I’m not saying that everyone who doesn’t get an office job should immediately become a tradie. When you have nothing else to offer, just having some industry certificate is an advantage. Even if the certificate is unrelated to the job. My first job was assembly machine operator in a factory. My boss straight up told me that he hired me because of my Cisco and ECDL certs that I got in high school (for free because Europe).

And if you do get a job and it doesn’t work out, you’ll still have something.