I’m a grad student at the LSE, and for the first four months of my job search, I was completely ghosted. I sent out 231 applications and got absolutely zero replies, only rejections.

I was basically just spamming LinkedIn, which obviously wasn't working. The applicant pools are just way too huge, and my CV was going straight into a black hole.

Feeling totally stuck, I talked to my uni's career advisor, and it completely changed my approach. Here is what I did differently between January and March (which led to 176 apps, 50 rejections, 122 ghosted, and 4 interviews that I am currently in the process for):

* **Ditched the main job boards:** LinkedIn wasn't cutting it. I started checking my university's job portal religiously and used niche industry trackers instead (specifically EU Finance Tracker and Forged Finance).
* **Played the ATS game:** My advisor gave me the hard truth, if you don't match the exact keywords in the job description, no human will ever see your resume.
* **Used an ATS scanner:** I stopped guessing and started using tools to compare my CV to the job descriptions before applying. I personally use Ceeve AI, but there are plenty out there. It made tailoring my resume for specific keywords way faster.

Honestly, finally getting 50 rejection emails was a relief because it meant my resume was actually making it through the system to a real person.

I just wanted to share this for anyone else stuck in the same boat right now. Stop mass applying on LinkedIn, use niche boards, and actually optimize your keywords. It makes a massive difference

From 231 apps/0 replies to 4 interviews: What actually worked for me