I’m no special snowflake I’m just your bog standard enterprise developer/architect and honestly I just started taking my career seriously in the last ten years. Five of the mentioned 7 jobs were in the last 10 years.
My problem is getting a positive response in the first place from any company I apply to directly. I apply online, wait anywhere from a few days to a few weeks+, and either get no response at all, or a generic "sorry, but no thanks" e-mail.
On the other hand, going through a recruiter, he/she has been able to sell me to the employer much more effectively. When I go through a recruiter, I'd say I've been able to at least get to a phone screen 90%+ of the time.
I reckon a large factor is that recruiters often have connections to hiring managers.
I’ve gotten a phone screen 100% of the time my resume has been submitted by a recruiter - the only exception was an immediate response from the company that they filled the spot already.
Not that I am a special snowflake, but if you know the qualifications that the company is looking for up front, you can tailor your resume to highlight those qualifications. If you don’t have the qualifications you don’t bother submitting your resume.
At this point in my career, I've probably interviewed at 200-300 companies. I think I can count the number of times I've received a positive response for a position I applied to directly with one hand.
All my interviews have been from recruiters (whether it be third-party or in-house) reaching out to me, or friends referring me.
Maybe my resume just sucks?