My tips after finally landing something 9 months and 900 applications later...

9 months. 900 applications. Interviews with 60 companies (ranging anywhere from 1 to 5 interviews each). 4 offers.

That's what it took to finally land a job since I was laid off in October of 2022. Granted I'm in Supply Chain which declined in demand after 2021. I haven't actively looked for a job for a decade so I was pretty surprised at some of the current practices and how difficult it was to land something. I learned a few things along the way and thought I'd share what helped me:

  • Apply to 25+ jobs per week - yes you read that right. It's a numbers game and chances are only a handful of those are legitimate jobs. The rest are just jobs left up to make a company look more lucrative (remember that Washington Post article "Job Listings Abound, but Many Are Fake" from March?) or they'll just hire from within. Once I upped to this number I started getting a steady revolving door of active applications and interviews in my pipeline at all times. 
  • If you can afford it, get your resume optimized by a resume writer.  This easily tripled my callbacks by helping my resume get past the applicant tracking systems - even for jobs I was severely under-qualified for.  Just do your research on a good resume writer. It also helps to paste each resume's role description into your Linkedin to increase recruiters finding you. (Free option: You can also ask recruiters if they have any good sample resumes that you can mimic. Job Hero also has good sample bulleted task descriptions for similar positions.)
  • Apply predominantly on Linkedin and to recently posted jobs only (within the last week). There's just too many scams on the other sites. (Edit: I just learned on Linkedin, employers can receive up to 100 applications before they have to pay to for premium service to receive more applications than that - making it even more important to apply for the most recently posted jobs to be one of those first 100 applicants. Thanks u/Ka11adin for this info!)
  • Install the ublock extension and block all the promoted jobs on Linkedin that repeatedly clutter your search results: https://www.reddit.com/r/uBlockOrigin/comments/yz5hle/linkedin_blocking_irrelevant_outofstate_job/
  • Install the Simplify Copilot extension to autofill applications on the job postings that require manual entry. Saves you A TON of time from having to re-copy and paste the same things over and over again when applying to multiple jobs.
  • Cool it on the search filters on Linkedin. I missed out on several jobs that were labeled as "entry level" that weren't actually entry level at all, the algorithm was just inaccurately labeling them so. Same goes for listing "On site" and then on the initial screening call, I learned they were actually hybrid.  Also there were a chunk of jobs I was missing out on by inputting a salary filter. Only like 1/10th of the jobs actually input a salary, and even then a good chunk of those were scamming the salary they listed vs what they actually paid in the job description. Usually on the first phone call you'll learn the salary range anyway.
  • Post periodically on Linkedin. Keep it professional of course, but by posting regularly, the Linkedin algorithm senses you're an active user and then in turn increases how high you show up on recruiters' search results.
  • Don't bother with cover letters. In my experience, most people don't read them. Especially now that Chat GPT is writing them all now. If hiring managers do actually read every single one, they probably only read a couple every day and chances are yours will never come across their desk. To sit there and spend time curating an individual cover letter for every job you apply to and only get 5% of them read - the juice just isn't worth the squeeze. If a system forced me to upload one, I uploaded a blank document.
  • Never stop applying. Screw how good of a feeling you got from that last interview. Nothing is real til you have a written offer in your email - and even if you get the offer, it might be a lowball offer that when you counter-negotiate they withdraw immediately (I'm speaking from experience here). Go home and apply to more jobs.
  • A couple good questions to ask on your first interview call: 
    • What is your targeted start date for this position? And what happens if it's not filled? 
    • Are you interviewing external and internal candidates? (If yes to internal candidates, no way you're getting the job. I politely voiced that to them too.)
    • What is the estimated budgeted salary?
    • Any concerns about my ability to do this position?
    • Next steps in the process? And when can I expect to hear back? 
  • My most bizarre tip is for video interviews - use a ring light. It made a noticeable difference in attentiveness from the interviewers. I'm average looking but I think this helped step up the 'light' I was perceived in (pun totally intended lol). No wonder all the beauty gurus use them. I just used a basic makeup mirror from Costco, initially to prop up my phone, til I figured I could just turn on the light to illuminate me better. But Amazon has all sorts of cheap, nifty clip-on varieties for your phone, laptop, etc.  
  • When the interviewer asks why you applied, want the job, or why they should hire you: go down the list of their job posting's job requirements and touch on those points, tying them to your own experience. This was totally new to me but it drives home that you're qualified.
  • Yes send a thank you email to every person you speak with. Annoying but it can tip the scales in your favor if people are on the fence about your interview. Andrew LaCivita on YT has good tips on this.
  • Look into local food pantries for assistance if needed. There is no shame in this, and human interaction is beneficial. It was nice to break up the day and to hear I wasn't alone as the volunteers there noticed a steady uptick in people requesting assistance with the increase of layoffs. Also I got the opportunity to try some new foods that I wouldn't have otherwise tried. It kept things interesting and gave me something to look forward to.
  • Follow Erin McGoff (on IG) and Robynn Storey (on Linkedin) for encouragement and motivation. Hearing them call out a lot of current scummy practices and how to tackle them really helped keep my spirits up. Also Andrew LaCivita (on YT) and The Companies Expert (also on YT) were helpful as well and really helped get into the nitty gritty specifics of the interview process.

I hope this advice helps someone. You're not alone. You are valuable and if you keep putting in the work with regular interviews, you'll learn what works/what doesn't and how to improve your process moving forward. Someone will eventually see your value and bring you on. Blessings to all of you and wishing you success in your future careers!