Part of your first job’s pay is the people who’ll vouch for you later.

A reference is part of your wages, paid out later. The manager who watched you turn up on time for eight months can say something no application form can fake, and that sentence opens doors for years. It gets earned in dull ways: showing up, being easy to work with, finishing the shift properly. None of it appears on the payslip.

Before you leave any job, ask the person who knows your work whether you can list them, and get a number or an email. Say thank you properly on your last day. Collect two or three of these and you will rarely apply cold.