“It’s very tough; applying for roles at times felt like it was a full-time role in itself, ironically.”
Tollison found work in the public sector after graduating from her undergraduate degree, but within one month her role was disestablished as part of government cuts.
“It’s hard because your identity as a person is not reflected in the number of rejections you get.
“Your determination and drive are a better demonstration of the potential you have in the role than the very skills you’ve ironically studied and learned about during your degree.”
Tollison said to keep herself going whenever she received a rejection she would say to herself, “They were looking for a sunset and I’m a bright, blue sky”.
One of the toughest parts of the application process was it didn’t let applicants be known as a person, she said.
“My roles that I’ve interviewed for really got to know me as a person … [that] can’t really be seen during an application process. In person, you can build a rapport with them.”
While many jobseekers were, Tollison said she wasn’t using artificial intelligence (AI) to help write her applications.
“I use the skills that I learned during my degree, I did all of these applications with my own mind and my own hands.”
Tollison got her Bachelor of Communications degree in 2023 and recently graduated with her master’s. Photo / Hannah Tollison
High unemployment, AI and a highly competitive job market mean many recent graduates were picking up jobs unrelated to their degrees – if they were lucky enough to find work at all.
According to employment website Seek, advertisements for graduate jobs made up just over 2% of the overall share of jobs on the site last month.
It said the unemployment rate in New Zealand was high by historical standards, so grads were competing with other grads as well as those with work experience.
Student Job Search chief executive Louise Saviker said New Zealand’s labour market remained challenging, particularly for young people.
However, there were tentative signs of improvement in employer demand, with the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment’s Jobs Online measure showing online job advertisements increasing 7% over the year to June 2026.