So glad you wrote this. Those LinkedIn “easy apply” can feel so uninspiring when you never hear back but are overqualified. The funny part is that I have been on the hiring side of LinkedIn as well and found it equally frustrating. There has to be a better solution…
One thought I had here is perhaps a reason LinkedIn makes so much money (ath revenue here I believe) is by making the process more difficult, not less. It only seems easier but it's actually not.
Plus, people are using LLMs to submit 5000+ automated applications and game the system. Others will catch on, enshittifying the system even further.
"No dumb ideas" had a great piece on charging $1 for job applications and channeling the funds to charity – sounds terrible but he really made a fighting case for it and was fun to read. Honestly don’t know if there’s any other solution in an open-access system where there’s zero friction.
every real job opportunity I've had over the past 10 years, with the exception of one interview at a large new-media outlet, came from my network or people reaching out to *me* on LinkedIn. For that reason, I still recommend people to have a good LI profile and personal website. But applying online as a primary job-search tool? Like you said, it's grim.
The larger challenge, beyond this post, is what this means for creating opportunity for people who don't have that network (yet). Ditto for hiring managers, who absolutely benefit from good networks but can easily get lazy about just hiring their friends/acquaintances rather than seek out new talent/comb through the applicant-tracking system.
yeah for junior people you gotta cold pitch but still you can get in without cold applying if persistent - lots of firms take chances on growing young talent. The real concern is are fewer companies going to do that if AI can already do their work? It's a tough time for sure.
It's not great on the other side. I've got two open roles for experienced software engineers, but all I get are a flood of resumes from freshers and newbies. 😞 Maybe everybody just sucks at resume writing? Nah.
There’s a real tragedy of the commons issue with cold applications too. Every decent job posting gets thousands of applications, so if you’re applying blind you get lost even if highly qualified. And because there’s so many applications to each job, candidates have to apply to 10x as many as they’d like - which increases the problem even more.
Today that’s mostly solved by making a referral essentially required to get seen by a real person. So if you don’t have a network, you’re stuck in a frustrating cycle of ghosting and trying to get seen.
I too have not had to cold apply for a job in 20 years. My career path has been driven by connections and referrals. However, it has reached the point where a majority of my network are also seeking jobs so it is back to the cold search.
Most companies now consider LinkedIn a social media network versus a productive job site. I even came across the link to this post on a social post in LI. And I believe I recently read that 20%-30% of all jobs on LI are ghost jobs.
Soon, it will be AI-driven automated applications being denied by automated AI-driven ATS systems. There will be no human intervention, just an endless loop. I have heard the buzz of doing away with physical resumes and transitioning to video resumes. I would actually welcome that.
I’m similar to you in that my jobs have been referrals/opportunities from friends. Since I started writing as a hobby, I’ve had 5 serious gigs, none of which I applied too
I totally agree. I have never gotten a job by applying through any form. Everything I have obtained has been through someone else's recommendation. That's why surrounding yourself with good people is often the best advice you can give someone today. These people don't care about your CV as long as you meet certain minimum requirements; they just want to work with people they can trust.
So glad you wrote this. Those LinkedIn “easy apply” can feel so uninspiring when you never hear back but are overqualified. The funny part is that I have been on the hiring side of LinkedIn as well and found it equally frustrating. There has to be a better solution…
One thought I had here is perhaps a reason LinkedIn makes so much money (ath revenue here I believe) is by making the process more difficult, not less. It only seems easier but it's actually not.
Plus, people are using LLMs to submit 5000+ automated applications and game the system. Others will catch on, enshittifying the system even further.
"No dumb ideas" had a great piece on charging $1 for job applications and channeling the funds to charity – sounds terrible but he really made a fighting case for it and was fun to read. Honestly don’t know if there’s any other solution in an open-access system where there’s zero friction.
every real job opportunity I've had over the past 10 years, with the exception of one interview at a large new-media outlet, came from my network or people reaching out to *me* on LinkedIn. For that reason, I still recommend people to have a good LI profile and personal website. But applying online as a primary job-search tool? Like you said, it's grim.
The larger challenge, beyond this post, is what this means for creating opportunity for people who don't have that network (yet). Ditto for hiring managers, who absolutely benefit from good networks but can easily get lazy about just hiring their friends/acquaintances rather than seek out new talent/comb through the applicant-tracking system.
yeah for junior people you gotta cold pitch but still you can get in without cold applying if persistent - lots of firms take chances on growing young talent. The real concern is are fewer companies going to do that if AI can already do their work? It's a tough time for sure.
It's not great on the other side. I've got two open roles for experienced software engineers, but all I get are a flood of resumes from freshers and newbies. 😞 Maybe everybody just sucks at resume writing? Nah.
Same take here! I talk about it in my interview with Laid Off today: https://open.substack.com/pub/laid0ff/p/laid-off-and-no-longer-applying-to?r=2yf3p8&utm_medium=ios
There’s a real tragedy of the commons issue with cold applications too. Every decent job posting gets thousands of applications, so if you’re applying blind you get lost even if highly qualified. And because there’s so many applications to each job, candidates have to apply to 10x as many as they’d like - which increases the problem even more.
Today that’s mostly solved by making a referral essentially required to get seen by a real person. So if you don’t have a network, you’re stuck in a frustrating cycle of ghosting and trying to get seen.
Using LinkedIn to get a job is the greatest lie the devil ever told.
Good insight 😌 Can i translate part of this article into Spanish with links to you and a description of your newsletter?
yeah of course
I too have not had to cold apply for a job in 20 years. My career path has been driven by connections and referrals. However, it has reached the point where a majority of my network are also seeking jobs so it is back to the cold search.
Most companies now consider LinkedIn a social media network versus a productive job site. I even came across the link to this post on a social post in LI. And I believe I recently read that 20%-30% of all jobs on LI are ghost jobs.
Soon, it will be AI-driven automated applications being denied by automated AI-driven ATS systems. There will be no human intervention, just an endless loop. I have heard the buzz of doing away with physical resumes and transitioning to video resumes. I would actually welcome that.
Excellent article. Well explained, 100% accurate.
I’m similar to you in that my jobs have been referrals/opportunities from friends. Since I started writing as a hobby, I’ve had 5 serious gigs, none of which I applied too
A useful and timely reminder. Thank you, Adam.
I’m with you. I’m in sort of a reset now and the online job search experience is horrible.
I totally agree. I have never gotten a job by applying through any form. Everything I have obtained has been through someone else's recommendation. That's why surrounding yourself with good people is often the best advice you can give someone today. These people don't care about your CV as long as you meet certain minimum requirements; they just want to work with people they can trust.
Cc @Kel Rakowski
My take!
Nearly all friends I spoke with said this