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by ryangittins 2401 days ago
> 50 applications submitted

This is an enormous red flag to me. Submitting dozens of applications almost certainly means you're not putting the required thought and attention into each one. For any given job application, you should be spending a good amount of time analyzing the job posting and researching the company and tweaking your resume so your accomplishments and responsibilities match what they're looking for.

You did PHP and JS at your last job but you're applying for a JS job? Cut down the PHP mentions and emphasize your JS-related accomplishments. You worked on e-commerce but you want a job at a content/publishing company? List an accomplishment or responsibility related to the handling of product content.

If you're doing it right, you should not have time to submit 50 applications. The shotgun approach is lazy and ineffective.

For the record, you're far from the only one who suffers from the shotgun approach. It seems extremely common, and as such, the "why isn't it working" question is very common.

1 comments

IMHO, tailored resumes are a waste of time in the current market.

I was recently looking for a position in a new area where I had virtually no network connections and had to deal with the current hiring system. At first, I used the tried and true tailored approach, but after being completely and utterly ghosted by what seemed legitimate and reasonable postings after investing hours into each, I reverted to the shotgun approach across groups I had some interest in and finally had success landing interviews.

Now, after working in the area awhile and establishing some connections for a small network, I have multiple projects and more interesting opportunities than I have time to give popping up. If you don't have a network, it's a complete mess to deal with right now.

This is correct. You need to carpet bomb your resume everywhere. A large percentage of ads are fake and/or you will be ghosted after applying, so any time spent tailoring your resume to these is wasted. And you don’t know beforehand which ones they are.
That's my view as well. In the vast majority of cases, where your CV is going to be first looked over by HR, just tweak the cover letter/summary to say "Experienced in $TECH_X, $TECH_Y, $TECH_Z" for everything you know that's relevant to the position. The rest of your CV doesn't change. (Relevant to where I live, YMMV.)