Unemployment case studies: ‘The knock-backs get you depressed’

The 26-year-old is fluent in Mandarin and has been studying Chinese business.

“Employers seem to be spoilt for choice, so they’re setting extremely high bars,” she said.

“I went for a job to try to get into the Scottish Government to be part of their Asia team, which was supposed to be planning a strategy for Scotland’s entry into the Chinese market. But their reaction was ‘No, sorry, we’re just going to recruit internally’.”

The only interviews Ms Adams has been offered would involve her relocating to London, but she would rather stay in Scotland. Indeed, the stagnant jobs market has meant she now plans to move to China to take up an internship.

“There’s more opportunity in China than there is here. I wanted to be based between here and China, but now it looks like I’m going to have to be full-time in China.”

Glaswegian Scot Murray, 24, is a former joiner who has been trying to find permanent work for the past three years.

The father of one admits rejection can take its toll. “I’m just getting knock-backs constantly and it gets you down, it gets you a bit depressed,” he said.

He is currently doing some call-centre work experience with the Wise group in Glasgow, which is helping to rebuild his confidence. “I had big trouble with my CV and interviews before. I just wasn’t confident enough because I kept getting rejections,” he added.

“I was trying everything from construction to working in shops, trying get gardening jobs with the council because I was mainly into working with my hands,” he added.

He has interviews coming up in bar work and in a care home and hopes one of these will get him back on the job ladder.