I used to work as a restaurant manager and I can tell you where you are going wrong. You say that you recieved good marks in school. Great, that shows me that you can study when you want to, achieved something between the ages of 16 and 18 and got into a university. So, you are reasonably intelligent. Now, you have zilch experience in the real world. No job experience that is CV worthy, so you probably wouldn't tell me about it. No job references, nothing. So how do I know that you can cope with working in my bar, 4 nights a week, especially on a Friday night which is the busiest night of the week. How do I know you won't fold and walk out under pressure? I don't. So I interview a few more people and I have someone else with rubbish grades and school but he pulled it out of the bag and worked for a year after school and have a glowing reference. He has real world experience, I know he can handle a job, will stick with it under pressure, and obviously made an impression upon his boss. Who would you choose? Who is economically sound for the business? Someone I have to spend 2 weeks training for the job and may have to replace in 3 months, or someone I don't really have to train who may stick around for a year?