The winning formula for Job and Career Success = Timing (40%) + Luck (40%) + Team/Tools (20%).
You have to have Timing “First to Apply” as job market is a over loaded with unemployed, downsized, laid off candidates. So when a recruiter posts a job the first 50 people who apply get their resume looked at, the remaining 100’s of resumes/applicants, don’t even get looked at, regardless of how qualified they are.
You have to have Luck “a scrappy inquisitive mindset”, as there is an immense amount of competitors for the jobs that you want. It used to only be people in your town, but now with remote work, you are competing against candidates more qualified (multiple languages spoken) and willing to work for less (dollar is very strong against currencies in other countries).
So you need to do research on the company, their competitors, the industry and understand their future, just to compete.
Lastly, you have to have a Team Mindset “Be Humble and open to people with more experience than yourselves”. If you have applied 100’s of times and still can’t get a job, be open to advice from HR recruiters that offer advice about modifying your resume or linkedin.com profile. Doing the same thing “your way” and expecting different results is prideful.
Tools! You have to track the applications that you submit, so that when a recruiter calls you unexpectedly, you can go to the program or journal and see which resume you applied with and which skills that you highlighted, so you can understand which examples to bring to the discussion to show that you can do the job.