[CoreFailure]

As a generalist I've been able to find several positions with this strategy, even while hunting for my latest position during the pandemic:

1) Don't over-filter. Take the time to manually skim each job posting on high-quality job lists, like the HN who's hiring. As a generalist I tend to be a good fit for smaller teams that have diverse problems and individuals I can connect with. Those individuals usually make more open ended job postings that don't sift well through most filters. Additionally, you'll get a better sense of where the job market as a whole is at.

2) Make extra effort in your initial outreach to a few positions. Surprisingly "cover letters" are still effective if they're presented in the right way and through the right channels. A form cover letter may be ignored, but a freshly written pitch for a particular job listing can stand out.

3) Don't copy-paste until you have your pitch figured out. If you're like me you'll find yourself rephrasing it slightly each time you write an initial outreach, and eventually you'll find the common elements that make their way into each. Try to make your pitch shorter each time while keeping those commonalities. A shorter pitch is more likely to be read.

[datameta]

I highly support writing cover letters. Once you get into the groove of having a heavily iterated cover letter template it becomes rather quick to swap things around and customize details to the job posting. In my opinion it really sets you apart from those who don't bother writing one at all, even if their resume is shinier. A little bit of extra effort at the early stage gets a strong multiplier.

Having spoken to those on the other side, "easy apply" positions get absolutely flooded and sifting through so many applications makes the hiring manager gloss over people, skipping them entirely no matter how effective your short blurb is in the condensed list. Imagine how easy it is to scroll past an HN post you're only mildy interested in at a glance. So don't let that be your main method even if you apply to a bunch a day that way. You don't want to fight uphill against probability and human attention span.

I should also add - being early to apply to a position is HUGE. I can't overstate this enough. Once the position has a certain number of candidates each person gets less and less attention until the behavior I mentioned earlier is exhibited.

[qzzqzz]

Can you recommend other high-quality job lists?

[CoreFailure]

HN Who's Hiring has been the best in my experience, for a few reasons:

1) A massive plaintext feed dissuades some applicants, so finding a job posting that doesn't match obvious keywords means you'll face less competition.

2) Most posts reflect fresh openings, or at least openings still actively looking for candidates.

3) Many will list a direct email address where you can deliver your pitch / cover letter directly.

Second best for me has been WeWorkRemotely, though since the pandemic it's been flooded with competition and doesn't have any of the advantages of the above.