Job Search is Broken. And Everyone Knows It

Hello!

It’s Thursday, 24^th April 2025. Welcome back to Bold Efforts, where we explore the deeper currents shaping how we work and live. If you've been job hunting recently (in last 2 years or so), you've probably felt it: something is off. It’s not just you. The entire system is broken. And pretending it still works is costing everyone time, energy, and trust.

Let’s break this down in a focused, two-part series that gets to the heart of the problem and what to do about it.

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Key Idea: Job Search is Broken

Here is something that everyone knows yet nobody says out loud: the modern job search isn’t designed to help you find a job. It’s a facade. A theater of activity masking a system that’s hollow at the core. Applicants keep applying, recruiters keep scrolling, companies keep posting. But nothing actually connects.

LinkedIn isn’t a talent marketplace. It’s a dopamine casino. A place where you build a brand, not a career. Where ghost jobs circulate endlessly, engagement posts blur with actual roles, and recruiters default to polite silence. You can spend hours optimizing your profile, and still feel like you're shouting into a void. Hiring via LinkedIn is broken. It’s astonishing how little competition exists in this space. The jobs ecosystem is starving for real innovation, and nobody’s showing up.

LinkedIn is an amazing social media platform and it is one of the leading tools to establish your personal brand and play LinkedIn games. I love it. But it is NOT a recruitment or job search platform (any more).

Indeed and the rest? No better. These platforms have become job listing farms. They’re optimized for clicks and ad revenue, not successful hires. They’re clogged with expired postings, bait roles, and filters that weed out more than they match. Many jobs are even locked behind signups and paywalls. The end result? A wasteland of noise. A place where real talent gets buried under layers of algorithms.

Meanwhile, nobody is solving for the reality of modern work. The world has gone remote, but job platforms haven’t. Fast-growing teams are desperate. They’re burning through budget on recruitment agencies who take 10% per hire or job boards charging $200 per listing. And still, they’re struggling. They don’t need another feed. They need qualified candidates, seamlessly, affordably.

Companies aren't innocent either. A growing number post jobs just to signal growth. Some use listings to collect resumes for future needs. Others already have internal candidates in mind. The process has become a performance, not a pursuit.

The tragedy is this: talent is everywhere, but opportunity is locked behind broken systems. People are burning out not because they’re unqualified, but because they’re invisible. Because we’ve traded substance for searchability. Because we’ve mistaken process for progress. The job application process is broken. Applicants are fed up. Recruiters are stressed. Nobody is winning.

It doesn’t have to be this way.

We need to go back to basics. We need to reinvent how companies share opportunities. Career pages shouldn’t be buried subdomains with clunky filters. They should be living, breathing representations of a company's needs, values, and teams. Transparent. Searchable. Human.

What if there was a search engine built for real jobs? Not ads. Not engagement traps. Just direct access to actual openings, updated in real-time, with no middlemen. A system where skills matter more than keywords. Where discovery isn’t a guessing game.

This isn’t a tech problem. It’s a design problem. A trust problem. A human problem.

We need a job platform that actually works for people. One that respects the applicant’s time. One that helps recruiters cut through the noise. One that agencies can plug into without going broke. A human-centric model for a global, async, remote-first future.

That’s where my head’s at. I believe there’s a better way to look for jobs. We don’t need to tweak the existing model. We need to throw it out and start again. The future of hiring should feel like matchmaking, not like submitting your soul to a machine. It should be about alignment, not optimization. About discovery, not chasing ghosts.

So no, you’re not crazy for feeling frustrated. The system wasn’t built for you. But that’s exactly why we have to rebuild it.

Until next week,
Kartik

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Who am I?
I’m Kartik, founder of Polynomial Studio, a holding company and product studio building AI-driven businesses for the future of work. The way we work and live is being rewritten. AI, remote work, and shifting economic forces are reshaping careers, businesses, and entire industries. The big question is where it’s all heading.

For the past eight years, I’ve been at the forefront of these shifts, working across real estate, technology, startups, and corporate strategy. I’ve helped businesses navigate change and stay ahead of what’s next, always focused on understanding the forces shaping our future and how we can use them to build something better. Click here to know more about me.

Why Bold Efforts?
I started Bold Efforts because I believe work should fit into life, not the other way around. Too many people are stuck in outdated systems that don’t serve them. This newsletter is about challenging the status quo and making the effort to design work around life. It brings together bold ideas and actionable insights to help you build a healthier, more balanced relationship with work, leading to greater purpose and fulfillment. If you’re looking for fresh perspectives on how to work and live better, you’re in the right place.

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