Now 20, Mr Furness eventually got work through a live job find and has been working ever since.

”I went all up and down Ballarat, day after day, six months, did 126 resumes and didn’t even get so much as a call back.

“I even had somebody professionally do a look over it and still I didn’t get so much as a call.”

Mr Furness volunteered at headspace and sought help from employment providers to improve his chances of getting a job. 

“It took a long time, it was a lot of hard work, it was day in and day out,” he said. 

“I just sucked it up and dealt with it, (but) if we could get feedback that could seriously help what we’re doing.”

Job seeker Daniel Armstrong began working as a concreter at 15, working for his best friend’s dad.

Two weeks out from becoming fully qualified, he injured his back at work, slipping two discs. 

“Where do you go if you didn’t finish high school?,” Mr Armstrong, who is now 18, said. 

“I applied for about 40 jobs but, because of my back, the jobs I’m applying for are probably a bit out of my education zone – you apply for that many jobs but you don’t hear back about why you don’t get them.”

Both Mr Furness and Mr Armstrong were speaking at a youth forum organised by Sarina Russo Apprenticeships to identify the barriers young people face when trying to enter the workforce. 

Highlands LLEN chief executive officer Jannine Bennett said there were more young people looking for work than there were jobs available.

“The obvious first barrier is there are physically not enough jobs for the people applying, there’s nowhere near enough jobs being advertised for young people who are unemployed and so therefore it’s very competitive.

“The other obvious one is that so many of the jobs are not advertised, generally young people get employment through networking, contacts and family, so the few jobs that do get advertised are highly sought after.”