Vent: Hit 50 rejections on job apps this morning and I'm done pretending it's fine

Rose Hart · 2026-05-07T12:10:03.689207+00:00

I've applied to 50 places since June, had 6 interviews, and got ghosted by 4 of them after the second round. My friend said 'just keep trying' like I haven't been doing that for 3 months straight. Anyone else getting nowhere with online applications?

felix_bailey454mo ago

Gotta disagree on that hit rate being "solid." 6 interviews from 50 apps is only 12 percent, and half of those ghosted you after a second round. That's not a good sign of anything working right. I've seen friends track their numbers and the ones doing better are the ones applying to way fewer places but spending time customizing each cover letter and tweaking their resume for the exact keywords in the job description. The spray-and-pray method just dumps your app into an ATS black hole. Maybe try picking 10 jobs you actually want and going all in on each one instead of hitting 50 quick applies.

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jakewhite4mo ago

Kinda have to push back on one thing here - those 6 interviews out of 50 apps is actually a solid hit rate. Most people I know are getting like 1 interview out of 100 apps right now. That means your resume and experience are probably fine, but the system is just broken. You might be getting stuck on the second round because they're making you do those stupid group interviews or personality tests that don't actually test real skills. Have you tried reaching out to recruiters directly on LinkedIn instead of just clicking "apply"?

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margaretf404mo ago

That 6 out of 50 being 'solid' feels like we're just lowering the bar for a broken system.

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