Getting references is half the problem, staying in the job is a real struggle

 Australia is a reference based market. 

One of my friends, Puthun, said they put people's hard copy resumes in the bin straight away since they didn't come through a reference. 

Another girl working at Coles said if they aren't hiring, then even references don't work. 

Also, Japanese restaurants hire Japanese people, Korean restaurants will hire their own nationality etc. Nothing personal, they are likely to understand their language, their way of cooking. doing things around the café and be easier to work with the staff. 

I got my first two jobs through reference but unfortunately, lost both of them, one of them, due to lack of meeting targets that were set for me and another one, I left since they postponed my payment every time I asked them when they were going to pay my salary. 

I really admire people who get references, use it wisely and stay in the job no matter what, without getting kicked out, or leaving it voluntarily. 

They are way better than someone like me, who's equivalent of "Plastic bag" in the Katy Perry song named "Firework", lol!