Complex Eloquent stuff - php

Question

I've been struggling with this for a while. I've been reading about Eloquent and really trying hard to understand it, but nothing I try seems to work.
This is my MYSQL query that works perfectly:
SELECT jobs.id,
jobs.title,
application_statuses.description,
fee,
candidates.f_name,
candidates.l_name,
clients.name
FROM jobs
JOIN applications ON jobs.id = job_id
JOIN candidates ON candidate_id = candidates.id
JOIN application_statuses ON applications.status_id = application_statuses.id
JOIN clients ON client_id = clients.id
WHERE applications.status_id IN (3,4,5)
ORDER BY applications.status_id desc;
I've created models in Laravel but I can't get the results that I get with this raw query.
If possible could someone point me to somewhere where this sort of thing is explained (ie. multiple joins, and outputting data from all of the tables.), or help me with my predicament if it's not too much work?
I'm trying to do it without DB:RAW
Note. There's not much point me giving you my models and query as it's just a massive mess that I keep deleting and recreating.
Here is my code:
class PivotApplication extends Eloquent {
protected $guarded = ['id'];
protected $table = 'applications';
public function applicationStatus()
{
return $this->belongsTo("ApplicationStatus");
}
public function candidates()
{
return $this->belongsToMany("Candidate", "candidate_id");
}
}
class ApplicationStatus extends Eloquent {
protected $guarded = ['id'];
protected $table = 'application_statuses';
public function pivotApplication()
{
return $this->belongsToMany("PivotApplication");
}
}
class PipelineController extends \BaseController {
function __construct(Job $job, ApplicationStatus $application_status, PivotApplication $pivotApplication)
{
}
public function index()
{
//$appStatuses = ApplicationStatus::whereIn
$applications = PivotApplication::with("applicationStatus")->whereIn("status_id", [3,4,5])
//->applicationStatus()
->get();
//->toSql();
//dd(DB::getQueryLog());
return $applications;
die();

Answer 1

Sometimes an ORM like Eloquent will not achieve what you want from a raw SQL statement. Sometimes you need to approach the solution different from an ORM vs SQL.
Looking at your query - it would probably make sense to have 2-3 different ORM models doing different aspects of your query, and linking them via relationships.
However depending on the functionality - there is not necessarily a problem using a SQL statement for a specific use case in your program.