How Career Coaching Helped This Graduate Land a Government Job (First Interview, First Offer!)

Discover how Molly went from confused and overlooked to confident and employed — and how you can too.

From "Where do I even start?" to "I got the job!"

When Molly first reached out to me, she was a few months off graduating and deep in the job hunt spiral. Applications were going out... but the responses? Crickets. Not even a "thanks, but no thanks."

She was aiming for competitive government graduate roles — and like many grads, she wasn’t sure what was going wrong.

She wasn’t alone either. A recent survey by the Australian Government's Quality Indicators for Learning and Teaching (QILT) reported that over 40% of university graduates feel unprepared for the workforce, and many find themselves submitting dozens of applications without receiving a single interview offer. In highly sought-after industries like the public sector, it’s not uncommon for 200+ candidates to apply for a single graduate position. The competition is fierce.

Spoiler alert: it wasn’t her potential.
It was her approach (and the tools she was using).

Career Coaching that Starts with You (Not Just a Resume Template)

The first thing we did in our 1:1 career coaching session was press pause on the applications and get curious. What did Molly actually want? Where was her career heading? What mattered to her most in a workplace?

We started with values. Because if your work doesn’t align with your values, it’s only ever going to feel like a mismatch.

We also explored her longer-term career direction — and turns out, she had a clear vision, it just hadn’t translated onto paper (or pixels). That clarity allowed us to stop with the scattergun job applications and instead get laser-focused on the departments and roles that were actually a great fit.

What a lot of graduates don't realise is that recruiters and hiring managers often spend less than 7 seconds scanning your application — but only if it passes through the Applicant Tracking System (ATS) first. These systems are scanning for specific keywords and criteria, and if your resume, cover letter, or selection criteria aren’t hitting the mark, you're not even in the running to get noticed.

It’s not about being the perfect candidate — it’s about making sure your documents are strategically written to match what the job is asking for.

Her Resume Wasn’t the Problem... It Was the Story It Wasn’t Telling

Like many students, Molly had used a generic resume template she found online. It listed her degree and her part-time jobs, but that was it. It didn’t tell her story.

She had a strong personal reason for choosing her degree, and she'd worked consistently throughout university, developing communication skills, time management, and a knack for solving problems on the fly — but none of that was coming through in her application.

Together, we:

• Rebuilt her resume from scratch to reflect her strengths, interests, and values
• Wrote a targeted cover letter that connected her background to the roles she wanted
• Addressed each government selection criteria with real, tangible examples
• Highlighted her transferable skills and personal attributes across every document

We also made sure her LinkedIn was fully optimised and aligned with her resume, ready to support her job search.

This is what I call the foundations. Just like building a house — if the foundations aren't solid, nothing else is going to stand strong. (Can you tell I’m a builder’s daughter?) The same applies to your career documents. If your resume, cover letter, and selection criteria aren’t tailored and strategically written, you're not going to stand out (and in most cases, you won't even make it past the ATS).

Your LinkedIn is your professional billboard — it's consistent and doesn't change — but your applications? They need to be customised every single time. Each job is different, and it deserves more than copy-paste effort.

Moving from Passive to Proactive Job Search with a Strategy

This was the turning point.

Instead of sending off applications into the void and hoping for the best, Molly started taking control. We mapped out a proactive job search strategy that included:

• Setting up custom job alerts on Seek, APSJobs, and healthcare job boards — these were specific to the kind of work she was looking for
• Using LinkedIn to research departments and connect with professionals in her desired field — not just to say hello, but to build a genuine network. These connections helped her understand workplace culture, discover hidden opportunities, and stay top-of-mind with the right people
• Creating a tailored spreadsheet to track applications and follow-ups — this allowed Molly to stay organised and not be thrown when she got a phone screen. Trust me, there’s nothing worse than a candidate saying, “Wait, what job was this again?”
• Understanding how to network in a way that felt natural — and recognising that this isn’t just a job search skill, it’s part of long-term career growth

"Honestly, Jo, this information is life-changing," she told me. And I could see the shift happening in real-time.

The Interview Phone Screen That Started It All

Then came the phone call. A recruiter had seen her application and wanted to chat.

We'd already run through Interview prep and how to make sure she was prepared her for this. Molly had a solid elevator pitch to kick off the interview with confidence, knew her story inside out, and could back it up with strong interview examples in the form of behavioural question answers. She nailed the 15-minute phone screen and got invited to the next stage: a panel interview.

This is where mock interview prep became our secret weapon.

We covered:

• Her "About Me" interview intro (otherwise known as "Elevator pitch")
• Why she wanted this role and how it aligned with her goals
• Behavioural questions using the STAR method
• Confident closing questions that showed research and insight

Interviews: Why We Don’t Wing It

After the panel interview, she called me straight away.

"They asked a couple of curly ones we hadn’t practiced, but because of our prep, I adapted my answers. I didn’t panic — I just paused, regrouped, and responded with confidence."

This is why we don’t wing it when it comes to interviews.
We prepare. Because when you understand what the interview panel is actually looking for, you can take a breath, calm your nerves, and deliver answers that land.

First Interview. First Offer. Dream Job Secured.

A week later, Molly called again. This time she was shouting with excitement.

"I got the job!"

First interview. First offer. Government graduate role. Nailed it!

“It was an absolute pleasure to work with Jo. She remained professional yet personable and has extensive knowledge and expertise in consulting. I really liked how she adapted her approach to my career needs throughout our encounters. Thanks to Jo's guidance, I landed myself my dream job on my first ever interview as a new graduate!” - Molly

What You Can Learn From Molly’s Story

You don’t need to have it all figured out.
But you do need:

• 🎯 Career Clarity – A solid career map for where you want to go
• 💬 Career Confidence – The ability to tell your story and explain why you’re pursuing this path
• 🛠️ Application Strategy – The tools, tactics, and insight to get noticed (and get through ATS)

Studies show that up to 75% of graduate resumes are filtered out by ATS before they even reach a human recruiter. Cap to Career ensures you’re not one of them.

🎓 Final Thoughts: Career Coaching Is the Missing Link for Graduates

If you’re nearing graduation or have already thrown your hat into the job market, chances are you’re feeling some mix of confusion, overwhelm, or frustration. You’ve worked hard for your degree — now what?

Here’s the truth most universities don’t tell you:
Getting a graduate job in Australia isn’t just about your qualifications. It’s about how you communicate your value, how you prepare for opportunities, and how you connect with roles that are right for you.

That’s where career coaching for graduates makes all the difference.

✅ Molly didn’t land her dream role by luck.
She put in the work — with Career Coaching, structure, guidance, and the right support behind her. From mapping out her goals and tailoring her applications, to preparing for interviews and growing her network, she approached her job search with clarity and confidence.

And you can too!!

✨ If you're searching for:

• Career coaching for graduates

• Graduate job search strategies

• Application help for graduate roles

• LinkedIn help for graduates

• Interview coaching that actually works

• Graduate employability support that goes beyond basic advice

💡 Cap to Career is built for you.

It’s not just career advice — it’s your roadmap from graduate to great, with the tools, structure, and support to help you land your first job with purpose.

👉 Join the Cap to Career Waitlist and be the next graduate success story.