I just applied for 3 jobs via LinkedIn. I call it “earning my unemployment check.”
While I am job hunting all week long, filing and logging three applications to qualify for my state unemployment insurance check happens Sunday or Monday so I can focus on getting the minimum out of the way.
These aren’t the first three LinkedIn recommends. They are reasonably appropriate, but they are also ones I expect won’t call back. I don’t half-ass the application. I answer the questions allowing multi-sentence responses thoughtfully and cogently. I’m not trying to tank it.
OTOH, I’ll go to professional Slacks and Discords in my field during the week and find the people posting about roles they or their company are hiring for. The discussion I mentioned I was about to have on Thursday was for a really cool role that a peer on one of these reached out about. While I don’t have a lock on it by any means, I did get an inside track on it and filed an application after getting a referral link from the person I spoke to.
Applying for jobs isn’t searching. It’s mechanical. Any one of the developers I know could likely write a scraper bot to find all the matching roles on LinkedIn and go fill out the applications, pinging them to fill out the CAPTCHAs when necessary. I’m sure some might exist.
Searching is finding those inside tracks through your networks, friends, and acquaintances. That takes more time, but has ultimately been more successful for me. Of my last 4 roles, 3 were referrals.
Many of us who are looking right now are also collecting unemployment insurance checks to help us stay afloat financially. Applying keeps the checks coming in, but searching will find the good stuff.