Switched from applying to 50 jobs a week to 5 targeted deep-dives after a recruiter told me I looked desperate

I used to just blast my resume everywhere. Like 50+ applications a week on Indeed and LinkedIn. Was getting maybe 1 rejection email per 30 apps. Then this recruiter at a networking event in Chicago told me straight up my resume looked like a shotgun blast. She said hiring managers can tell when you're just spraying and praying. So I switched to picking 5 jobs max per week, rewriting my resume for each one with keywords from the actual posting, and writing a short cover letter tying their stuff to my experience. In 3 weeks I got 2 interviews. One turned into an offer. Has anyone else tried the quality over quantity approach and seen it actually work?

2 comments

2 Comments

amyh2113d agoMost Upvoted

My buddy tried this same thing last year when he was looking for a product manager role in Austin. He went from literally 100 apps a week down to like 8 and got 3 callbacks in two weeks. Did you notice any difference in the types of companies that responded to your targeted apps vs the shotgun ones? Like were they smaller startups or bigger firms that actually took the time to read your tailored resume?

olivia_murphy13d ago

Wait wait wait. THREE callbacks from just 8 apps? That can't be right. I need to try this.