I was applying for hundreds of jobs - this tip helped me get one

Trying to find your first job right now can be a struggle. There is a lack of opportunities to gain experience and the huge number of AI applications can mean neither you nor the employer can find what you're looking for. Yet plenty of people are finding ways to stand out and get their feet on the career ladder. Four people who had been stuck in the cycle of sending hundreds of applications and rarely hearing back have told BBC Your Voice the one thing they did differently to secure their first jobs. Theresa Blair, 24, from Birmingham, graduated from Aston University in 2025 with a pharmacy masters. But following a project management placement she decided this was the career path she wanted to pursue. She spent eight months sending off hundreds of job applications often not hearing back. "I realised I was sending very generic CVs to recruiters and that was making it harder to stand out from other applicants," she says. She began tailoring her CV to suit every job, reading into each company's values and referencing them in her applications. "I've learnt that you should state the skills you've gained because of doing certain roles and explain how that makes you a suitable candidate,"