2026 has become the celebratory year when all my late nights, studious escapades, and strenuous research have paid off with a degree. Specifically in my case, and for millions of others, an undergraduate degree. The education system has moulded us into respectable individuals who now have the key to success, our degree being a gateway to a star-studded career that will continue to challenge the complexities of the mind.
At least, that’s what they told us. They told us that with a degree, jobs would be at our disposal… So why is it that in 2026, thousands of young people, including myself, cannot seem to find a job? The key to even theorising about this is to realise it is not even about particularly finding a job. Anyone with a connection to Wi-Fi and a phone can technically find a job. LinkedIn, Indeed, Handshake. On all these sites, you can find a job. The issue, then, is not its location but its trivial application, which has become an uphill battle. As thousands have applied for jobs, it seems like only less than a few hear back.
Today, our detailed CVs are not read by other generous individuals, but by robots that summarise all of your proud accomplishments into a numerical compatibility score. Interview stages are extended to three, four, even five-plus rounds to make sure you are the ‘perfect fit’ or, for the vast majority, to give you a false raft in the pool of unemployment. Every single application needs a tailored cover letter, all reiterating what you had also customised in your CV for the umpteenth time. The biggest problem of all is that job listings have a repetitive tendency to blatantly lie about their need for experience – or no experience.
You will see time and time again a listing for fresh graduates, such as myself, that urges you not to need years of experience and that it is an ‘amateur position’ where personality and passion matter. This would be good, great even? Listings like this get my hopes up. They would be great experiences and possibilities for so many young people. Except for the fact that when they say ‘no experience needed,’ they really mean you do need experience, preferably from a prestigious company or a renowned connection. And that if you do actually apply with no experience, there is a very high probability your application will end up at the bottom of the application pool.
‘We are sorry to say we cannot go through with your application’ is an email I have received 56 times. Young people have applied for thousands of jobs and received just as many of these emails. The job market is so full that everyone receives a template apology with no real feedback. How are people meant to get jobs when their application is instantly pushed aside? How are people meant to gain experience when they are rejected out of hand?
Are we supposed to be the new generation of postgraduate students? We are, in fact, postgraduates, but we are also still students. As thousands of us attempt to rush the bolted careers door, the employers from the other side drown out the noise with the harmonious choir of Oxbridge students. Even within the metaphorical choir of the supposed ‘best of the best’, there still remains a thick haze of unemployment that has coated us all; there are, however, a few lucky ones.
The few lucky ones are indeed lucky, not because of their skill, which I would assume is worthy of their position, but because they do not get consumed in the pitiless unemployment pool like the rest of us. As we tirelessly swim in circles, all trying to reach out and become someone in this world presented before us, we look to our lifeguards, no longer emotional humans but vacant seats, all with the simultaneous signage that reads ‘apply here’.
-Michelle Munyanyi
Volunteer Writer
Girl Museum