Ask HN: Reject/ghost on all job applications with 8 YoE, what am I doing wrong?

Re:Ask HN: Reject/ghost on all job applications with 8 YoE, ... by InfamousRece on Wednesday February 01, 2023 @04:08PM (#34617773)

Cover letters are a waste of time. You‘ll spend lots of effort writing to 10 companies or so and then they will just ghost you. Applying for a job is a numbers game. Send 50 resumes and get 1 phone call. Or maybe use your network if you have one. Nobody reads cover letters.

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Re:Ask HN: Reject/ghost on all job applications with 8 YoE, ... by JohnFen on Wednesday February 01, 2023 @06:41PM (#34619841)

That's not my experience. I get ghosted too, of course -- that's just part of how things currently work -- but my ratio is much better than yours. I get a response from about 15% of the applications I make.

Perhaps the difference is because I write cover letters?

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Re:Ask HN: Reject/ghost on all job applications with 8 YoE, ... by BoorishBears on Wednesday February 01, 2023 @08:46PM (#34620958)

Twice in my career I've had recruiters call out my cover letter

Granted, one admitted "usually they're cookie cutter and I don't read them" before praising mine... but I like writing real cover letters because it's a second chance to consider why/how badly I want to work somewhere

I craft them to the company/problem space, call out specific areas of interest. And sometimes halfway in I realize I don't care what they do enough to continue writing, so I save everyone involved's time

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