Dive Brief:
- A lack of feedback from employers has led many job seekers to use a “spray and pray” application process, with 48% saying they frequently or regularly apply to many roles quickly, instead of focusing their efforts, according to a survey from Monster released April 10.
- Applicants say they cast a wider net in the hopes of getting noticed, with 51% saying they’ve changed how they approach the job market because they aren’t hearing back from companies, per the report. Meanwhile, 76% of job seekers said they would tailor their approaches and be more selective if organizations gave feedback during the hiring process.
- Operating in the dark without updates, interviews or clear next steps means applicants assume silence means no, leading 25% to say they now apply “to any job that seems even remotely possible,” and 26% to say “they apply to more jobs than they used to.”
Dive Insight:
It’s a lack of communication, rather than laziness or impatience, that has led today’s job seekers to seek out as many open positions as possible in the hopes of securing a role, Monster said. The company used the Pollfish platform to survey 1,006 U.S. job seekers in March.
Applicants are also being influenced by the technology HR professionals use to help sort and track resumes.
Almost half of respondents (45%) said ATS technology made them more likely to apply to jobs more broadly, with 21% assuming that “many resumes are screened out automatically.” In addition, 22% said they used Quick Apply options to save time, and 14% said they focused on keywords rather than job fit in their application process.
“When candidates believe their resume might never be seen, they often choose quantity over quality,” Monster said in its report, adding that clearer updates, more frequent status messages and “even brief feedback could help job seekers focus on roles that truly match their skills.”
This job seeker behavior is the result of a hiring process that can feel opaque, Monster added.
“When candidates don’t hear back, they apply to more jobs,” Monster said. “When systems feel like black boxes, speed and quantity become survival tactics.”
This approach has created significant problems for hiring managers, who are fielding more applications than they can process, leading to overwhelmed hiring teams who rely on artificial intelligence to process applications, thus perpetuating the problem.
And due to the ease of online applications, recruiters are being flooded with a bigger pool of candidates, leading many to do additional legwork, according to a recent report from Glassdoor.
As a result, recent research from LinkedIn found that recruiters are increasingly turning to AI to find suitable candidates, with 93% saying they planned to increase their use of AI in 2026 in order to meet hiring demands.
