Job Rejections: A Grad's Struggle Against Experience Bias

0:00On March 22nd, a 23-year-old Londoner with a first-class masters in computer science has faced over 500 job rejections since May, 2025. The Odao Poto, who specializes in machine learning from the University of Exeter, wrapped up his degree in 2024 and briefly worked at. His family's hotel in Brazil before hunting for software engineering roles back home. He holds British citizenship after moving from Brazil at age 2, and even reached a final interview with a big tech firm only to lose out to someone with 8 years of experience. The Odao points to a drop in junior openings and heavy use of AI tools by companies to screen resumes for massive applicant pools. The constant setbacks have drained his savings after 6 months, leaving him on universal credit while he pushes to land any job. He's multilingual, speaking English, Portuguese, French, and Spanish fluently, yet feels overlooked despite his strong qualifications. In a wider trend, youth unemployment for those 16-24 hit 16% from November 2025 to January

1:0620th. 26th, affecting over 730,000 people with rates higher for young men at 18.4%. This situation highlights growing hurdles for new grads, potentially leaving a gap in skilled workers as companies' favorite experience over fresh talent.