This narrative, shared as an as-told-to essay, emerges from a thoughtful and candid conversation with Joseph Leemon, a forty-four-year-old professional from Rochester Hills, Michigan. Business Insider has thoroughly verified his employment background, job offers, application volume, and personal details to ensure accuracy. The dialogue was carefully edited for brevity and clarity, capturing both the challenges and lessons he faced throughout his prolonged job search.
Leemon’s professional journey entered a critical phase when he was laid off from his previous position on October 3, 2023. Wasting no time, he immediately began taking purposeful action the very next day — October 4 — by updating his résumé, refining its details, and re-engaging with every job-search tool and application platform at his disposal. Since that moment, his diligence has been unwavering: he submitted close to two thousand applications in pursuit of his next professional chapter.
Determined not to rely solely on automated systems or impersonal processes, Leemon sought guidance from recruitment experts and individuals holding managerial roles, hoping that their insights might help him navigate an increasingly competitive employment landscape. In a further attempt to refine his presentation, he experimented with three professional résumé-writing services, investing several hundred dollars in the hope of fine-tuning his materials. Unfortunately, the results were underwhelming. His résumé, once a proud summary of his achievements, gradually began to feel like an impersonal list of industry buzzwords — a document designed more to attract the algorithms of applicant-tracking systems than to highlight the human working behind the qualifications. Even after experimenting with AI tools such as ChatGPT, he felt dissatisfied with what was produced, describing the output as generic and disconnected from his authentic professional experience.
Before losing his job, Leemon had been employed as an agent services specialist at a real-estate technology company. When he reentered the job market, he intentionally limited his search to roles that stayed within a reasonable proximity to his existing field. Still, he aspired to transition toward positions that leaned more heavily into operational management or leadership functions. After almost a year of continuous effort, fate finally intervened on September 10, 2024, when he applied for a support specialist position at an individual retirement account (IRA) firm. The application process proved fruitful, and the role was ultimately offered to him. His first day is set for October 27. Although the position is not strictly managerial, it offers significant upward mobility and represents the highest annual salary he has earned to date. For him, this opportunity symbolizes both hard-won progress and validation after a long and grueling search.
Reflecting on his success, Leemon identifies several turning points and strategies that transformed his luck after a period of stagnation. Chief among these was his willingness to widen the parameters of his job search. For most of his journey, he had focused exclusively on remote positions — a decision largely shaped by his household’s logistical needs. His wife, a dedicated grant writer, commutes more than an hour to her office three days per week, while his young daughter attends preschool on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings. These circumstances initially made remote work seem the only viable option.
However, by mid-September, Leemon recognized that the employment landscape had begun shifting back toward in-person engagement amid a broader return-to-office trend. Responding to these changes, he consciously expanded his focus to include hybrid positions — those that combined office presence with flexibility. In the weeks that followed, he submitted approximately thirty applications for hybrid roles. The decision proved transformative. His new position follows precisely this model: it requires an in-person presence two to three days each week, conveniently located just twenty minutes from his home. For Leemon, this arrangement struck a perfect balance between professional accessibility and personal commitment.
Before making this adjustment, he had grown increasingly uncertain whether many of the jobs he applied to even existed. The experience of submitting countless applications into what felt like a digital void left him questioning the authenticity of many openings. In his view, hybrid positions seemed more legitimate because they required face-to-face engagement — a sign that real people and genuine workplaces were behind the listings. Based on that realization, his advice to anyone currently applying for jobs is both pragmatic and insightful: resist the temptation to submit applications indiscriminately through centralized job boards. Instead, take the extra time to visit company websites directly to confirm that postings are real and active.
Another crucial factor in his eventual success was leveraging professional connections from earlier stages of his career. Leemon attributes landing his most recent interview largely to a preexisting relationship with a recruiter who reached out about the position. This recruiter had worked with him briefly at a previous organization and had left approximately eighteen months before his own departure. Yet, she still remembered his name and professional demeanor, and that small thread of familiarity turned out to be the opening he needed. As he reflects, much has been said about the importance of networking, but the real value lies not just in collecting contacts — it lies in maintaining authentic and respectful relationships over time. He considers himself fortunate that he did not sever any ties or “burn bridges” in earlier roles, as that goodwill ultimately opened new doors when he needed them most.
Nevertheless, Leemon acknowledges that networking had not been his strong point during the bulk of his search. At times, he even found the idea of contacting former colleagues daunting, especially when their companies were not hiring. It often felt futile to reach out simply to “check in” without a tangible opportunity to discuss. Looking back, he admits that if he were to repeat the process, he would be far more deliberate in selecting whom to network with, recognizing that developing these connections can sometimes be the deciding factor between stagnation and progress. In his case, a mix of preparation, persistence, and pure luck intersected at the right moment. Had the recruiter not noticed his name or recognized their shared employer history, the waiting period for an offer could easily have stretched on indefinitely.
Leemon’s perseverance was tested not only by professional uncertainty but also by emotional fatigue. By August and early September, he began to fear that he might have aged out of the job market — a distressing thought for someone who would only turn forty-five in November. He wondered anxiously about what the future might hold for himself, his wife, and their growing family. Fortunately, both he and his wife had built a solid financial cushion through consistent saving and prudent spending habits. Even so, residing in an upper-middle-class area of Michigan meant that everyday life remained costly. The persistent rise in inflation amplified financial pressures, forcing them to consider unpleasant contingencies, such as selling one of their cars, to make ends meet. Although they still had savings, those funds had been set aside specifically for their daughter’s future and were never intended to be tapped for short-term living expenses. On top of everything else, they were in the process of pursuing a second adoption, which added both emotional weight and additional costs to their situation.
Throughout his two-year journey, Leemon’s motivation fluctuated in cycles. Some stretches were marked by intense effort — applying to as many as fifty jobs per day — while others were characterized by burnout, discouragement, and complete inactivity. For weeks at a time, he would halt all applications simply to recover emotionally. Yet he now recognizes the value in those pauses. Giving oneself permission to rest, reflect, and regain mental clarity is not only acceptable but necessary in a demanding job search. That intentional downtime helped him sustain his focus over the long term.
Ultimately, Leemon’s experience offers a nuanced portrait of resilience in the face of uncertainty. It underscores the reality that career transitions often require more than credentials or perseverance — they demand adaptability, self-awareness, and faith in the possibility of renewal. His hard-earned reward came when preparation met opportunity, proving that persistence, when paired with strategy and openness to change, can transform even the longest search into a personal victory.
Business Insider encourages others who have navigated similarly challenging job hunts to share their stories. If you have your own experience or success to recount, you can contact the reporter via email at aaltchek@insider.com or reach out through the encrypted messaging app Signal at aalt.19.
Sourse: https://www.businessinsider.com/two-years-2000-applications-how-got-job-offer-2025-10
