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Comment by jghn | Hacker News Reader

> Many people are applying to nearly 100 roles a month.

Spotted your first problem. Don't shotgun apply to anyone and everyone. You should only be applying to jobs you actually want.

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That’s not how a job works when you have a family to provide for.

You have provided no evidence why your technique is superior. By applying to a maximum number of roles, you are increasing your "attack surface". Also, in many cases, when you talk to the hiring manager, they can/will funnel you towards other managers and roles with a better fit.

Well, Oxide was the only job I applied to when I left Meta in 2022. My plan was to broaden my job search if Oxide didn't work out, but even then I'd only have applied to 3-5 places in the following round after vetting the company's culture and values.

I've always preferred this kind of targeted application -- I've applied to 5 jobs total in my ~15 year career and gotten 4 offers, two of which I accepted. Everyone has their own objectives they optimize for -- personally, I care most about building monuments of lasting value.

Because I have no desire to work for "just some company". I only talk to companies where I actually know I want to work there and feel I'd be a good fit for what they do. Maximizing "attack surface" is only useful if the only thing you care about is a paycheck regardless of from where.

Most people, even here, don't have that luxury. If you do, good on you, but you should have more consideration of others.

Exactly my point. Enough months of unemployment and any normie with a family and mortgage will go brrrrrr with the applications.

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