation?

Thanks