I only remember the times where i got a job quickly because I knew someone. If I had to apply online raw like everybody else it took longer than I can even remember

After Uni it took a long time. Entry level jobs are hyper competitive. But now I have a good amount of experience, its been a lot easier to find new work. I changed companies this year. I applied to 2 jobs, got offered 2 interviews but by the time the second one invited me to the interview the first one already offered me a job - big confidence boost tbh.

I have been lucky to find new jobs quite quickly when I got fired or left.

It's varied. I've filled out dozens of applications and even requested to see the manager and never gotten any response, and then I've applied for a job for two places in one day and got both of them. What made the difference is that the time I got both of them, I really, truly wanted a job, and I reached out for it with my energy. All the other times, I wasn't really interested, I just believed I had no better choice. Another thing that got me a job once was that I called the place once a week every week after I applied, asking them if they had any openings. One week somebody had just quit, so she hired me.

I tried applying for some paid internship jobs in june of last year. The first one (at a high profile company) got rejected due to an abysmal interview, the second I fared a little better, but there was better competition. The third one just required a knowledge exam in labour law, no interviews required. I ranked first among 10 candidates, and joined the organization in november.