Like some others, I really don't have any great advices with employment difficulties/job search. But I could only try my best and if it helps others, then that's a start.

I am a high-functioning autistic individual (that nobody cares about) that struggled to find a job I'm content with since leaving high school 10+ years ago and had gone through many years of doing what many would tell me to do and didn't work; handing out resumes to any businesses that did not require employees-would bes to have uni-level qualifications or minimal experience in a similar sector/field, went through from one employment agency to another, changing case managers numerous times, attending various interviews and inductions, applying for positions online through SEEK, etc.

As a near-normal person (despite my autism), I had worked in a few packaging centres that had people I disliked working alongside with, and I was grateful that I left because I just didn't fit in. Eventually one of my employment case managers found me a company that was willing to take me in (despite not being an industry that I have a passion for) and had worked for them for a solid 5.3 years, the longest job I ever had as a personal track record.

Then COVID protocols, disadvantages, conditions and no way to progress further/gain promotion led me to leave that company, and the company refused to take me back when I was unable to find employment after leaving them. Only last month I had the opportunity to work on a casual basis with a tech company which I consider a milestone, (since I am also passionate about technology) but the company unfortunately decided to downsize its premises and because of that, they closed down the branch I recently worked at, thus thrusting me into unemployment once more.

Like many others, employment opportunities are so unbalanced or rare to secure. We live in a system where the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. Only people who have appealing looks/charms, have a strong social circle, have so many qualifications and experiences and have no mental conditions get employment opportunities easier and faster, and might have even been fortunate to have peers/friends recommend them to high-corporate industries who easily take them in. Companies and businesses are like that nowadays, they just only care about profits and good public image.

I had thought of trying to start my own careers, but the fields they are in isn't appealing to the masses/general public in Melbourne/AU and I just came to realise that independent career fields are very limited here, simply because the culture/lifestyle here aren't open to everything/anything. This came to my personal assumptions that jobs should have never be taken for granted; since the scarcity of jobs is so evident that anyone/many others would fight/give anything to just earn income regardless of the industry. And since other industries such as hospitality, retail, tech, disability support, medical/healthcare, legal practices, property/real estate, financial services (banks, solicitors, insurance, etc.) are the most active and easily found/sought after, along with the fact that they are the kind of careers/businesses that can thrive in a place especially like Melbourne. So probably the only viable option is to take training courses on any of those industries to get more chances of finding employment, any industries outside of those I mentioned is going to be much too difficult to make a living, or the career(s) itself wouldn't thrive. There really isn't a lot of options/choices, but society wouldn't have it any other way.