Thought it was worth being honest about this because most posts are either really positive or really negative. Mine is just... real.
Applications sent: 94
Responses of any kind: 11
Interviews: 3
Offers: 0
So an 11% response rate and a 3% interview rate. Which sounds awful but apparently is roughly normal based on what I have read. That does not make it feel better but it does make it feel less personal.
The three interviews have all been for roles I spent the most time on the application. The 83 that got nothing back were mostly ones I sent quickly because the job looked right on paper.
The lesson I keep learning and then forgetting is that volume is not the answer. Quality is the answer. But quality takes time and when you are three months in with savings draining you feel pressure to just keep sending things.
51 years old, first time doing this in decades. Nobody tells you it is basically a part time job just to do it properly.
How are other people managing the balance between quality and volume?