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Day one
First application out the door — a government systems role, found on Indeed. The early strategy was breadth: apply widely with a general resume and see what sticks.
Job Hunt
80 applied · 16 human replies · 2 interviews · 46 still in play
Feb 3, 2026 – May 8, 2026 · updated Jul 7, 2026
The numbers
The state of the search
Applications
80 3.6 / week avg Response rate
20% 16 real human replies Interview rate
2.5% 2 reached an interview Auto-reject rate
22.5% 18 killed by an ATS Still in play
46 awaiting / active The journey
From "apply to everything" to "apply on purpose"
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Opened the federal track
federalForked into government roles — an IT Specialist posting with the U.S. Secret Service via USAJobs. Slow by design, but a different game with its own clock.
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First interview
tag: first-interviewWorld Wide Technology put me in front of a hiring manager. It ended in a rejection after the interview — but it was the first proof the resume could clear the screen and reach a human.
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The auto-reject wall
Same-day automated rejections from the big contractors — Peraton, Booz Allen, GDIT. Apply at 9am, rejected by lunch. The data was clear: the resume wasn’t passing the ATS, not that I wasn’t qualified.
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Went direct
cold-emailBranched off the portals: cold emails to Echelon and a local security shop, and a one-way recorded interview with Miles IT. Lowest volume, highest intent.
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Specialized the resume
tag: resume-v2Merged the lessons back into the main line: retired the one-size-fits-all resume for a security/SOC version and an Azure/IT version, each tuned to the posting the ATS is scanning.
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Federal, still moving
federalWhile faster private roles closed, the government track kept advancing — these applications are the ones still alive months in.
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Where it stands
HEAD -> main80 applications in, 46 still in play, 2 reached an interview, and the federal branch is still open. Interview rate (2.5%) is the number to beat.
The data
Anatomy of the search
Where it stalls
The funnel from sent to interview
Applications submitted 80
Got a human response 16 · 20% of total
Reached an interview 2 · 2.5% of total
Active after interview 0 · 0% of total
By status
Every outcome across 80 applications
- Applied41
- Cold Email Applied3
- Responded2
- Rejected after Interview2
- Rejected12
- Auto-Rejected18
- Ghosted2
By source
Heavily concentrated in company website (65)
- Company Website65
- Indeed4
- Direct Email4
- Greenhouse3
- USAJobs2
- DC Government1
- Other1
By resume version
Which version was sent
Best source for interviews
Company Website leads at 3.1%
Application activity
Applications submitted per week
Daily activity
Every day of the search, GitHub-style
Feb Mar Apr May
Less
More
- 22 active days
- 9 busiest · Mar 30
- 5.7 apps / active week
- 14 weeks tracked
The takeaway
What the data told me — and what I'm changing
What the data told me
The resume screen is the bottleneck
18 applications (22.5%) were auto-rejected before a person ever read them, and only 2.5% reached an interview. The problem isn't volume — it's how many die at the keyword filter.
One channel, carrying everything
65 of 80 applications went straight through company career portals. Both interviews came from there — but so did most of the auto-rejects.
Federal is slow, not dead
Only 3 applications went through federal portals, but they're the ones still moving months later. Worth more of the pipeline, with realistic timing.
Going direct is the highest-intent move
The cold emails are the lowest-volume, most deliberate thing in the whole log — the opposite of spraying portals and hoping.
What I'm changing
Target the resume, not the volume
Two tuned versions (security/SOC and Azure/IT) so each application matches what the ATS is scanning for.
Break the single-channel habit
Add referrals and direct outreach instead of depending on portals that auto-reject most of what I send.
Stop feeding the black holes
The contractors that mass-post and same-day-reject get less of my time; the roles I want get a tailored resume and a real person to email.
Keep the scoreboard honest
This page rebuilds from the tracker, so the next interview — or the next month of silence — shows up here either way.
Want the raw list behind all of this?
See all 80 applications