I’ve been reflecting on the current job market and how the landscape of job applications has drastically changed. It feels like just yesterday when submitting 20 to 30 applications was considered a serious effort. Now, I see people talking about applying to 100, 500, or even 1,000 jobs, and it seems like nobody is surprised anymore. I’ve noticed that the process has become less about finding the right fit and more about playing the odds, almost like buying lottery tickets. It’s disheartening to think that job searching has morphed into a numbers game where I’m just feeding algorithms and hoping my application catches the eye of a real person. I wonder when this shift happened. It feels like we’ve collectively accepted this as the norm, but I don’t think it should be. The comments I’ve read suggest that this trend is more prevalent in saturated fields, and I can relate to that. My background is in low-level e-commerce, and the competition is fierce. I remember when I was teaching; I got my first interview on my very first application because it was for a high-need school with minimal competition. Now, it seems like the odds are stacked against us, and it’s frustrating to see how companies have regained the upper hand in this job market.