My Job Search in Numbers (Part 1)

Yes, it was tough and took much longer than I expected. But it was eventually successful.

Mar 24, 2025

Last week was my last day at the job I’ve had since 2019. Next month, I start a new role as a Data Scientist with a new tech company.

(Yes, I’m being vague, I don’t post content on behalf of my employers. You can follow me on LinkedIn to see the inevitable job update.)

So … how long did it take me to find a new job? And how many applications and interviews did it take?

Of course I collected data around my job search. Here’s a basic template of my job search tracker.

Short answer: it took 2.5 years, 296 applications, 376 recruiter DMs (50 of whom I talked to), 116 interview rounds, and 3 offers to find a job worth accepting.

Of course, I have to add the caveat that your experience will be different.

I was not an entry level candidate or looking for my first or even second data role. During my search, I had 6+ years of experience working in analytics, 6+ years of experience with A/B testing, 2+ years of doing “real” data science work in addition to experimentation, 3 years in marketing analytics, 3+ years in product analytics, and a masters degree in Data Science.

But because I was employed, in a good job, I was extremely picky. I wasn’t looking for just any data job. I was looking for something that was worth leaving the job I was in.

Mid-level (or above) Data Scientist
Tech company (that I want to work for)
Salary bump from my already above-average salary

I had high standards - in addition to turning down 2 offers, I also withdrew from ~15% of the roles I started interviewing for.

I knew that the jobs I was going after had a lot of competition. Lots of people want to be a Data Scientist at a tech company and get an above-average salary. This wasn’t going to be easy.

So let’s dig into the data.

How long did it take to get an offer?

As you can guess from the stats above, I didn’t accept the first offer I got. Or the second.

Also, my job search evolved over time. At first, I wasn’t applying, I was just replying to recruiters in my DMs. It was 2022, the height of tech hiring. I was also wrapping up my masters degree and extremely burned out, so I didn’t have time or energy to prepare for job interviews - and it showed. By the time I recovered from burnout and had the energy to submit applications and actually prepare for interviews, it was 2023, and the job market was declining and getting more competitive. I was getting interviews, but facing a lot of rejection. I took some breaks from the job search.

By 2024, I was getting frustrated. I had made it to the final round a few times, but no offers. So I tried lowering my standards. I’d apply for any data role that I was qualified for that had a better salary, regardless of industry or title. I’d also agree to an interview with any recruiter who cold contacted me (as long as the salary was better and the job was related to analytics or data science).

Within about 2 months, I had 2 offers.

Unfortunately, neither offer was worth leaving my job at the time, so I turned them down. But at least I knew getting an offer was possible. But lowering my standards was a waste of time, so I went back to being picky.

It took another 9 months (minus another break) to get an offer, but at least at that point, it was a good offer. I accepted.

How often did I get interviews and offers?

Because I was being picky, I wasn’t spamming my resume everywhere. I applied to an average of 11-12 jobs per month. Recruiter DMs averaged around 10 per month and I talked to ~13% of them.

My rate of job-application-to-interview was pretty steady - 20-23% average each year from 2022 to 2025. However, I was pretty focused on a specific type of job - and it was pretty similar to the job I was already in. (Mostly product analytics data science or anything very similar.) I started keeping track of what percent of qualifications (required and preferred) I had for the jobs I applied for, and it averaged around 87%. The average base salary range was $150-200k.

My first-to-final-interview rate:

0% in 2022
10% in 2023
18% in 2024
20% in 2025

My final-interview-to-offer rate:

0% in 2023
29% in 2024
100% in 2025

So what are my takeaways?

While it is a numbers game, focus on quality over quantity. It will still take a high quantity, but focus your efforts where they’ll matter more.

You will learn as you go. I included the breakdown by year to demonstrate that over time, the more interviews I did - the better I got. Don’t expect to perform well right out of the gate. Even when I would take short breaks, my first interview after a couple of months without doing one was rusty.

What else do you want to know?

So that’s the overview of my very long job search. I knew because I was being picky and going after roles with a lot of competition that I had my work cut out for me. No company is just handing out six-figure job offers. Having the qualifications alone isn’t enough in the current market, heck, even in the 2022 market it wasn’t enough. You have to work hard to perform well in the interviews.

I shared some more results in Part 2, but let me know what else you want to know. I can share more about the interviews themselves, how I prepared for them, how I evaluated offers, how I worked with a coach, etc.