If you're always Easy Applying on LinkedIn, I'll be real with you: it doesn't count as applying for a job. Especially if you're an international student trying to get a grad role in Australia.
I hear this all the time: "I make sure to apply to 20 jobs every morning on LinkedIn Easy Apply."
On paper, you're doing a lot. You feel productive watching that application number stack up.
Why LinkedIn Easy Apply applications get buried
Unless your resume is in the top 5% (highly relevant local experience and an 8/10 resume), your CV sits in a pile of 200 others with the same one-click submission.
Your resume gets buried before anyone reads it.
What to do instead of Easy Apply
I'm not saying you can't Easy Apply. But both of these give you a better shot:
Apply on the company website. Head there and apply directly.
Reach out with a short, concise message. Instead of messaging the recruiter who receives 15 messages a day, reach out to someone in the team you want to join. Impress them, so they are the ones telling the recruiters about you.
If you want a mentor who has been exactly in your situation to look at your job search, book a free 15-minute call.
Speed matters more than you think
Jo Sonido, a former HR Business Partner and internal recruiter at UBS and Aware Super, told me qualified candidates can be longlisted as soon as one day after a job is posted.
Once that longlist is filled, even an MBA from Wharton may not be enough to get you on it. Don't rush the application, but apply first and go back to watching reels after.
How to see LinkedIn jobs posted in the last hour
Search for your target role on LinkedIn Jobs and filter by "Past 24 hours". This adds r86400 to the URL.
In the URL bar, change 86400 to a smaller number. It is the time window in seconds, so the smaller it is, the fresher the jobs: 43200 for 12 hours, 7200 for 2 hours.
You're now seeing roles posted in the last 2 hours. Apply before the competition even opens the app. Save this and run it every day you're job searching.
For more on why I stopped mass applying, read: Why Job Search Is Not a Numbers Game (What Actually Got Me 4 Grad Offers).