My previous employer cut all the contracts leaving me to find a new role.

I was not in that role long enough to gain enough experience to find a similar role and it was a career change.

I estimate I put in over 750 applications and got maybe 7 interviews out of it.

My CV basically matched the job description for a few roles but was told no.

It's rough out there, I had to take the first offer as my bank account was basically gone. I'm now earning less than I did 10 years ago and of course rent and prices have gone up. Going to be a rough few years.

Not too brag, but I walked out of uni with a nursing degree, went through one application and interview process, and have been in secure, full-time employment ever since.

COVID was a bit shit, but it turns out that was a temporary low point.

Starting January this year, I put out aprox 400 applications: mostly online, around 30 in-person handing out resumes to anyone that'd still take one (they usually direct you to an online application if you visit in person). After 4 months, I'd had a grand total of 5 interviews. 4/5 said they had more interviews to do that day and would call me in a day or two, whether they chose to hire or not, just to follow up and let me know their decision. The 5th straight up said I'd be a fantastic fit for the team, he's just got to confirm with another upper manager who'd be back tomorrow and they'd call me later tomorrow with a hire date and more details. None of the 5 contacted me again.

Called the last one back a couple times and got avoided for three days until the manager finally told me they'd gone with another candidate.

Finally in May I had a phone interview, then followed up with an in person interview and landed a job within walking distance of my home.

Job hunting sucks.

I got a job in construction with a single application and basically a firm handshake. Felt pretty damn good after all the doom & gloom. I think it really depends on the profession and shit like that.

Anybody giving you that advice did not follow it themselves and probably works at somewhere that their friends or family set them up with.

My advice to anybody job seeking who is dejected is just watch the monologue from the Far Cry 3 guy who quotes Einstein about how doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results is insanity, and feel better than listening to some corporate shill who's being disingenuous.

Yeah. I've been working in silicon Valley since 2009. I've worked everywhere from startups to Facebook. I was laid off a year ago. I did 25 applications a week for 6 months with 0 interviews or call backs. This was all stuff I have industry experience at and fantastic references for. Even the contract companies I worked with haven't been able to find me anything outside of IT roles that require 24/7 on call paying $25/hr. I was making that in 2010. The job market for tech is nonexistent.

So just flood the zone with shit is what guy 2 is saying.

But if the average person sends out 1000 applications then the average job gets 1000 applications. So they might skim through a tenth of those? But if you randomly make it into the pile of resumes that are seen then your blast everywhere resume probably doesn't get you any further. So I guess we are back to personal connections or industries that are massively expanding, like defense in Europe right now.

And they also expect a level of interest/passion for the job you apply to. How can you be (or pretend to be) passionate about 1500 different jobs?

Bruh, most towns and cities don't even have that many companies to apply to

my old indeed account before/start of covid was close to 1000 jobs over the course of the year, most of them i wouldn't even get a reply, it got the point where if i had to make an account/do a 30 minutes form i wouldn't even bother trying because it just not worth it due to the instant bot rejection "Thank you for applying, Unfortunately..."

When i was a teenager, i was told to try and make 10 paper applications a week which felt like loads, I have always found it stupid that there isn't a job for everyone.

Doesn't your dad just get you the job what's the problem? /S

I got my CS degree eight years ago and never managed to find a job in the field. Still sending out resumes to every position that claims to be entry level, only to be told they're looking for someone with five years of experience in a technology that came out two years ago.

I wonder if still not having any relevant experience by now just comes across as a red flag to recruiters.

Did you try asking for the manager and offering a firm handshake?

Not tech but academia. I estimate I send out some 60-80 resumes over a two year period (there are some 100 jobs in my field in Europe every year, at best). I got some 6 interviews, one job (only because all the other 4 candidates got other jobs). Plus most applications require roughly a 10-20 pages of tailored essay. It was a horrible grind, and I know quite some people that applied even more than me. Potentially the number one reason to drop out of academia. The other one being constantly decreasing funding.

Edit: yes, it sucks. It should not require so much to get a job. (In case if looked like I was supporting the system because I made it though)

i have a lot of experience in my field with recognized organizations. At the hardest period of finding work, I never had to send out more than 10 resumes at a time. Fuck that noise, 109 should be generating more attention unless it's for jobs clearly out of scope with your skills.

my advice for young people without experience, treat your hobbies as jobs and how you tried mastering it. This is why scouting and girl scout kids get more opportunities. They can describe the skills they recognize in themselves and articulate it on paper.

Good luck everyone, I'm rooting for you!