I'm outside of FAANGs and the valley and in biotech and formerly DoD.
For us, it's always been 'this bad'. Applying for thousands of jobs isn't too terrible, depending on the economy of course. Covid was a rare bright spot for biotech applications, unfortunately.
My advice is to ditch the applications entirely and go straight to networking. Yes, not exactly the most revolutionary advice here. But, if you;re in that kind of competition/environment, you've no choice but to work your network.
If you've already done that and found no luck, find people at the companies/departments you want to work for and figure out what hobbies/side-projects they do. Then try to make friends and try to get a job through that connection. Yes, it's a lot longer and more fraught process, but it can lead to results. Church or other community based methods are also possible, though it takes longer to build up the network that way.
Outside of that, recruiters/headhunters have been something approaching a way to get a position. Try looking for them online too.
Really though, work your network and don't be shy about it. Let your friends know you are looking for work, don't be embarrassed.
>My advice is to ditch the applications entirely and go straight to networking. Yes, not exactly the most revolutionary advice here. But, if you;re in that kind of competition/environment, you've no choice but to work your network.
Could you elaborate on this please?
Is there more to networking than just sending personalized connect messages based on a person profile on Linkedin?
Yes, meeting someone in person, like at a meetup, even for 5 minutes, will get you 100% better responses than trying to force a connection without even having met the person before.
Alternatively asking someone you know in person to introduce you to the person. You're trying to connect with.
Doing “networking” cold without any personal connections rarely leads anywhere valuable.
For us, it's always been 'this bad'. Applying for thousands of jobs isn't too terrible, depending on the economy of course. Covid was a rare bright spot for biotech applications, unfortunately.
My advice is to ditch the applications entirely and go straight to networking. Yes, not exactly the most revolutionary advice here. But, if you;re in that kind of competition/environment, you've no choice but to work your network.
If you've already done that and found no luck, find people at the companies/departments you want to work for and figure out what hobbies/side-projects they do. Then try to make friends and try to get a job through that connection. Yes, it's a lot longer and more fraught process, but it can lead to results. Church or other community based methods are also possible, though it takes longer to build up the network that way.
Outside of that, recruiters/headhunters have been something approaching a way to get a position. Try looking for them online too.
Really though, work your network and don't be shy about it. Let your friends know you are looking for work, don't be embarrassed.