1) as the child of a parent who was a smart, hard working accountant/financial analyst who was out of work for 2 long stretches in my youth, I have learned when you lose your job, you do not fuck around — you attack it with the same urgency as if the house was on fire as in immediately; 2) after 25 years, you’ve got to have some network — swallow your pride and use them.
I have been there, and I saw my father — there is nothing good about it. You have my sympathy and I wish you the best.
Applying to 400 jobs is apparently not enough sense of urgency, got it. It's surely American laziness that's the problem and not the infinite slave labor they're competing with.
400 applications in two years is less than one application a day. The last time I was unemployed I was applying to five to ten companies a day all with targeted cover letters. I kept track of every application and followed up. I made it an eight hour a day job to find a job.
You are missing the point that a director level resource, could only apply to a relatively smaller number of roles. Entry level IC might not be worth applying.
So despite what they say, the limitation factor might also be number of posted jobs.
I know they said they applied to anything - but still anything for that profile might be a bit more broad - entry level IC to FANG may be which pays better or a role that is open to leveling or start up or any other combos.
I have been there, and I saw my father — there is nothing good about it. You have my sympathy and I wish you the best.