Job Hunting Sucks. This Programmer Filled Out 250 Applications to Find Out Why

I can't imagine there was any customization of his resume that went into filling out 250 applications. I spend time tailoring my resume to the individual job. Adding/removing experience and generally rewriting.

I've been unemployed 3 times in the last 15 years and each time I had at least one interview after around 5 applications.

I found the same thing worked when I was dating online (married 10 years). Show the person you read their profile and ask unique/interesting questions about it. 99.99% of the time I got a response.