A young Australian man is feeling stuck after five months of applying for as many as 20 jobs daily, attributing his struggle to AI systems that block candidates from getting their foot in the door.

Jackson Lusis, a 31-year-old from Sydney, has gone from working as a paper shredder to modeling in Los Angeles and New York, and even serving as a personal driver for celebrities like Kylie Minogue, Drake, Macklemore, and Post Malone.

Despite his diverse professional background in sales, business development, and partnerships, he now finds it challenging to secure positions in these fields.

“When I was modeling in LA and New York, I was frequently around celebrities and talents, and I observed the agents around them and aspired to have a similar career,” he shared.

So, he completed a business degree at the Australian Institute of Music majoring in entertainment management.

‘I thought that would be my way in to being a manager,’ he explained. 

“Now, as I’ve entered my early 30s, I’m considering starting my own business since it may be my only option given the difficulties finding employment,” he reflected.

After moving back to Sydney this year, he’s been unable to find work despite having his business degree and plenty of worldly experience.

Mr Lusis said the last five months is the longest he’s ever been unemployed. 

‘I usually land a job straight away,’ he said. 

‘This time around, I moved back to Sydney from Brisbane and although I didn’t have a job lined up I thought I’d just get one in Sydney. 

‘I’d never struggled to get a job but now it’s been five months. I’ve been applying for 10 to 20 jobs a day.

‘On my LinkedIn I was posting about my experience and was looking to get a job in sales and business development but am also passionate about sports and media.’

Mr Lusis reached out to every sporting company in Sydney and had meetings with the Sydney Swans, GWS Giants, the Wallabies, Roosters, Sharks, Rabbitohs, and netball and cricket teams.

But his old-school approach proved costly. 

‘I would tell them I was really interested in getting my foot in the door and would love to go for a coffee,’ he said.

‘I spent hundreds of dollars going for coffees only for them to turn around and say ‘yeah we don’t really have any jobs at the moment but maybe in the future’.

‘I was doing it the old way and giving them my CV. And none of that worked.’

Mr Lusis has worked in various fields including paper shredding, paper delivery, retail, youth work, artist management, driving, recruitment, sales, business development.

He’s earned between $50,000 and $130,000 a year. 

But now, Mr Lusis claims he and many others like him are struggling to land a decent role in what has fast become a brutal job market in Australia. 

‘I’ve been told by people who are in account management and finance with degrees, and they too haven’t been able to find a job in six months and I’m like ‘well I’m not the only one’,’ he said.

‘It says a lot about the market because I thought it was just me. I thought there was something wrong with me, but it turns out there’s a lot of people out there struggling.’

He now wonders if it’s his experience that is costing him roles. 

‘Companies are very hesitant to give people that have jumped around a lot an opportunity,’ he explained. 

‘Companies also want a carbon copy of the person who was last in the role.

‘For example, a guy at one of the biggest sporting clubs in Sydney messaged me saying he’d handed his resignation in and that I should apply for his role.

‘I know for a fact they’re going to look at me and be like ‘you haven’t had three years in sport’, and I could do that job with my eyes closed.

‘But I know they want someone with all this experience for a job you don’t need a lot of experience for, and if you don’t have that you don’t get a look in.’

Australia’s unemployment rate of 4.3 per cent in June was the highest since November 2021, with 33,600 people losing their jobs. 

Mr Lusis said a large number of companies use AI to scan CVs, and if there aren’t specific keywords in the resume, it automatically rejects a potential employee.

‘I would apply for a job that I was overqualified for and I’d get an email back 30 minutes later saying I was unsuccessful and I was like, ‘No-one’s had enough time to even look at my CV’,’ he said. 

‘How can I be rejected that quickly? I’ve run out of ideas. Jobseeker barely covers my rent so I don’t really have much of a life. I just want to work.’

Mr Lusis has turned to podcasting in recent months and will soon launch ‘With Strangers’ with co-host and friend Kim Ven. 

It comes as a new report from the University of Sydney found that more than 40 per cent of Australians aged 15 to 25 are suffering from loneliness.

With Strangers will focus on how Aussies can ‘feel isolated or alone and feeling like you’re behind in life’. 

‘You can have the best friends in the world but still feel lonely in life,’ Mr Lusis said.

‘So, I told a friend we should start a podcast because there could be a market for this. Maybe this might turn into my own little business.’