[ptero]

Luck plays a big role, but it is not just luck. One can apply in a way that significantly stacks the deck in his favor.

So absolutely reach out to your network, study the current market and find your edge. It might still be poker-style games which you can still lose because of luck; but doing that gives you starting hands with two aces. My 2c.

[ghaff]

Absolutely. There's still luck involved. But I've gotten lucky a couple of times when the market has been mediocre overall to very bad by reaching out to people I had worked with in some capacity. It also helps, per another comment, to realistically appraise the state of the market and if you get a decent offer, grab it.

[cal_dent]

Yeah for sure. "Just luck" is a bit too glib from me.

Noticed a typo in my original post; my last point is about how different things are when you do have a job vs you don't have a job. Money, not even a lot but enough to stop you hemorrhaging out, offers a lot of freedom to be quite tactical in a way that does help things in your favour.

But it's different when that isn't the case and i think people underestimate the mental load that takes and how detrimental it is to necessarily bringing your best self if you do land an interview. Its always easier when you have some of that comfort which is why sometimes I think just landing something, preferably within your long-term field, rather than necessarily being very particular can make sense.