Six weeks into my search, I had sent 73 applications and had two phone screens to show for it. I was working a full day at the laptop, and the number on the spreadsheet was going up, but the conversations were not. That is the trap of the modern job search. It rewards the appearance of effort over the reality of progress.
The fix is not working harder. The fix is rebalancing where the effort goes.
The 60/30/10 split
For a senior role in Australia, the channels split roughly like this in terms of where the offer ends up coming from:
- 60% network (a person you know, or one degree out, opens a door)
- 30% recruiter (an agency or in-house recruiter brings you a brief)
- 10% direct application (you saw it on Seek or LinkedIn and applied cold)
Most men spend 80% of their time on the 10% channel, because it feels productive. You see a job, you click apply, the counter goes up. You feel busy.
Flip it. Spend 60% of your hours on network. 30% on recruiters. 10% on cold apps. Within a month, the ratio of conversations to applications will look healthier and the offers will come from the calls, not the clicks.
What "network" actually means in week one
It is not posting on LinkedIn that you are open to work. (You can do that, fine, but it is not the work.)
The work is a list. Open a spreadsheet. Five columns: Name, Last contact, Their patch, Why they might know something, When I will reach out.
Populate it with:
- Every former manager you respect, going back ten years
- Every former direct report who has moved on (they often punch above their network weight)
- Every customer or supplier who liked working with you
- Every recruiter who has ever placed you or pitched you
- Every mate from uni or industry now in a role adjacent to where you want to land
Aim for 50 names in the first sit-down. Filter to 20 you will actually contact in the first month. Five a week. One coffee or call per workday.
The reach-out script that works
Short. Specific. Asks for one thing.
Subject: "Quick favour / [your name]"
Body, three paragraphs:
- One line of warm context (what they last worked on, congrats on something specific)
- Two lines on your news ("My role at X was made redundant in April. I am looking for [type of role] in [sector]. The kind of org I am chasing is [shape, size, function].")
- One ask ("Could I buy you a coffee in the next two weeks? Or, if easier, who in your network do you think I should be talking to?")
That is it. No CV attached on the first email (offer to send if useful). No life story. No apology for reaching out.
The hit rate on this kind of email is around 50-70% reply, 30-40% turn into a conversation, and one in five conversations leads to a meaningful intro. Do the maths. 20 emails a month gives you 4 real intros. Four real intros over three months is your job.
The recruiter relationship, properly handled
Recruiters work for the employer, not for you. That is not a betrayal, it is the structure of the industry. Knowing it changes how you interact.
The two or three you should build a relationship with:
- A specialist in your function (a fintech CFO recruiter, a tech ops recruiter, etc.)
- A generalist agency with strong relationships in your city / sector
- An in-house TA leader at one or two companies you would consider working at
What good engagement looks like: a 30-minute intro, your CV in their format, your salary expectation in writing (a band, not a number), a list of companies you would and would not work for, and a monthly check-in. Not weekly. Monthly. They will appreciate the discipline.
What bad engagement looks like: applying through five recruiters for the same role, pestering them weekly with no new information, going around them direct to the employer.
Burn a recruiter in this market and you burn a network. Australia is small.
The LinkedIn split
LinkedIn does two different jobs. Treat them as two different jobs.
LinkedIn for searches:
- Use the jobs filter aggressively (location, seniority, posted-in-last-week)
- Set up alerts for the 10-15 specific titles you target
- Save the 5-10 companies you would join, follow them, watch their posts for hiring signals (a new VP often = a new team coming)
LinkedIn for DMs:
- Once a week, identify five people in target companies who do (or did) the role you want
- Send a short DM (similar script to the email above) asking for 20 minutes about their org and what good looks like there
- Do not pitch yourself, do not ask for a job, ask for their view
The DM channel is underused because it feels awkward. It is mildly awkward, and it works, because most people enjoy talking about their own work to someone who is paying attention.
Applications, the 10% done well
When you do apply cold, do it properly. Three rules:
- One application per day, maximum, on cold (any more and you are gardening, not hunting)
- Tailored CV every time (rearranged bullets, not rewritten, but the top half-page reflects the role)
- Cover letter only if asked, and three short paragraphs if so
Do not apply to roles that are 60% match in the hope they will see your potential. Apply to roles that are 80% match where you can articulate the missing 20% as something you have done adjacent.
The weekly rhythm
What a working week of search looks like:
- Monday morning, 1 hour: review last week, plan the conversations and applications for the week
- Mon-Fri, 2 hours/day: outreach (emails, DMs, calls)
- Mon-Fri, 1 hour/day: conversations (coffee, Zoom, phone)
- Mon-Fri, 1 hour/day: research (companies, target lists, market context)
- Friday afternoon, 1 hour: update the tracker, send follow-ups, write what you learned
That is six hours a day on the search. The other two hours: skill-building (a course, writing a piece of work, contributing to an open project), and break.
Searching for a job is a job. Treat the day like a workday or it will sprawl into nothing and exhaust you anyway.
The tracker
One sheet. Columns:
- Date of contact
- Name
- Org
- Channel (intro / recruiter / cold / advert)
- Stage (sent / reply / call booked / call done / progressed / passed)
- Next action
- Date of next action
Update it weekly. Look at it monthly. The patterns it reveals: which channel is producing, which sector is responsive, which recruiters are real, which targets have gone cold and need re-warming.
Without a tracker, you will lose threads. Lost threads are the difference between getting the role and not.
The ratios you are watching
For a senior commercial role in the current market:
- 100 conversations to find 10 real opportunities
- 10 real opportunities to land 3-5 first interviews
- 3-5 first interviews to land 1-2 final processes
- 1-2 final processes to land 1 offer
Front-load the conversations. The rest follows. Keep moving.
Further watching
- 0170% of senior roles fill through network, treat job boards as the smallest channel.
- 02Aim for ten meaningful conversations a week, not 50 cold applications.
- 03Recruiters work for the employer, build relationships with two or three good ones.
- 04LinkedIn searches surface roles; LinkedIn DMs surface conversations, both matter.
- 05Track everything in one sheet, applications, contacts, conversations, follow-ups.
At senior levels, the channel that actually lands most roles is: