At the beginning of January, I received a layoff notice. What followed was a whirlwind of updating my CV, scouring job boards, and diving headfirst into the application process.

My journey began on January 13th, 2026, when I sent out my first application. It wasn’t until April 6th that I finally signed a job offer. Looking back at the data I tracked during these months, the reality of the current market is clear.

Over the course of roughly three months, I applied to 64 different positions. The breakdown of that journey looks like this:

  • 64 Applications sent in total.
  • 25 Companies never responded (the “black hole” of applications).
  • 12 Interview rounds attended across various stages.
  • 3 Trial tasks completed to prove my technical skills.
  • 1 Final Offer that made it all worth it.

One interesting outlier was a company that sent over a trial task as the very first step of the process, before even a screening call — a testament to how companies are filtering talent differently these days.

The Takeaway To put it bluntly: the market is tough right now. I have never found job hunting to be this challenging. Between the 38 rejections (including those that fell through after interviews) and the large volume of silence from recruiters, it requires a significant amount of mental resilience.

However, the process also served as a great learning experience. Every interview sharpened my communication, and every trial task was a chance to build something new. If you are currently in the same boat, keep going—the right offer is out there, even if it takes 64 tries to find it.

Visual: Job Search Statistics Overview The following chart summarizes the trajectory of my applications. It highlights the volume of effort required to reach that single, successful job offer in today’s climate.

Job hunt gaph