Why am I not getting interviews? The funnel is usually the problem.

If you've sent dozens — or hundreds — of applications and almost none have turned into a screen, the issue is rarely the words on your resume. It's the funnel: the sequence of filters between your application and a human who can say yes. Here's what's usually breaking it.

You're applying through the wrong channel.

Public job boards are the most competitive and least signal-rich channel that exists. For most roles above entry-level, the majority of hires come through referrals, recruiters, or internal moves. If 100% of your applications are cold applications through Indeed or LinkedIn Easy Apply, you're competing in the hardest possible pool.

ATS keyword mismatch is killing you silently.

Applicant tracking systems score your resume against the job description before any recruiter sees it. If you're not mirroring the exact language of the posting in your experience bullets, you're filtered out automatically — no rejection email, just silence.

Your title doesn't match what they're searching.

Recruiters Boolean-search by title. If your current title is internal-speak ("Strategic Initiatives Lead") and the role is "Senior Product Manager," you won't surface in their search. The fix is a parenthetical translation under your title, not a fabrication.

You're applying to ghost jobs.

A meaningful share of public postings — estimates range from 20% to 40% depending on the sector — aren't real openings. The role is already filled, the budget is frozen, or the posting is up to satisfy a compliance requirement. You'll never get an interview for those, no matter what you do.

The fix is volume down, signal up.

Most candidates in this pattern over-apply: 10+ applications a day, low-targeting, no warm channel. The move is the opposite — cut applications by 80%, spend the recovered time generating warm introductions to a defined target list of 25 companies. One warm intro converts at 10–20x the rate of a cold application.