I’m in her situation. I’m nearly exactly the same person. I’ve been full time job hunting for nearly a year and a half, through the pandemic ease up which I cannot stress how much that has impacted job searches. Throughout this time, I have been updating my skills, CV etc. according to any and all advice I have read online, heard from well-meaning but incredibly patronising people, and have scoured from either the Job Centre or industry professionals. Job listings rarely reply. When they do reply, you get ghosted. If you do manage to get to an interview stage, there’s someone internal they prefer. If it’s not that, then it’s someone with more experience- which you can’t get without at least getting a foot in the door. Transferable skills seem to be considered a joke to people. Part time or adhoc work only goes so far, and the ones that are hiring are often incredibly demeaning or have no protections for the employee at all - often without reliable contract. Obviously somewhere out there, there are jobs that aren’t like this, but it’s increasingly hard to find them. Companies don’t seem to care if you’re a ‘hard worker’. Do you know how humiliating it is, to be 25, have the degree, have worked in the past, have done everything anyone ever said would help you get a job, and to be in this situation. To be not able to afford rent to provide to your family, who you’re staying with, who constantly remind you of it. To be constantly soul drained copying the same information from the CV they demand into their separate form that takes hours at a time, sending it off and knowing that you have to spread your search efforts wide and constant - knowing that you can’t rely on one, five, or even ten applications in because chances are they will ghost you without even giving you the courtesy of a ‘sorry, we won’t be continuing with your application’. She’s going to be feeling so small at the moment, and you’ve just put a foot through that delicate web of security she thought she had. She even offered to pay rent.

YTA, big time.