Avoid That Your LinkedIn Job Applications Disappear Into Silence

Here is exactly how to do this with the help of AI

Dec 13, 2025

Welcome to issue #111 of Job Search Unlocked. Twice a week, I share practical, unfiltered advice for free to help senior executives land their next role. Faster, and without wasting time on strategies that don’t work.

I’ve spent 20 years in the medical devices industry, including 5 at the C-level.

Today, I lead the global life sciences practice at one of the top 10 executive search firms worldwide. I know exactly how headhunters search for candidates like you, because I do it every day.

You’re doing the work.

Every day, you open LinkedIn. You scroll through job listings. You click on roles that match your experience. You hit “Apply.” You attach your resume. You answer the screening questions. You submit.

Then you wait.

And wait.

No callback. No interview request. No rejection email. Nothing.

You start to wonder if your application even went through. You check. It did. So you apply to more roles. Same process. Same silence.

This is where most senior executives find themselves right now. Putting in real effort. Getting zero traction. Hoping something sticks.

Here’s the problem: your approach isn’t broken. Your timing is.

The assumption that’s costing you interviews

Most executives assume that applying through LinkedIn’s website is the best way to pursue posted roles.

It makes sense. The job is on LinkedIn. The “Apply” button is right there. The process feels official.

But here’s what’s happening on the other side.

Every role you’re applying to receives between 200 and 400 applicants in the first week. Sometimes more.

The talent acquisition person reviewing those applications? They’re not working on one role. They’re juggling 20 to 25 open positions at the same time.

Do the math.

If a recruiter has 25 roles, each with 300 applicants, that’s 7,500 applications to process. No one reviews 7,500 applications carefully. No one has time.

So what do they do?

They scan in batches. They start with the most recent submissions. They pull the first 15 or 20 candidates who look qualified. They move on.

If you applied on day five, your resume is sitting at the bottom of a pile that will never get reviewed. You did everything right. You were just late.

This prompt took me hours to build and test. I create one like it every week for paid subscribers.

Each prompt solves a specific job search problem. The paid newsletter includes access to all 25 prompts in my library.

This is why you’re getting silence. Your applications are landing after the window has closed.

The fix: speed over volume

The goal isn’t to apply to more jobs. The goal is to apply to the right jobs faster than everyone else.

You want to be in that first batch. The one that actually gets scanned. The one that leads to callbacks.

To do that, you need to stop relying on LinkedIn’s default job feed.

LinkedIn shows you “relevant” jobs, not “recent” jobs. That means you’re seeing roles that match your profile, but they might have been posted four or five days ago. By the time you apply, the recruiter has already shortlisted candidates.

The smarter approach: search for jobs on Google instead of LinkedIn.

Google lets you filter by date. You find roles posted in the last 24 hours. You apply before the flood of applicants arrives. You land in the first batch.

How to do this (with a prompt)

Here’s a simple way to set up a smarter job search using Google and a boolean search string.

Use this prompt* to generate your search:

[*It works best in an AI that has a reasoning function like ChatGPT 5.2 thinking or Claude Opus 4.5 thinking]

**Situation**
You are tasked with creating a targeted LinkedIn boolean search string specifically for finding job opportunities. The user will paste this search string directly into Google to search LinkedIn’s job listings site.

**Task**
The assistant should analyze the user’s job search criteria and construct a Google search query that uses LinkedIn’s job search site (linkedin.com/jobs) combined with boolean operators to find relevant job postings. The search string must be formatted to work when pasted directly into Google’s search bar.

The assistant should structure the query as:
site:linkedin.com/jobs [boolean search terms] after:YYYY-MM-DD

The search string must use proper boolean operators (AND, OR, NOT, quotation marks for exact phrases, and parentheses for grouping terms) that work within Google’s search syntax to filter LinkedIn job results.

**Objective**
Generate an optimized Google search query that targets LinkedIn’s job search site, maximizing search relevance while minimizing irrelevant results, enabling the user to efficiently find the right job opportunities by pasting the string directly into Google.

**Knowledge**
The assistant should apply the following boolean search syntax rules for Google:
- Use AND to require all terms (e.g., “engineer AND python”)
- Use OR to include any of multiple terms (e.g., “manager OR director”)
- Use NOT or the minus sign (-) to exclude terms (e.g., “developer -junior”)
- Use quotation marks for exact phrase matching (e.g., “product manager”)
- Use parentheses to group related terms (e.g., (sales OR business) AND (manager OR director))
- Use site:linkedin.com/jobs to restrict results to LinkedIn job listings
- Use after:YYYY-MM-DD to filter for jobs posted after a specific date (e.g., after:2025-01-01)
- Capitalize boolean operators (AND, OR, NOT) for clarity

The assistant should structure job searches by:
- Grouping similar job titles with OR to capture variations
- Combining required qualifications or keywords with AND
- Excluding unwanted job types, seniority levels, or industries with NOT or minus sign
- Focusing on position titles, company names, seniority levels, location keywords, and job-specific requirements
- Including industry sectors, job types (full-time, contract, remote), and other relevant filters when specified
- Adding date filters when the user wants to see only recent job postings

The assistant should ask clarifying questions if the user’s input lacks critical information such as:
- Desired job titles or role types
- Preferred companies, industries, or sectors
- Location preferences or remote work requirements
- Experience level or seniority
- Required skills, qualifications, or certifications
- Any specific terms to exclude from results
- Whether they want to filter by posting date (and if so, what date to use in YYYY-MM-DD format)

When the user provides their criteria, construct a complete Google search string that begins with site:linkedin.com/jobs followed by the optimized boolean search terms, and includes after:YYYY-MM-DD if a date filter is requested, ready to be copied and pasted directly into Google.

Then take the output and paste it into Google. Adjust the date filter called after to “Past 24 hours” in Google’s search tools. For example if we are today December 2nd, 2025 write “after:2025-12-01”

You’ll see only the freshest listings. Apply to those first.

Do this once a day. Spend 15 minutes. Focus on the newest roles only.

This won’t guarantee you get the job. But it guarantees your application gets seen. That’s the first step to getting a response.

The bottom line

You’re not getting silence because you’re unqualified. You’re getting silence because you’re late.

The executives who land interviews aren’t applying to more roles. They’re applying to newer roles, faster.

Stop competing with 400 other applicants. Start competing with 20.

Use the prompt. Search on Google. Apply within 24 hours of posting.

Your applications will finally land on someone’s desk.

Want a prompt like this every week? Paid subscribers get one delivered each issue. You also get instant access to my full library of 25 job search prompts.

Talk soon,
Kristof