Note: Sorry to those who saw and replied to the first version of this—had to quickly take it down and repost to scrub a few identifying details for privacy reasons!)

Hey team,

Need a proper reality check because I'm losing my mind. I've been looking for an entry-level IT/PC support job and internships for 7 years now, and I still haven't cracked it.

I've got an IT diploma from over a decade ago and the CompTIA trifecta. I've applied everywhere my course originally pointed us toward, and cast the net wide into office and retail work too (where I barely get a look-in—Mitre 10 is literally the only place that ever offered me anything). I've even done physical CV drops around the place.

Back when I finished study, Vodafone actually interviewed me and were genuinely impressed with me, but it fell through because I didn't have a driver's license yet and they worried about me getting home safely from night shifts. So, I fast-tracked it and went straight from learners to my full license within 2 years to fix that exact problem—though even that hasn't helped in the slightest (I've been driving for about 3 years now). I also volunteered on the Vodafone/One NZ community forum for 6 years, getting kudos from staff for correct answers—sadly the forum shut down before I could grab references. I even wrote directly to the CEO, Jason Paris, mentioning my volunteer work; he put me onto someone, but they just brushed me off saying the Auckland office isn't hiring because staff are staying put.

Over the years I've even overhauled my approach to documentation—redesigning my CV multiple times, dropping from a 3-page layout down to a clean 1-page CV, and maintaining three separate tailored versions for IT, retail, and office admin.

What drives me nuts is the interview wall. Ironically, I was able to get interviews a lot more easily back during COVID, but nowadays it's completely dead or hitting a brick wall. When I do get IT interviews—even group interviews at places like Datacom (applied about 5 times now, including internships)—I know they hire people with zero IT background based purely on attitude, but I just can't get over the line. Back around 2021/2022, I even had Ricoh ask me for my references... and then completely ghost me.

I've even tried going back to my old course provider asking to tap into their industry connections for any kind of experience, even just pulling Ethernet cables through ceilings, but they never got back to me despite the old promise of helping grads find work.

So what gives? If my CV used to get me through doors more easily and still occasionally hits group interviews, why is the current climate completely shut to me? Is the entry-level market just an absolute lottery, or is there something fundamentally broken in how I'm interviewing?

Has anyone else dealt with a rut this long? Any brutal honesty appreciated.

Cheers.