I've Done 1,500 Interviews — Here's Why Gen Z Can't Get Hired

A job seeker described reaching her fifth interview of the summer after submitting about 75 applications, yet still being unable to get a job at Target despite having a bachelor of science. The speakers said ghost jobs add to the difficulty: surveys from Resume Builder and Clarify Capital put them at 18%–27% of active online listings, and 40% of companies said they had posted one in the past year. Some employers advertise roles to appear active or growing without intending to hire. They also pointed to a softening economy, AI screening resumes and replacing some entry-level work, and closer employer scrutiny. A degree alone, they argued, does not demonstrate readiness for a particular job.

Tom, who says he has conducted more than 1,500 interviews, said candidates often give abstract answers instead of explaining what they actually did. Describing what they tried, what failed, why it failed, and what evidence informed their choices can show how they would perform the work. He recommended choosing five companies with a track record of growth rather than applying indiscriminately, then sending each a roughly 100-word cover letter connecting the company’s needs to the applicant’s abilities. Copy-pasted applications are likely to be ignored, he said; job seekers should also look for employers that do not automatically filter candidates, noting that his company uses no AI filtering.

A candidate rejected after four interview rounds said she had been told she was overqualified, wanted an easy job, and had lied about roughly half of her resume. Tom said some resume inflation may be expected, but openly admitting to lying can damage an applicant’s credibility. Employers may worry that an overqualified hire will leave after 90 or 120 days of training; research cited in the discussion put the cost of hiring and training someone who soon leaves at about $50,000. Leaving some experience off a resume can be reasonable, Tom said, but exaggerating qualifications may make an applicant seem mismatched. For retail work, an engineering or master’s degree does not by itself show that someone wants the job or will respect it.

The speakers recommended sales as a way to earn income while building persuasion and revenue-generation skills, and internships as a route to relevant experience when entry-level jobs are hard to access. One speaker said unpaid internships can provide knowledge, experience, and contacts, but warned against offers that seem predatory or teach little. They called absurd an offer requiring months of unpaid scriptwriting, editing, and social-media management without promising a job, while discussing Love Lane’s unpaid internship with a two-month full-time or three-month part-time commitment and no paid position afterward. Tom also disputed the idea that graduates’ expected path from degree to job proves a broken social contract, citing figures that nearly 85% of bachelor’s graduates and 90% of master’s graduates are employed or in further education within six months; those figures include continued study, not only employment.

Ryan said unpaid internships often acted as resume screens: in his experience, nine times out of ten, a resume without one was discarded. Family support helped cover rent, commuting, and food, and a college program helped him secure internships; applying in person with the program’s backing worked better than trying to reach Los Angeles employers through public portals from Texas. After graduating, he stayed in Los Angeles through gig work and freelance editing, paying his own benefits and expenses. Over nine months he sent triple-digit numbers of resumes and got two interviews, despite what he described as an unusually strong resume. Tom said the market is harder than normal for Gen Z and acknowledged he should have made that clearer. He contrasted Ryan’s high-volume search with five deeply customized applications, and said he hired Ryan because his resume matched current and anticipated needs, including editing a video-game reel, and because he was easy to work with.

The speakers disagreed over how much to emphasize individual action versus structural barriers, though they agreed that effort does not guarantee a desired outcome. Tom urged job seekers to adapt to available conditions, pursue bridge jobs or controllable gig work when needed, and explain in terms employers understand how they can make the business money. He said that when employment stress is immediate, skills and income should come before political activity or trying to become a TikToker, while building capacity for other goals later. Others argued people can pursue careers while also calling out job-market injustices. The discussion also raised military service, trades, and less-preferred locations as options; HVAC work was cited as a route that can offer six-figure earnings, and Francis Waldecker said some CNA roles can pay solidly and hire immediately, with travel gigs potentially paying more.