Nobody reads my job applications anyway. Why should I put the effort in?

OpinionCareers contributorNovember 13, 2026 — 5:11amNovember 13, 2026 — 5:11amI’m stuck in a job I don’t like, and my job search is getting me nowhere. I’ve given up on putting effort into my applications. I use the “quick apply” function common on many job sites these days, where you can literally apply for a job in 30 seconds. I don’t have to worry about a cover letter. I don’t even bother finessing my CV to suit the role.I’ve decided to use this because for at least the last five years I have found the old way (putting a lot of time and care into job applications) is a total waste of effort. The best I can hope for is an employer to mark my application as “viewed” so I know they’ve at least looked at it. An interview opportunity feels like a one in a hundred shot. Do I need to go back to spending time on my applications?AI has made applications quicker to write and harder to evaluate than ever before. It’s undoubtedly increased the average number of applications an employer receives upon advertising a position.John ShakespeareI have genuine sympathy for you and the position you find yourself in. The job market in Australia has fundamentally changed over the last few years and has radically shifted in certain industries and sectors, especially those vulnerable to the new era of AI. (Those who say that AI is about to upend the world of work are living in 2023. Or are blind to reality.)With that change has come a new set of conventions in the job application process; they can seem utterly foreign to anyone who was applying for jobs a decade ago (which I know you were).Where once it felt like you mostly knew where you stood after applying for a job, today it can feel like you’re not sending your application to a person or a hiring team, but into a dark abyss. So often these days, just as you’ve experienced, diligence at your end is met with silence at the other.It can feel demoralising, particularly when the non-responses pile up, and you find yourself having submitted countless applications, every one apparently ignored.There are employers who adhere to genuinely good practice and who still find themselves inundated with applications.So I completely get your decision to significantly reduce your effort. From one angle it makes logical sense. As I’ve said several times in this column, it’s galling to know that your hard work and dedication is not being reciprocated. Why not, then, just even the ledger? The problem, though, is that often this isn’t quite the equation in question.Yes, some employers take shortcuts. They don’t see the value in offering any kind of courtesy to a person they assume they’ll never deal with again. They give no thought to how much effort has gone into the applications they receive. They’re silent because they treat the whole recruitment process as the coldest of transactions.Some – not all.There are employers who adhere to genuinely good practice and who still find themselves inundated with applications whenever they advertise a job. Not dozens, but hundreds, even thousands.I was speaking to an HR professional the other day who works for a medium-sized company. They told me they receive between 20 and 30 “cold contacts” every day. That’s as many as 30 people every eight hours making an unsolicited phone call, or sending an unprompted email or message asking for a job!I’m not suggesting we should pity the corporations who treat us as numbers. But I am saying that the HR teams within some corporations (and many other organisations) are invariably under-resourced and overburdened. And this brings us back to your question.The quick apply function does exactly what you need it to: lets you bypass the drudgery of thoroughgoing application work and perhaps spread your net wider. But in making applications so much more effortless, it simply adds to the systemic problem at the heart of this new job market paradigm.AI has made applications quicker to write and harder to evaluate than ever before. It’s undoubtedly increased the average number of applications an employer receives upon advertising a position. Quick apply only adds to this number. And that just makes organisations more likely to treat a huge proportion of applicants as if they don’t exist.I’m not saying you and others who use quick apply are to blame for the situation we find ourselves in. I won’t even suggest you stop using it. Who am I to tell you that you’re not putting enough effort into a process you find demoralising?But I do think it’s important to keep in mind some of the reasons why job-seeking feels so broken at the moment.Send your questions through to Work Therapy by emailing jonathan@theinkbureau.com.au.The Business Briefing newsletter delivers major stories, exclusive coverage and expert opinion. Sign up to get it every weekday morning.Jonathan Rivett is a writer based in Melbourne. He's written about workplace culture and careers for more than a decade.From our partners