Is it just me, or is applying for a job getting more cumbersome?

I’m especially talking about on Indeed, which is the primary place I go to for applications. It has by far the most “quick apply” or “easy apply” options of any job search platform, which I really appreciate, but I think there is some sort of change in their UI that gives me a headache. Six years ago, I used to be able send out dozens of applications in about a ten or twenty minute sitting on the mobile app, but I can’t do that any longer. I fill out about six in the same amount of time.

I’d thought it was the style of the job descriptions. Maybe there’s too much superfluous information in there to sift through. But that can’t be it. I’m usually appreciative of going on the wordier side. Even if it is redundant, repeating oneself in modified ways aids in comprehension.

I think it’s definitely a format thing. Mostly in description format. The bulk of applications on their own feels the same. Personal info, resume, sometimes additional questions and cover letter spots, etc, are there as always. Then again, I don’t pour over them like I do job descriptions as I already know my trajectory thus far. I think a new font began being used on indeed circa 2022. Either a new font or new size. There may be other factors too. Like I got a new mobile phone for late Christmas/early birthday…so sometime in late December 2022 or early January 2023. Could the Indeed app look different somehow on this phone? Or maybe I need to update my eyeglasses prescription, although I don’t have too much irritation using other apps on my phone, nor looking at other screens or interfaces. Thus, I keep coming back to the UI change.

I don’t want to knock Indeed too much. It’s a pretty great platform otherwise. I suppose for future posts I’ll make some extended observations about other platforms (especially those ones who partner with an employer on individual bases instead of aggregating all employers together like Indeed, ZipRecruiter, or Careerbuilder do; I guess they call them “ATS platforms” and Workday, ADP, Taleo, Bamboo, and Lever are among them). But the road to reemployment is a windy one. Sometimes it’s hard to break my old habits, and I can’t always admit these habits are meant to be broken. Nonetheless, I constantly strive to get reacclimated.

I will

I will do better,

I will be better,

I will get more,

I will get respect.

I will get appreciation.

I will get validated,

I will love others.

Others will love me.

~ This is a positive affirmation I wrote to myself more than a year ago on a piece of receipt paper during a particularly stressful day working as a saleslady in a department store. It’s a very crumpled and stained paper, and it’s in my crummiest handwriting. Though I thought the message was good, and I need to remind myself of these certainties as often as possible. So I’m preserving this message here before I get rid of the paper.