What do people do to get jobs these days?

Honestly, living on LinkedIn with a network of 7,000+ people, reading a lot from my connections and on various, job search-related subreddits, I see the same story over and over again (which could as well have been my own story):

• people struggling to get jobs for months no end
• sending hundreds of applications
• never hearing back
• a tiny % of responses they get being automated rejections (although even those seem to be few and far between; the new, established standard, seems to be just to be completely blanked out).

Who and how does end up getting the jobs, however?

I refuse to believe all those people (including myself) are applying to ghost jobs or CV baits.

There have to be people who end up getting the roles advertised.

How do they do this, though? Any ideas?

I do apply every day, but, honestly, I feel like it’s an absolutely futile effort – if 2,647 applications didn’t work out (it’s a random number, but not too far off from what I would’ve been on since October last year, mind), what is really the chance that application #2,648, done the same way no less, would be any different?

I really can’t see that, more so since Recruiters/HRs don’t seem to read them anymore/anyway, or just give them a very superficial look, and, when they see X/don’t see Y (no idea what X or Y would be, though), they just slam that “Reject” button and move on, without further consideration?

Really interested in some other perspective and change of strategy, as I’m running out of ideas myself here.

Some of the things I’ve tried:

• Having my CV changed and rewritten by a recruiter with 25 years’ experience
• Tailoring my CV for the roles
• Adding job descriptions in 1-2pt white font hidden somewhere in my CV
• Applying through LinkedIn
• Applying through official websites/company pages, if only possible
• Finding company people/HR on LinkedIn and trying to connect with them
• Following up my application, be it done via LinkedIn or the official website, with a direct email to the company/specifically the HR department or a recruiter personally, if I can only find the details
• Prospective applications, sending companies or agency recruiters my CV asking to be kept in mind for any relevant opportunities as and when they come up, not necessarily immediately, but whenever.

Literally nothing seems to work or make any difference.

And yet the roles come and go.

All the things I thought might be what drags me down seem to have been corrected one way or another at some point, and it’s literally the same results as when my CV was quite rubbish and I just kept on applying to any random thing that was remotely within the scope of my skills, experience, and industry, but without any strategy, tailoring or particular approach. Literally all the same as “Throw whatever you can at the wall and see what sticks” (except nothing sticks anyway, at this point).

I have hundreds Connection Requests on LinkedIn that are just hanging there and have been in the air for months now, never to be accepted or rejected, making connecting or establishing a relationship with key stakeholders literally impossible.

Emails frequently come unanswered, even if followed up 2-3-4 times across a month, two months or more, after either applying or just reaching out with a prospective application. Several times I’ve been emailing people to no reply, and it’s been so long they actually ended up changing companies/agencies and I lost the opportunity to email them anymore, as it’s impossible to find the new email address.

I also, quite literally, had a few cases when a recruiter didn’t ever reply for weeks/months, until they replied, and only thing they told me was quote/unquote “Please take me off your emails”, “Please remove me from your list” etc. – like, what the hell?

It’s no list. I’m just a candidate reaching out with an application, prospective or actual for a role, trying to see how I can work with your recruitment agency as a candidate who has the right skills and can help your clients, or I would like to be considered for a role in your company that you advertised. ?

Really feels like all reasonable strategies you could come up with end up with you hitting a wall of reinforced concrete, head-on, too.

If anyone has any tips, advice, or hacks, beyond putting on a leprechaun costume and dancing and singing like a circus monkey in front of the office, I’d love to hear.

I’m at my absolute wit’s end here, just about to start another day, but going through motions and not holding too much hope that it will be any different – past 200+ days were no different, all the same every day, so what gives?

Thanks, guys.