| From recent experience applying for a remote job with 9YoE: I accepted a new job last week that I found after 3 full months of active looking (during all of the industry layoffs AND over the holidays) and submitting applications for 46 different positions (fun fact: it was the 45th application that offered me the job). 27 outright rejections, 13 I still have not heard back from, only 6 companies actually reached out to talk to me.
I’ve heard it said that applying is a numbers game; I did not want to believe it, but my recent experience was exactly that. My recommendations: 1. Work to distill what you actually want from a new opportunity and use that to ruthlessly filter opportunities. I applied to a ton of companies, but every single one of them met my checklist of career goals. I passed on hundreds of others that did not. 2. If you want practice finding out what you want, engage with recruiters on LinkedIn. I did not find my job this way, but it was helpful for me to workshop my communication and build up a good list of “do not wants” (can be as helpful in winnowing down opportunities as “do wants” or “must haves” 3. Try multiple job search sites to be exposed to interesting new companies. (Otta was useful for me and where I ultimately found my new company). Don’t limit yourself to only companies whose names you already know. I trawled LinkedIn regularly to see who my connections and their connections were working for to expose myself to new companies and industries. 4. Find a way to achieve balance in the search. Some jobs I really wanted, I spent more time on the application. Some jobs that I knew less about, I submitted resume only. Have hope, but don’t fixate on particular opportunities - that’s a recipe for disappointment. This isn’t necessarily great advice for someone recently laid off - I was still employed while searching, so adjust accordingly. Understand that it’s possible that some things have nothing to do with you: one company I really wanted to work for never reached out to me. Turns out they gutted their recruiting department in a recent layoff. It is what it is. I wish you well in your continued search and hope you are able to find what you are looking for. Edit: Attempting to fix formatting |
Oh, what a good point!
When I'm looking for work, I tend to divide jobs into two piles. Jobs I really want, and jobs I know I can get.
I usually work out how much time I can afford to go without work. I divide that in half, and spend the first half of the time chasing the jobs I really want (even if I'm not sure that they'd have me). If I haven't landed any of those at the halfway mark, I switch to jobs I know I can get.
My track record is 50-50 on landing my dream jobs, but those are the jobs that made me more valuable on the market in later days, because those were the ones where I stretched and expanded my skills.