Finally got a job offer after 8 months of searching

I want to share my experience and how I landed the job offer. Hopefully others can learn from this and serve as inspiration.

I graduated with my bachelors in Mechanical Engineering May 2024 and started mass applying in July, I've sent out well over 1,000 applications by now and didn't hear back from 70% of them, then 20% instantly rejected me through their automated emails, the other 10% that actually got back to me either ghosted/rejected after the phone screening or in person interviews, and after reaching out they all said they just want someone with more experience. I felt hopeless, I felt like a failure, it just really hurt my self esteem pretty bad.

But in January I applied to a job on LinkedIn and got an email about a phone screening interview that same day, did the phone screen later that day and did the in-person a few days later...and then I got ghosted YET AGAIN. But about a month later I randomly decided to email the hiring manager about how much I would love to work for them and that if the position ever opens up I'd still like to be considered, and he got back to me stating that they really liked me and that I was one of the finalists in their decision but they decided to go with someone with more experience.

Luckily for me he liked me so much that he forwarded my application to another department within the company after receiving my email and I interviewed for that position about a week later. Another week passes and I got a job offer! The pay is slightly less than the position I originally applied for, but as a new grad I was willing to take any position I could get.

All this to say that if a company ghosts you after a job interview, don't hesitate to reach out again especially if the interview went well. Odds are they don't want to outright reject you and want to keep you as an option if the position opens up again, or for another position. Keep searching, and good luck to everyone struggling with their job search right now!