Job hunting but no response whatsoever - is it me or the UK job market is incredibly bad?

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I work in tech in London, and this is the first time I have experienced this. Usually, I will receive calls from recruiters shortly after I set my LinkedIn profile to "open to work, actively searching". But I have been waiting to hear something since last October. I applied for many jobs but have yet to receive a response, apart from one or two rejection emails. This is very unusual. Initially, I thought it was because of my CV, but my friend, who is a professional recruiter, reviewed it and said it was a great one. This situation puzzles me. Is it me, or is the job market exceptionally bad now?

Any suggestion is welcome. Thank you so much.

Call companies direct, my daughter has been having the same issues and since calling direct has 4 interviews lined up. Good luck

I don't know how we're not in a recession right now. I work in enterprise SaaS and almost all of our customers are laying people off and renegotiating contracts with suppliers to cut costs. I'm not surprised people are struggling to find jobs.

System architect is really ambitious if you don't absolutely flippin' LOVE everything about computers - hardware, software, networking, everything. Web dev is much more accessible

Nobody with any experience wants to be a 'junior sysadmin'. Of course I don't know what the exact JD is but sysadmins are often IT and not engineering. People often just see it as a stepping stone to infrastructure engineering.

Out with friends on Friday, a couple of people felt that a 'Friday interview' was a sign of candidates 'making up the numbers' after a decision had already been made. I'm guessing that being able to carry them out on online, it's an easy way to fit people in at the end of the week. It was also suggested that interviewers were dressed less professionally than might be expected.
Any truth in it?

Fridays are easier to schedule due to fewer meetings because of work from home, that is all (for me anyway).

It is a brutal market right now.

Waiting for recruiters to call won’t work, and nor will applying for jobs advertised on LinkedIn (unless you have very in demand skills).

The best way to find a role is via your network. It’s incredible what doors a personal recommendation will open. I’ve just found a new role which was never advertised or given to a recruiter - I got it through an associate of a colleague of a partner of a friend. They knew they wanted someone but hadn’t got round to writing a JD yet - and I was in the right place at the right time. I also got shortlisted for another role due to a personal recommendation, when otherwise I’d never have made it through the 600 people who applied to the recruiter.

So get the word out there. Write a polite and upbeat email explaining (briefly) how great you are and what you are looking for as your next role, and send it to everyone you know, asking them to send it to anyone they think might be interested. Friends, neighbours, former colleagues, business contacts, suppliers, mums and dads from the PTA, your book club - don’t be shy. Generally people want to help - particularly people who’ve been in your situation before themselves and know how it is.

No, not all. I’m interviewing on a Friday because I’m so busy and it’s my quietest day meeting wise. Generally if an organisation has shortlisted you, we’re not wasting time, we really do need the person.

In terms of how interviewers dress, that has no bearing on professionalism whatsoever.