The only thing I've found to help with this sales funnel is... to know a lot of people, and to invest time in networking. It sucks because in a meritocratic system it shouldn't work this way, but it does.

I'm neck deep in my job search, and I'm getting to the HR interview at rates around 30-40%, but that's because I'm getting to the HR interview at rates near 90% where I was able to get someone to refer me or send my resume straight to the hiring manager. For non-referrals, I'm seeing closer to 100->10-15.

I think that's just insane.