‘Brutal job hunt has destroyed me’: Man left jobless since 2023 after 5,000 failed applications
https://www.lbc.co.uk/article/brutal-job-hunt-unemployment-5HjdBnT_2/
Posted by tylerthe-theatre
‘Brutal job hunt has destroyed me’: Man left jobless since 2023 after 5,000 failed applications
https://www.lbc.co.uk/article/brutal-job-hunt-unemployment-5HjdBnT_2/
Posted by tylerthe-theatre
29 Comments
Whereas I agree, for white collar jobs, competition is stiff, but the UK unemployment rate is 4.7% , if you seriously needed, wanted, had to have a job, you could very well find one, it’s just, those aren’t the jobs you like
I used to be a digital marketing executive in a job I secured in 2022. There were loads of entry level jobs out.
Fast forward to 2024 and 2025. There are few now and they ask for multiple stages and hundreds of people are trying to get that one job.
I also hear some mid-senior level people with years of experience apply for these jobs which is extremely annoying.
The job market is really hard at the moment.
That said, if he’s put in 5000+ applications and not succeeded in getting one position – there must be something he’s doing wrong or he’s intentionally sabotaging himself as some sort of unconscious resistance to being employed.
One thing I notice is that he’s going for quantity over quality. He probably doesn’t even read the job description and just sends a generic CV that’s unrelated to the jobs he’s applying for.
Always torn about these type of posts because it leaves a lot out.
He’s a copywriter which seems like a fairly niche role all things considered. I had a niche role, was made redundant and ‘expanded my horizons’ found another career fairly quickly.
It says he’s doing freelance work but also relied on friends and family for hand outs. Was it not possible to get even a stop gap job? I remember in my employed stint I took a temp retail job.
I don’t want to be a complete bellend but if you work in a niche role with niche skills, experience and knowledge of you struggle after 5000 jobs maybe it’s time to consider retraining or some kind of parallel move?
Clearly this has had a huge Impact on the guy. He must be really passionate about his job and skill set. Hope he finds something that fulfills him
Job searches suck. That being said, if he’s applying to literally thousands of jobs without getting an offer, there must be something really wrong with his CV that’s putting companies off
Is he looking for a niche role though? There are quite a number of jobs out there at the moment with many of them not being rather attractive, locally to me laborer’s are in demand right now but not many people want to do it after doing office work.
Unfortunately, if you’ve failed 5000 applications, the common denominator here is **you**.
Having to deal the Job Centre is soul destroying in itself!
Writing a good CV is a skill in itself, every CV and cover letter should be unique to each role you’re applying for. The job market sucks, but 5,000 applications without an interview shows that your CV is likely absolutely terrible and probably generic and AI-written. Recruiters aren’t stupid and AI content is easy to spot, if you CV reeks of ChatGPT it will be immediately discarded.
Had a friend made redundant one day. He got 2 job offers after one interview. Not top level jobs just warehouse and sales call centre jobs. But it’s a job. The problem isn’t finding the work. It’s these kind of people being extremely picky.
if he’s a copywriter i will assume he’s pretty decent at english language
why not retrain as a teacher?
you would be respected by your students for having professional life experience
and he’s still quite young at 43, he would have a decent career for 2 decades
he can offer to start a journalism club/school newspaper and be welcomed among his students and staff
I follow this guy on linkedin. Every post is catastrophe. I either think his attitude stinks. Or he actually gets tons of work through this method. His posts are successful. I’m talking very very high interactions. He is 100% getting freelance work offers through this.
Most of the comments on the posts now are like, give it a rest dude.
Something else is going on here.
FFS. Get a hedge clipper and a lawnmower and go round peoples houses. Charge £15.00 an hour… that’s what I did. **Never** out of work. Resigned – onto the gardening – not one benefit application.
Do any kind of even very basic horticulture course – even something online, and that’s enough, you’re sorted.
I know some folk charge £50.00/hour doing gardening, and there’s nothing complicated about it at all. You’ve just got to be prepared to get out of bed.
(And listen to **everyone’s** problems. And find out things about people in the street you’re working that you wish you hadn’t really found out about. Comes with the territory. But easy enough to put away once you’re back at the palace.)
If you only focus on one area of work you wont get anything, you need to take anything. Walk into a job agency and they will get you work asap.
It’s always the same story with these types of people. They leave out the fact they’re being super picky about the jobs they apply for. No matter what I’ve always found another job, whether it be a decent one or terrible. People need to just accept the cards they’re dealt and get any kind of job so that the cash flow continues. And then they can even continue applying whilst at least earning a wage.
The job markets bad, but article’s like this are utter bollocks.Â
You cannot convince me you’ve sent, on average, 8 applications A DAY for 2 years straight and nothing.
I’ve just supported a refugee at my homeless hostel who has no qualifications and doesn’t speak English in getting a job at the local chicken factory, 3 x 12 hour night shifts, 3 off, at £15 quid an hour, based in the NW.
Someone should hire him on his perseverance qualities alone!Â
The guy is a melt.
He’s been posting on LinkedIn regularly about being desperate for a job for ages. People often message him offering help, and he doesn’t respond. He’s been called out for this a few times in comments on his post.
He’s now being interviewed for GB News and other outlets about the state of the job market. Seems his cries for attention have finally worked.
There are issues with the job market, and mental health is important. This guy is a melt.
After 100 failed applications, it’s not them – it’s you.
After 5,000…is his cv pages of 9/11 conspiracies?!
I’m in an industry that utilises copywriters. My advise would be to either niche into a specific subject and then contact creative agencies that specialise in those areas. Or, use your time to pivot into SEO and GEO, if you’re a copywriter who understands SEO/GEO then you will get a ridiculous amount of retainer work via creative agencies and SEO consultants.
Also, we’ve constantly found garbage that has been generated by AI, if you understand how to use prompts then you can market yourself that way too with the added bonus of offering the human editing.
I have this guy on LinkedIn. Have done for quite some time. Rather than accepting his role is being phased out and retraining, he’s clinging to it. I do have some sympathy, but he should have realised long before he reached this point that he needs a new career. And without meaning to sound too harsh because I realise he’s had some mental health problems, one read through of his LinkedIn posts would be enough to put me off hiring him.
I’m sorry but this guy clearly just has something mismatched, either he is too picky or is only looking for certain jobs. My partner isn’t skilled in the way of a profession but never has an issue finding a job when if she decides to change.
He is either not allowing himself to broaden his perspective positions or just presents himself horribly.
Get yourself down to McDonalds and start serving fries, they wont reject you 5000 times
He should get a job training AI in technical copywriting which has actual demand.
If you can’t beat em, join em.
This guy constantly witches and whines on social media and attacks people who give decent advice – to a point where a lot of people are suggesting they have proof it’s all am act to gather views/ supporters and he actually has a successful business. Can’t remember where I saw it though
Alot of people apply for the same jobs sure, but alot are also AI generated slop so it inflates the numbers
https://www.machine.news/im-struggling-unemployment-influencers-are-turning-linkedin-into-a-career/
Isn’t this the same guy? He’s had some work at least according to this article
It’s brutal out there. I’ve spent a year working part time self employed building a small business and training and I’ve had zero luck with applications for PAYE work to top up my earnings, places like Iceland, Morrisons and some courier companies and the biggest hurdle I think is availability, one company’s third party recruiter told me I’d need to put my availability as Monday to Sunday all day or I wouldn’t get a look in.