State of the industry

Hey folks,
My partner is an aspiring zookeeper and has a wealth of volunteer experience in addition to his bachelor’s of wildlife science. He’s been applying for wildlife related positions for a few years now with no success. He’s apparently too overqualified to get an interview at Petbarn but not qualified enough to get a look in at one of the major zoos (who are all seeking senior keepers). When the right kind of job has arisen, he’s been rejected due to sheer volume of qualified candidates and ‘urged to reapply’. He’s going to apply for the Cert 3 at Taronga tafe (very expensive) when it opens up later this year, as it seems to be the only way to get into the keeper pool for Zoos Victoria. He’s been talking to lots of industry contacts and it seems like you have to do their program to get into the pool to even get an interview or a chance to volunteer at Melbourne Zoo or Healesville etc. My honest question is what more can he possibly do? He’s volunteering at great facilities several days a week and has a fantastic resume. Is this just what it’s like these days? It honestly seems like there’s no hope of getting a job in this industry even if you’ve done all the ‘right’ things.