No response from job applications is normal for a software engineer, even after 150. Ashby reports more than 300 applications per hire, and at one employer about 1.7% of applicants reached a hiring-manager interview. At that rate 150 applications hold too few events to blame your resume. We'd sort them into groups, see which group gets replies, and send your next batch there.
Is no response from 150 applications normal for a software engineer?
Yes, and the hiring side explains why. Ashby's May 2026 release, built on more than 100 million applications across 200,000 jobs, puts the average at more than 300 applications per hire. That's roughly triple the 2021 figure. Ashby also says applicants are about 50% less likely to get an interview than five years ago.
Checkly gives a closer look at one funnel. In its 2025 hiring data, 12,479 applications across 12 postings produced 217 hiring-manager interviews, about 1 in 58. You aren't unusual in sending volume either: Greenhouse's December 2024 survey found 38% of job seekers mass applying.
Neither Ashby nor Checkly breaks out software engineers by level or by stage. What they show is what ordinary silence looks like, and that's plain reassurance, not a grade.
What does 150 applications actually tell you?
Less than it feels like. Using Checkly's one-company rate of 1.7% as a yardstick, 150 applications would be expected to produce about 2.6 hiring-manager interviews. The chance of getting none by luck alone:
| Applications | Chance of zero interviews |
|---|---|
| 150, any fit | about 8% |
| 100, well-matched | about 18% |
| 40, well-matched | about 50% |
Forty well-matched applications with nothing to show is a coin flip, so your resume can't be the suspect yet. The 1.7% covers all of Checkly's applicants, so for well-matched applications the real chance of zero is lower than the table shows, and the well-matched rows are the safe upper bound. A couple of events either way changes the picture, which is why one stretch of bad luck looks identical to a real problem.
How do you tell resume from targeting from market with your own numbers?
Compare your own applications against each other. For each one, note that you applied, whether any human replied (a rejection counts), and whether it reached a screen, meaning a first call with a recruiter or engineer. Then split them three ways: how well the role fit your title and level, how you applied (the employer's own board, a job board listing, or a referral or recruiter), and how old the posting was when you applied. The weekly counts in the job search spreadsheet are a good place to keep them.
| Pattern | Reading | Change first |
|---|---|---|
| Every group quiet | Market, or too few matched applications | Add matched applications, change nothing else |
| One group gets replies | Something about that group works for you | Move effort to that group |
| Replies and screens, then nothing | Not an application problem | Work on the interview stage |
The resume comes last. Have someone read it only once your well-matched group has had enough tries, as the next sections set out.
A worked example: 150 applications, three groups
Take Dana, an example backend engineer. Over 8 weeks she sent 150 applications and got 4 replies of any kind (3 rejections, 1 recruiter email), 2 screens and no onsites.
| Group | Applied | Replies | Screens |
|---|---|---|---|
| Matched, employer's own board, posted under a week | 40 | 3 | 2 |
| Matched, posting older than 3 weeks | 60 | 1 | 0 |
| Stretch role (level or stack off) | 50 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 150 | 4 | 2 |
Two screens from 150 is close to the 2.6 you'd expect at Checkly's rate, so the whole sheet doesn't say market against Dana. The gap is inside it: 2 screens from 40 against none from 110. That's a hint, and it tells her where to test next.
What do you change first?
Send your next 30 applications to the group that got replies: matched roles, posted recently, applied for on the employer's own page. Leave the resume alone. Judge it only once that group has about 100 applications and still no replies, because that's where the table says zero starts to mean something. Counting by applications rather than by weeks also takes the pressure off the time in between.
If you're still early in a search, your first two weeks after a layoff covers the week-four read this article builds on. The quiet ones in the matched group are where a short follow-up email after applying belongs. Change one thing at a time so your own groups show what works.
What to do with your quiet applications this week
You've probably been reading the silence as a verdict. Treat it as a count you haven't taken yet.
- Pull your recent applications into one list.
- Split them into groups as described above and count replies and screens in each.
- Pick the group with any movement and aim your next 30 at it.
If an older posting has never answered anyone, check whether the posting is a ghost job before you chase it. If you're junior, lean on your own groups even more.
If counting replies by group has become tedious
Doing this across months is where a spreadsheet gets heavy. Job Search by HighCircl keeps a pipeline of Saved, Applied, Interviewing, Offer and Closed, with the applied date and logged steps on each job. It's free during the open beta, which is open to 300 people in the US.
FAQ
Is it normal to never hear back from a job application?
Yes. Ashby reports more than 300 applications per hire on average, so most applications end without an offer. Silence says little about your resume.
What counts as a reply?
Any human response, including a rejection. Count a screen separately, since it's the first sign a role fit.
How many applications should I send before changing my resume?
About 100 well-matched ones with zero replies. At the 1.7% rate used here, that happens by luck only about 18% of the time, so it's the point where the resume becomes a reasonable suspect.
Why am I getting no responses on job applications?
Usually a mix of a crowded market and too small a sample to see your own pattern. Compare your groups by fit, channel and posting age before you change anything.