Top recruiter exposes alarming work trend on the rise in Australia

Gen Z Aussies are so afraid at job interviews they are even taking their parents with them, a top recruiter has claimed. 

Tammie Christofis Ballis, 37, a specialist recruiter and career coach at Realistic Careers, told Daily Mail Australia that a growing number of young recruits are incredibly anxious. 

‘There’s a new thing: “I’ve got interview anxiety”,’ she told Daily Mail Australia. ‘You have to be uncomfortable to get somewhere and there’s no concept of that. 

‘They say: “this isn’t in my safe space, therefore I’m not going to do it”. Then they’re upset they don’t have a job.’

She revealed that many suffer a crippling fear of picking up the phone to speak to an employer or going to an interview alone.

‘I’m not a clinical psychologist, but I feel like because the younger generation are more aware of mental health and wellness – which is great and how it should be – it’s preventing them from moving forward and taking risks,’ she said.

‘And understanding sometimes you’re going to fail.’

Ms Ballis noted it wasn’t uncommon for some applicants to take their parents with them when they were going for a job – particularly in the hospitality industry.

‘It happens in nursing, too. Two people brought their mums to a group interview session,’ she said.

‘You need to show you can do the job by yourself.

‘They also won’t call an employer because they’re scared of being ‘ghosted’ and talking on a phone. Get on the phone and call.’ 

Ms Ballis also believes that a major challenge for the younger generation is their sense of entitlement and desire to take shortcuts. 

‘I’ve even had kids, under 20, they’re like “help me get a work from home job”. You’ve got no work experience. Are you serious?’ she said.

‘People who’ve got the capacity to work from home is because they know how to do it from being in the office or being on the floor.

‘You need to learn the job first. How entitled are you to think you deserve that?’

She also warned against a shift away from traditional resumes, with more employers requesting video applications. 

‘There’s no point reinventing the wheel and confusing people,’ she said.

‘The fact of the matter is, if you go and have a look at Seek or Indeed or Linkedin or any of the job boards, most of them ask for a resume.

‘People don’t want to submit videos. They feel awkward that someone’s watching a pre-recorded video.

‘An employer will have people apply, but they might not be getting the cream of the crop.’ 

However, Getahead CEO Sam McNamara, 33, believes resumes will soon be outdated. 

‘I think resumes are very well suited to older demographics,’ he said.

‘Like lawyers, accountants, government jobs – there’s definitely some skills about structuring your resume and ways of standing out because so many people in those industries have such a similar experience.’

Mr McNamara said that with the rise of AI, many candidates no longer write their own resumes. 

‘Canva and Sago did quantitative research on 10,000 people and more than 50 per cent of the resumes were written using AI,’ he said.

‘I think that’s a big tell sign: are you actually hiring someone for a well written resume that they haven’t actually written?

‘Or are you wanting to get to know who the applicant is and the personality?’

Mr McNamara said resumes have become less relevant because they are barely looked at anymore.  

Getahead CEO Sam McNamara (pictured) said his platform has had 2,000 employers sign up over the last year. The app allows applicants to upload a video of themselves instead of a resume. Getahead has had over 536 million views in the last 12 months within Australia

‘There’s a lot of statistics out there that people will read resumes for three to four seconds at the most,’ he said.

But surprisingly, Mr McNamara said office jobs ‘100 per cent’ don’t require a resume either.

‘Let’s just say you needed someone to be front of house, talking to stakeholders, dealing with office scenarios,’ he said.

‘What would you prefer? A piece of paper of someone saying they worked for three years at this company? 

‘Or a video of them explaining their strengths, who they are, what they enjoyed about their last role, what they’re looking for in their next role. 

A recruiter has called on Gen Z Aussies to be more confident at job interviews revealing some are so afraid they are even taking their parents with them. (Stock image of young Aussies at a music festival) 

Ms Ballis noted it wasn’t uncommon for some applicants to take their parents with them when they were going for a job – particularly in the hospitality industry. (Stock image of young Aussies at a music festival)

‘It just speeds up the hiring process.’

And as a sign of how recruitment may be changing, Getahead had more than 2,000 companies join the platform over the last year – that’s 2,000 companies not requiring resumes. 

‘The applicant can upload videos of themselves making coffee if they wish,’ Mr McNamara said.

‘They can have an ‘about me’, they can show their strengths, their passions and what they’re looking for.