[subarctic]

>So answering a few questions is too much work, but becoming so “awesome” that you’re top 0.01% of industry talent who maintains a public profile so prevalent that they seek you out is the better way to apply?

That's definitely the better strategy. Or networking can replace having the public profile. That being said if you haven't gotten there yet, it might make sense to do all this work anyway because that puts you in the 5% of candidates willing to jump through all these hoops to apply, but you'll definitely have a lower chance of getting in as just some rando applying on the internet than someone they already know.