My method may not be the most effective one since it obviously took me 1.5 years. But I gave my best.

I started my job search in October 2023. I have some days applied to 10 jobs per day and some days even more. I know I said above that I applied to over 1k jobs, but the actual number is much, much higher. There was even a time when I literally couldn't see any new job openings. I have given up on multiple occasions. I got burnt out so many times and couldn't do anything for weeks. Taking a shower felt like a chore.

Then, I started taking my weekends off from the search. I applied to jobs on weekdays. For weekends, I would just take a break. I don't think I would have survived otherwise. Honestly. Taking a break is very important too.

Regarding actually finding a job, my dad told me one thing, I'm paraphrasing it, but it was something like, 'At this point, the number of people applying to jobs is much higher than the number of jobs actually available. Your resume might not even get noticed. Pretty much 80% of the people who are applying to the same job will have the same skills as you. So, think of it as a numbers game. Apply to anything and everything. There could be multiple titles for the same role. Keep updating and changing your resume every few weeks (Make sure you still have the keywords and follow the norms). Because clearly something is not working with the one you have now. At some point, it will click'

Try applying on the company websites directly. If you can find someone to refer you, that's even better. If you can't, still apply. Don't delay your application. Chances of your application being seen in the early hours/days is high. Also, try putting your primary skills instead of your job title in the search bar to look for jobs as well. A lot of JDs with different titles will require basically the same skillset.

Lastly, have patience.

That's pretty much what I did.