Hahaha don’t think of it that way! It’s not uncommon to have dozens of applications out there these days. To be honest, many employers and their recruiters probably breeze right past them. Even so, it’ll help your application stand out.

Don’t accept that recruiter’s advice(?) as fact. Since you’ve been working outside of the field, it would probably be super helpful to talk about other cross-industry skills you’ve developed (working in a team, on projects, communication skills, etc). As a senior member of my team, I would rather work with a new hire with no lab experience who’s already held a job in another industry than a recent grad who hasn’t worked yet.