Basically my approach as well. The problem is that your well-thought-through application will get lost in a sea of applicants (many using tools similar to the o

Basically my approach as well. The problem is that your well-thought-through application will get lost in a sea of applicants (many using tools similar to the one shown above). The tools used by the recruiters/HR also suck and can be easily gamed (ie strategically spreading keywords/phrases throughout the resume even if the candidate has no actual experience). The end result is hiring managers cannot find good candidates to interview, and good candidates cannot get interviews. The core problem is not that the systems suck but that so many people in IT lost their jobs in the last 2-3 years so that they don't have a choice other than to spray-and-pray (in the end of the day you need to put the food on the table). Things won't improve until hiring recovers (increase in labor demand), and some IT professionals probably will pivot to other industries (decrease in labor supply), as it happened in 2000 and again in 2008.