You Can't Get a Job Because You Suck

The Great Black Hole of Job Hunting: A $0 Experiment on Why Portals Are Broken

Everyone tells you the job market is desperate for talent, and if you are qualified and work hard, you'll make it.

We are constantly fed stories of labor shortages, fierce competition for skilled operators, and companies scrambling to fill roles.

So, I decided to test the system.

For three weeks, I ran a raw, unfiltered social experiment.

I sent out 50 targeted resumes to SMEs, startups, and Institutes of Higher Learning (IHLs)—roles where my background as a 45-year-old white-collar venture capitalist, business builder, and educator made me explicitly overqualified or dead-on target.

I have spent decades in investments, built enterprises from the ground up, teach university-level entrepreneurship modules at top universities, and consistently smash KPIs across corporate and institutional boards.

To sweeten the deal and strip away employer risk, I even added a kicker to applications:

I offered to work completely pro bono until my value was visibly proven on the balance sheet

The final tally after 50 applications?

Zero interviews.

Not a screening call, not a polite rejection from a hiring manager, not even an automated chatbot ping. Absolute radio silence.

Now, before the critics jump in, let's address the obvious objections.

First, you might argue that three weeks and 50 applications is a mere sprint—that corporate HR cycles naturally move at glacial speeds, and dismissing an infrastructure on a 21-window is impatient.

Second, and more importantly, some will say I'm just a privileged guy playing a game, mocking a broken system while genuine job seekers are out there losing sleep over rent, treating their livelihood as a cheeky social experiment.

A good number might even suggest it's because i'm deeply unlikeable, and even the bots can tell.

Fair points.

I acknowledge my privilege entirely: I am fortunate enough to be in a position where I build, invest, and create my own table. I don't need to feed a family on an HR callback.

But that is precisely why I ran the test.

When a qualified operator needs traction, a black-box portal that leaves you hanging for months with zero feedback is fundamentally broken.

I didn't do this to mock the millions of genuine job seekers grinding every day; I did it to expose how soul-crushing and rigged the standard corporate funnel has become for everyone.

By the law of large numbers, fifty shots should yield at least a conversion. I'm not taking about a job offer, just a conversation or even an email reply. But none.

When probability breaks down entirely, the reality hits: the modern job-hunting apparatus is built for software compliance, not human capability.

The Resume Black Hole and the AI Wall

When you upload a CV to a digital portal today, it doesn't go to a human being looking for grit or execution capability. It feeds an automated black box.

Companies deploy automated filters that scan resumes for robotic keyword compliance, rejecting nuance before a single pair of eyes ever sees your application. Portals optimise for frictionless administrative collection, not actual matching.

So if you believe you can't get a job because you suck, you don't.

If you think getting a job at 60 is an uphill battle, you are spot on—but it’s already brutal at 45. And for the youth staring down unemployment, if you think lack of qualifications is the hurdle, look at the data: I have the terminal qualifications, the institutional teaching credentials, corporate boards, and a track record of scaling enterprises, and I still hit a brick wall across fifty diverse applications.

Traditional job searching is a dead end.

Imagine walking up to a high-end club where a robotic bouncer stands at the door, programmed to only allow people wearing blue socks in. Thousands of people line up outside, freezing and flashing valid IDs, but the bouncer doesn't look at their faces, talk to them, or care about their track record; no blue socks equals no entry.

That is what digital job portals have become. The bots don't evaluate your actual capability, grit, or real-world value—they match robotic syntax parameters and discard everything else, rendering standard applications dead on arrival for 99.9% of applicants.

Why Entrepreneurship Is Your Only Real Play

The good news is, someone will always hire you. You.

When the traditional employment apparatus collapses, entrepreneurship is no longer an alternative path—it is your only real lifeline.

Learning to startup isn't a co-curricular activity; it is the ultimate survival skill

If building your own venture doesn't pay the bills on day one, it will at least create something tangible for you to work towards and grant you a profound sense of operational autonomy. Others will know that you're actively doing things. That in itself may create conversations, spin off ideas and who knows, even job opportunities. Busy people attract busy people.

What do you actually have to lose?

If you wait for a corporate gatekeeper to validate your worth, you hand over your economic survival to an algorithm. Resources, digital infrastructure, and foundational support are out there for those willing to build.

This applies just as much to senior professionals as it is to the youth—stop trying to sell your experience to risk-averse HR departments.

What Do You Do When the Portal Fails?

If you are trapped in the portal grind, stop expecting software queues to save you. The best roles are never posted on a job board. Beyond bypassing the portals entirely, here is how you build real leverage:

• Pay it forward and volunteer: I found this extremely useful. Anyone can do this. The youth, middle-aged, seniors etc. Accumulate goodwill and help others first. When the time comes and they need manpower, you'd be the natural choice.

  
  

• Start a side gig: Build your own table. If it doesn't pay the bills at the start, it creates the momentum and fulfilment you will never find waiting for a callback.

  
  

Postscript, I eventually found a job:- building this blog. Haven't made $1 yet, but hey, it gives me a sense of fulfilment. Hopefully soon, it can create conversations, spin off ideas and who knows, even job opportunities.

Editorial and branding services anyone? Lol ;)

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Editorial + Branding services: ian.gan@smaths.com