Larger employers usually use a recruiter, either in-house or external. They simply don't have time to sift through tens of thousands of cold-call resumes.<p>The best thing, as the article admits, is simply to know people inside an organization that you want to work for. There's no better or more reliable way to get a foot in the door. You achieve that by networking like crazy and just getting to know lots of people. Go to every conference and industry event that you can, talk to lots of people there, get active in entrepreneurial groups (in Massachusetts it's Enet and MITEF among others) and keep your LinkedIn profile updated. You never know when that casual conversation around the coffee urn turns into a more serious discussion that can lead to a job offer. I've seen it many times.<p>The next best practice, at least with larger traditional companies, is to cultivate a good recruiter or two, do a couple of contracting gigs and earn a reputation as a reliable worker, and then they will enthusiastically promote you to hiring managers. Stay away from the crappy, sleazy recruiters - you can recognize them from their spam, lack of response to inquiries, lack of track record. Go with one that has an industry track record and a reputation to protect.<p>A bot to apply to thousands of jobs? It's a bit of a joke, really. The guy didn't get an offer so that tells you how much that effort was worth.