Hello everyone,
I'm an experienced QA and I've been actively job hunting, but I'm getting barely any interview calls. My career gap is growing and it's worrying me.
I've already refreshed my resume on Naukri and I'm applying through LinkedIn, but nothing's working well.
Can anyone suggest other ways to boost interview calls? Any tips on platforms, strategies, referrals, or how to improve my profile would be really helpful.
In my view the real issue is AI. By 2026 everyone's resume looks perfect because they're built with ChatGPT. A few years back it was easier to filter resumes because AI wasn't involved, so recruiters could spot the right candidates. Now every resume looks like a perfect match, and nobody knows the exact parameters used to filter them.
The people who get the most interviews are those who are already employed or have strong referrals. Referrals have become huge because employees get a bonus, and there's a lot of politics. I heard about a lady who got a job at my friend's company because the person who referred her was on good terms with the manager and they were eyeing a ₹30k bonus.
I feel many of those listings are either ghost jobs or positions that aren't actually open yet – companies are just prepping for future hires in case someone quits. Some articles say LinkedIn now shows whether employees are looking for new roles, so firms might be posting based on that data. Even though I follow all the steps, I only get around 2 interviews after sending 30‑plus applications. Even if a candidate ticks every single requirement, they often don't hear back.
Good for you, at least you're getting interviews. I've been applying for the last four months with referrals and still haven't got a single interview.