I have been considering changing my job over the past 6 moths of so and I have submitted numerous applications. Ideally I would like a promotion with more responsibility so some of the applications have definitely been a stretch and more on the speculative end of the spectrum. However, some others feel like an exact match for my skills and I would have expected to get through a sift without much difficulty, so I am clearly doing something wrong.
I work in a field that generally requires a qualification or at least extensive experience and is quite niche. This is both a pro and a con - on the plus side there shouldn't be hundreds of applicants for each role, but on the other hand, fewer opportunities arise and a lot of CVs will look quite samey and it is harder to stand out. I have several tailored versions of my CV, and a bank of good examples to demonstrate the application of my skills. Having done quite a bit of recruitment for my own organisation recently, I tend to think my applications are quite good compared to most I receive!
The one area where I am possibly a bit weak is that I have done several different roles within my field - think technical specialist, then moving to another complementary technical speciality, to now having more generalist management roles. I think this makes me more versatile and the roles I am applying for are more oversight/management roles anyway, but I could come across as a bit of a jack of all trades.
Do I need to network more? Make personal contact with recruiters/employers ahead of applying to ask to discuss the role in more detail? Make better use of LinkedIn? I feel a bit pushy doing this but maybe that is just what needs to be done these days to stand out.