I dont know about you, but ive recently put out quite a few applications this year. At the most, what ive gotten is a few automated reply emails. There have been some interviews but not many. Just to be clear, im talking about programming jobs, or some related field. I feel that the more time i put into my resume dont translate into a better interview acceptance rate. My resume is far from perfect, dont get me wrong. But to boost my chances of getting viewed, i will often create a custom resume for the job that im applying. This enables me to create a resume that puts more emphasis on the related skills that i believe that employer would care more about and leave the other irrelevant or casual skills in the background. However, based on my 100% un-scientific study. of 44 applications. 30 of which had a customized resume with effort put in. resulted in 2 interviews. meanwhile the other 14 standard applications resulted in 1 interview. Yes i know that this is not large enough of a data set to make conclusions from, but i will none the less. Why should i spend time researching the company, and making a resume that points out the skills that matter to the company, if its having hardly a difference? Also as just a rant, why, if you can send me a automated mail to let me know that you received an application, cant you send me a automated mail to let me know the position was filled by someone else! For all i know, over the last 5 years, i prob have 500+ "pending" applications! Just tell me the job is taken! For more info, these applications were spread evenly across indeed & zip recruiter. ive since transitioned to fully zip recruiter, but still, the time of this "study" was with both. I would like to hear if people are sharing the same story of higher effort not giving back a better return. As of now, i will just be using exclusively my default resume (unless there is a job i really really want). Share any tips that you've used that has gotten you a better interview rate!