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It’s been a heck of a fortnight. Spreadsheets, folders, phone calls, forms, and tears (mine). Oh, and none of it was even for me. We’ve finally — finally — secured Dave’s mum a place in residential aged care. For now it’s respite, but the signs point to permanent. Which is good, because I can’t imagine doing this whole process again without ending up on A Current Affair as “that woman who snapped at Centrelink.” Let me paint the picture. As soon as we saw her sharp decline, we got her ACAT done as quickly as possible (go us) … but nobody tells you you have to ask for residential care or respite to be added specifically. Nobody tells you which codes you’ll need three weeks later. Nobody tells you much at all. So we hustled and got codes. Then… Fifteen organisations. Dozens of phone calls. Emails flying. Scanned every medical and assessment report I could get my hands on. Had folders in my email, folders on my computer, folders in my brain. I even prepped the “hospital loophole” route just in case — because apparently, in aged care, you’ve got to be on the brink of collapse before anyone will step up. And in the end? Luck. Sheer luck and timing. Mercy Health told me there was a spot — and against all odds, it didn’t evaporate from her current health state, while I was distracted submitting paperwork to someone else or doing my actual job. I feel relief. I feel guilt. I feel anger at a system so convoluted you practically need a PhD and a crystal ball to get someone into care without blowing up your own life in the process. Sound familiar? It should — because job searching can feel exactly the same. It’s not fair. You follow all the rules. You do the prep, polish the resume, send the emails. You’ve got your spreadsheet, your folders, your backup plans. And then some guy named Steve gets the job because he “knew someone.” But here’s the thing: the only way through is through. You can’t sit back and hope the universe decides to cut you a break. You do have to invest the time, effort, and emotional energy. You do have to talk to experts, explore your options, send the applications, and keep track of it all. And just like with Dave’s mum, sometimes the only difference between you and someone still waiting is that you kept going long enough for luck and timing to finally catch up to you. So if you’re looking for work and you feel like screaming “This isn’t fair!” … you’re right. It’s not. But don’t let that stop you. Because one day, the phone rings, and you’ve got your spot. And then you can go away for a few days and pretend to be a normal human again. ~Lisa P.S. It’s school holidays now, so that’s it from me for the next two weeks. Try not to burn anything down while I’m gone. Your Q&AThe Resume Cannonball Hi Lisa, I keep seeing resume distribution companies on LinkedIn. Some charge $75 p/mth. I’m not taking them seriously but I’m still curious. Do recruiters and hiring managers actually look at resumes sent by “resume distribution” services? Do you know anyone else that has tried these and what was the result? Thanks for any perspective Jeff Hi Jeff, You know how you sometimes see those seagulls at the beach dive‑bombing everyone’s chips? Resume distribution services are basically the same thing: a whole lot of squawking, a lot of mess, and almost nobody comes away happy. No, I don’t know a single client who’s used one — and in Australia, they’re about as common as a Vegemite latte. In the US, they’re more of a thing, but even then? It’s usually a waste of time (and $$). I have seen students at ECU try something similar — using AI bots to spray‑and‑pray hundreds of applications. They didn’t get interviews. Funny that. Why? Because good recruiters don’t sit around waiting for a robot or some random email blast to dump a pile of resumes in their inbox. And hiring managers certainly don’t. Unless you’ve got a unicorn‑rare skillset they’re actively searching for, it just looks like you’re throwing spaghetti at the wall. So could it work if you’re in demand? Maybe. Could it save you some grunt work? Possibly. But is it better than actually targeting jobs properly and writing a human‑sounding application? Absolutely not. If you’re still curious, here are a few of the culprits so you can see for yourself: But my advice? Don’t pay someone to spray your resume all over the internet like cheap cologne. Take the time to aim — and you’ll actually hit something. Thanks for writing in. ~Lisa |
