Young Sydney professional struggles to find work, blames AI and automated hiring tools
After five months and up to 20 applications a day, a 31-year-old with modelling and celebrity-driver experience says recruitment technology has kept him from interviews
A 31-year-old Sydney man who says he has worked internationally as a model and as a personal driver for high-profile entertainers says he has been unable to land a new job after months of intensive applications, and blames automated recruitment tools and artificial intelligence for blocking candidates from getting interviews.
Jackson Lusis told reporters he spent five months applying for as many as 20 roles a day after moving back to Sydney this year, including positions in sales, business development and partnerships. Despite what he described as substantial and varied experience, he said he struggled to get callbacks and is now "out of ideas" about how to break back into the workforce.
Lusis described a nontraditional career path that has ranged from working at a paper-shredding business to modelling in Los Angeles and New York. He said he has been a personal driver for celebrities including Kylie Minogue, Drake, Macklemore and Post Malone. After those experiences, he completed a business degree at the Australian Institute of Music, majoring in entertainment management, with the intention of moving into talent management.
"When I was in LA and New York modelling, I was around a lot of celebrities and talent and I looked at all the agents and thought that's what I wanted to do," he said. "Now that I'm in my early 30s, because I have no choice, maybe I have to start my own business because I can't get a job anywhere, so it might come in handy."
Lusis said he believes automated screening tools and AI-driven processes used by employers and online job platforms are filtering out applicants before hiring managers see their resumes. He described the experience as discouraging and said it had left him questioning whether the traditional path to employment remains available to young, experienced candidates.
Recruiters and employers increasingly use applicant tracking systems and AI-assisted screening to manage large volumes of applicants. Those tools can sort resumes, flag keywords and rank candidates, a practice employers say helps manage time and scale hiring. Jobseekers and advocacy groups have raised concerns that automated filters can unintentionally exclude qualified candidates whose resumes are formatted differently or who use different terminology to describe their skills.
Employment specialists say candidates can improve their chances by tailoring resumes to match job descriptions, using standard formatting and including role-relevant keywords, but also caution that such steps do not guarantee visibility in every recruitment ecosystem. Some career advisers recommend combining online applications with direct networking and informational conversations to reach hiring managers who may not rely solely on automated sorting.
Lusis's situation underscores tensions in the current job market between technological efficiency and access to opportunity. He said his recent applications reflected roles closely aligned with his sales and partnership experience, but that the sheer volume of submissions and lack of response had worn him down.
He is not alone in voicing frustration about the hiring process. Across industries, jobseekers with varied or nontraditional backgrounds have told reporters they face hurdles when automated systems prioritize narrowly worded resumes or when employers receive so many applications that only a fraction can be reviewed in depth.
Lusis said he is considering starting his own business after the prolonged search, viewing entrepreneurship as a potential alternative to continued reliance on a hiring system he perceives as opaque. He said the decision would draw on his degree in entertainment management and his international experience in the talent and events sectors.
His account highlights ongoing debates among jobseekers, employers and policymakers about how recruitment technology is used and regulated, and whether additional safeguards or best practices are needed to ensure qualified candidates are not inadvertently screened out. For now, Lusis continues to apply for roles while exploring other paths to employment and income, reflecting a broader wave of candidates adapting to a recruitment landscape transformed by digital tools.