As someone who measures their self-worth through the lens of capitalism, my unemployment era was one of the most miserable times of my life. Having no academic or professional obligations, my routine orbited desolation with miscellaneous hobbies occupying the recurring gaps between “application submitted” to “application unsuccessful”.
The withdrawal of external obligation. The rejection from a job you already emotionally invested in. The mental punishment of not contributing to society (I’m seeing a therapist don’t worry). Unemployment was horrid.
Call me Sam Smith, the way I know “I’m Not The Only One“. The Australian Bureau of Statistics reported Aussies aged 15-24 are at a 10.2 per cent unemployment rate (Nov 2025), which is more than double the national unemployment rate of 4.3 per cent.
Despite the 327,000 vacant jobs Australia has across multiple industries, young Aussies are still in the unemployment trenches.
(Credit: United Plankton Pictures, Inc. / SpongeBob SquarePants S2E31a)
Now you’d figure the Federal Government would wanna fix this ASAP — if not for little ol’ me, then at least for the economic state of Australia; global education and publishing company Pearson released a report revealing the “education-to-work” transition gap is costing Australia $12.5B annually in foregone earnings.
When addressing youth unemployment, the gov will flex its fee-free TAFE courses and its Transition to Work (TtW) program but these initiatives effectively ignore uni grads — the TAFE courses are homed in on construction, aged care and nursing, while TtW eligibility guidelines prioritise younger Aussies who haven’t completed Year 12.
(Credit: Warner Bros. Television / Two and a Half Men)
University graduates who are yearning for the 9-5 life remain in transition gap limbo (costing Australia $$$!!!) with no government/institutional support on closing it.
Transition gap = skills gap
I was coming out of university with a pretty good resume — internship experiences at ABC and Nine, years of hospitality, recreational disciplines and a fucking professional writing degree — but after seven months of applying, I hadn’t even landed an interview. It didn’t make cents, and neither was I! My inbox was collecting job searching sites like Thanos collecting infinity stones.
(Credit: Marvel Studios / Avengers: Infinity War)
Pearson’s Australia Country Head, Taha Haidermota, explains my idea of the “education-to-work” pipeline is an outdated “one-time launch” model overdue for modernisation; today there is a “skills gap” between employer needs and employee capabilities.
“The challenges around job losses and limited opportunities after university have always existed… but the numbers now make it clear that our current systems aren’t equipping young people for a rapidly changing workforce,” says Haidermota.
“Many roles remain unfilled, and skills mismatches continue to plague employers, a sign that the supply of ‘work‑ready’ graduates and re‑skilled workers is not keeping pace with demand.”
(Source: Jobs and Skills Australia)
When I looked at my journalism colleagues who immediately found employment after completing uni, they were the same ones who upskilled themselves through extra-curricular activities like university radio shows and community television.
No shade to them, but this sets a precedent that the degree alone wasn’t enough to get a job; that you have to go beyond the study plan to be considered a ‘work-ready’ graduate. Me personally? I thought I was going beyond by doing 40 hours a week at my hospo job, but nah turns out “going beyond” is participating in optional activities that provide mandatory prerequisites in the workforce.
So what are employers actually looking for?
(Credit: Jobs and Skills Australia)
According to Jobs and Skills Australia, the top reason young applicants were successful was because they “had the right attitude”, which Pearson translates as “metacognitive skills” — goal setting, critical thinking and self-regulated learning. Which TBH those aforementioned colleagues demonstrated through those extracurricular activities, and they did successfully close the skills gap.
“Learning to learn is vital to a successful academic life and career. Whether you’re a student, a graduate, or a leader, this skill matters most,” says Haidermota.
This was something I adapted after one of my harsher application rejections. No longer would my unemployment days just be bed rotting and doomscrolling. I locked TF in with the right attitude and decided I’d learn how to make journalism content on TikTok. Every week was spent expanding my video skills and learning how to translate news fit for Gen Z consumption. I made bangers such as:
Lo and behold, on my eighth month of unemployment, my jobless era ended when I was offered the Junior Social / Video Producer role for this publication called PEDESTRIAN.TV (the only application that made it to the interview stage BTW).
During my interview and assignment, it was surprising to me how I closed the skills gap with skills and knowledge I learnt outside of university. My understanding of audience behaviours? Self-taught. My technical ability to make a TikTok? Self-taught. There were moments where I had to pull out some journalism theory, but I most definitely wouldn’t have landed the job without the metacognitive skills I developed beforehand.
So you telling me I gotta do MORE work?
Unfortunately, yes. Ideally, doing what is asked of you for your degree should get you a job straight out of university. But as the workforce shifts, the system remains steadfast. To prevent young Aussies from falling behind (and to stop Australia from bleeding billions of $$$), Haidermota is calling for the government to resolve the skill gap by implementing policies that will:
- Fund modernised skilling pathways, enabling student growth through apprenticeships, micro-credentials and work-based learning.
- Get employers and universities to collaborate closely, providing students with a curricula and training to develop skills employers are actually looking for.
Until then, it’s recommended you develop your metacognitive skills to get yourself out of the unemployment rut. Just remember: It’s not a fault of yourself, it’s the system’s. Employers are asking for more than what your educators taught, leaving graduates in a vicious cycle the government has yet to address.
(Credit: Herta Burbe)
But I promise you, this cycle does eventually have an end. If you’re currently stuck in your own miserable unemployment era, you can check out the latest openings on Pedestrian Jobs HERE.
The post My Unemployment Era Was Absolute Misery & Proof The Govt Is Failing Grads appeared first on PEDESTRIAN.TV .
