How Gen Zers look for a job

I still remember my first real job hunt. It was a different world. I had a system: a well organized spreadsheet tracking every company, contact name, and the date I emailed or mailed my physical resume (yes, mailed). I scoured Craigslist posts, navigated weird interview assignments, and even once stumbled into an interview that turned out to be a front for selling knives door-to-door instead of the web programming job it advertised.

It was frustrating, sure. There were dead ends and scams. But by the time I hit application number 50, I had multiple offers to choose from. It felt like a numbers game, but the numbers were still human-scale. This was already extreme. I remember the common advice at the time was to target one or two companies you are interested in. Then you write a resume specifically catering the them. It didn't work for me.

Fast forward to today. I’m on the other side of the table now. And I’ve noticed a pattern that, frankly, used to baffle and irritate me.

A graduate reaches out to me on LinkedIn. The message is often blunt: “Hi, hire me please, thanks,” or “I’ve applied, refer me.” No introduction, no context, no courtesy. It feels rude, transactional, and entitled. My immediate reaction is never a desire to help; it’s a defensive. “Why would I want to recommend someone who can’t even be bothered to write a polite sentence?”

I used to block them. I wrote them off as a generation with no manners. But then I had a realization. This isn't rudeness. It's exhaustion.

What I experienced as a dozens-of-applications grind is now a hundreds-of-applications marathon for them. They are not writing to me, a person; they are writing to Application #287. I’m not a potential mentor or colleague in their eyes, I’m just another data point in a system that has rejected them hundreds of times.

The modern job application process is built on a foundation of technology and volume that has fundamentally changed the game. Hiring managers are overwhelmed with applications, so companies use Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) to filter candidates. These automated tools scan resumes and cover letters for specific keywords. If you don't use the exact phrasing the ATS is looking for, your application can be rejected instantly, no human eyes ever seeing it. This has forced job seekers to create multiple versions of their resume, each one tailored to a specific set of keywords, turning the process into a rote, tedious game of data entry.

In addition, companies today, especially large ones, post jobs through automated systems that funnel candidates directly into an impersonal database. The days of walking a resume into an office or finding a connection through a friend of a friend are largely gone. Instead, job seekers are encouraged to apply through centralized portals, making each application feel like a one-way message into a void. The sheer number of applications each job now receives, often hundreds or even thousands for a single position, makes a personal touch seem almost pointless. The odds of being seen are so low that the only logical strategy is to apply to as many jobs as possible, which inevitably leads to a lack of individual investment in each one.

When I actually reply to one of these blunt messages with a genuine question like, “I’d love to help, can you tell me what you liked about our company?” I’m often met with radio silence. It’s not because they’re ungrateful. It’s because they genuinely don’t remember. They’ve sent out so many identical, soulless messages into the void that they can’t recall which one was mine. The personal connection has been completely engineered out of the process by the sheer volume required to get a foot in the door. It's like Tinder, but for jobs.

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So, while the bluntness still sometimes catches me off guard, I’ve stopped seeing it as a personal slight. I see it as the scar tissue of a brutal job market.

The system has forced them to optimize for quantity over quality. When you need to apply to hundreds of jobs just to get a single offer, you stop crafting each message. You stop investing emotional energy you don’t have. You just… fire and forget.

My message to other hiring managers and experienced professionals on LinkedIn is this: before you write off that short, direct message from a graduate, take a second to consider the reality behind it. That “rudeness” is likely just battle fatigue.

And to the Gen Z job seekers: I see you. I get it. But if you can find the energy to personalize just a few messages to the people and companies you truly care about, it will make you stand out from the hundreds of others who gave in to the grind. We notice the one who remembers our name.

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