Motivated Rotorua job seeker Sussane Herewini has applied for almost 100 chef jobs since she finished study last November - and was told she "didn't have a passion for food".
Miss Herewini graduated from Waiariki Institute of Technology with a Diploma of Culinary Arts last year, and has been searching for a job each day since.
Becoming a chef has been her dream since she was a child, with her two years of study costing $14,500, she said.
"I didn't do my training for show."
She has had a few interviews for junior chef positions at Rotorua eateries but had no luck, with one cafe owner telling her she "didn't have a passion for food".