Choose where to spend the time
When a job search stalls, I prefer to review the roles before sending another batch of applications. What does each employer need? Which parts of my experience fit? Do I want to do the work described?
For a role involving production support, explain an outage you helped resolve and what you were responsible for. A list of technologies leaves the reader to work out that connection.
Read the requirements before drafting
Separate essential requirements from preferences. Mark what you can demonstrate, what you would need to learn and what the posting leaves unclear.
The number of applications you can prepare depends on your time, financial pressure, location and the openings available. Keep a record of the role, the version you sent and the next follow-up.
Put relevant experience first
Identify the two or three main responsibilities in the posting. Put the experience that addresses them first and shorten less relevant entries. Keep enough detail to explain what you did and what changed as a result.
Use the employer’s terminology when it accurately describes your work. If the posting says incident response and your CV says production support, clarify which responsibilities overlap. Leave out claims you could not explain in an interview.
Explain why this company
If a cover letter is requested or useful, explain why the work interests you. Refer to a product you have used, a problem the company has described or a responsibility that fits your experience.
If the same paragraph could be sent to several companies unchanged, add the detail that made you choose this one. You do not need a dramatic story or praise for a product you have never used.
Ask about what is unclear
Check the job description and the company’s engineering posts first. If a question remains, a conversation with someone on the team may help. Ask something specific about the work and make it easy to decline.
You can prepare an application without a referral or an existing network. Use the information available and keep assumptions separate from what the company has published.
Before sending
I have been through slow searches and sent the same recycled CV to different roles. I have also read applications from the hiring side. Those experiences are why I prefer to explain the relevant work clearly in each application.
Check the dates and responsibilities, make sure the letter names the right company, and read each example as if someone were about to ask you to explain it.