Honourably discharged veteran, 27, can’t land part-time work at Aldi or Amazon — and asks why it was easier at 18

A post on Reddit’s r/jobhunting from a 27-year-old military veteran has captured a frustration many job seekers recognise: being older, more experienced and more disciplined than ever, yet still unable to get a minimum wage job.

The original poster, based in Silver Spring, Maryland, recently left the military with an honourable discharge. He is continuing his studies and wants a simple part-time job to keep modest cash flowing. It has not gone to plan.

He interviewed for warehouse and store roles at two Aldi locations and was rejected by email both times. He went through Amazon’s training programme but failed his first delivery driver test, saying he had about three minutes to adjust to the electric van, and never heard back. Searches for entry-level blue-collar work turned up nothing.

“When I was 18, I had no trouble finding part-time jobs at all. Target, GameStop, Hot Topic,” he wrote. “How am I older now with more experience and a vet, no less struggling to find minimum wage work?”

What Reddit said

One commenter offered a practical lead: “Check out Home Depot. They’re almost always hiring, and they have a program for vets.”

Another pointed to deliberate understaffing as the reason entry-level hiring has dried up: “Feels like every business across industries is in a race to see what their version of a skeleton crew looks like, firing people until they have nothing but that skeleton crew, and overworking them.” The commenter linked it to everyday experiences, with three of 20 checkouts open at the grocery store, slow fast food, and month-long waits for appointments.

One shared a partner’s situation: two master’s degrees, a bachelor’s, 10 years of experience, over 250 applications, five interviews, and unemployment benefits that ran out in August. “No company is growing right now because of how shot the economy is,” they wrote.

And another offered a bleak outlook: “The more experience and education you have, the harder it actually is to get a job.”

Read also: ‘This is our ability to eat and sleep under a roof’: Young jobseeker speaks out on tough job market