> Principal > I haven't had a single phone screen for the past 47 applications I've submitted these past 6 weeks. That sounds very weird. Perhaps they're all

> Principal > I haven't had a single phone screen for the past 47 applications I've submitted these past 6 weeks. That sounds very weird. Perhaps they're all worried that they won't be able to meet your salary expectations? Regarding taking a break, my CV has almost as many breaks as jobs [1] and I'm still somewhere in top 10-20% of earnings for Western Europe, while contracting remotely out of Poland. So, it hasn't hurt me in the slightest. I dunno about US culture, with FAANGs and tier-2/wannabe unicorns over there though, maybe they expect people to demonstrate more single-minded devotion to their careers that is expected over here in Europe. [1] Meaning, I almost always take a 6-18 months break between quitting one job and starting in another.