UK based with 10 years of experience in web dev, been unemployed from December to May 2nd. December - February I searched as I would years ago - respond to a r

UK based with 10 years of experience in web dev, been unemployed from December to May 2nd. December - February I searched as I would years ago - respond to a recruiter here and there and apply to a couple of great roles every week. Usually this would result in several offers. I never got so few responses, so in March and April I went all in, and applied for 50+ jobs (not sure how many exactly, but a lot). Got a couple of offers well below my day rate. I got tired of it and just emailed some of my ex-colleagues. Got the job at a place where I already worked within a week.