Hit 5000 job applications submitted and it made me rethink everything

I keep a spreadsheet (yeah, I'm that person) and last Tuesday I hit 5,000 applications sent out over the last 8 years. That's like 600 a year or roughly 2 a day, which sounds insane now that I type it out. The crazy part is I got my current job at a startup in Austin from application number 4,782, so basically 95% of those apps were just noise. Has anyone else ever tracked their numbers and felt weirdly proud and depressed at the same time?

3 comments

3 Comments

anderson.david16d ago

So you're bragging about wasting 4,999 companies' time just to land one gig?

terry_carter1516d ago

@anderson.david but isn't that how sales works for most people? You cast a wide net and maybe one or two fish actually bite. Seems like a normal numbers game to me, not a waste of time.

annas8715d ago

Wow, that's a pretty harsh way to look at it though. I mean yeah it's a numbers game, but you think there's a better way to be targeting people so you're not bugging thousands who don't want it?