> The fact that there's often thousands of applicants for one job is exactly what companies and recruiters want

Are you sure that's true? I often read complaints here from hiring managers that have to wade through far too many obviously unqualified applications.

Yes.

My side project is in recruiting. We have both internal and external recruiters as our advisors. I've interviewed many more.

As one put it, "I can leave a developer job open for a couple of hours, and I'll get a dozen that can do the job. If I leave it open for a day, I'll get a hundred."