I’ve had luck getting higher rate of interviews for remote jobs by applying first. To that end I built a site which shows job postings as they are posted - https://tangerinefeed.net

“Nepotism” worked pretty well for me. A year out of work, only to be turned around when I lucked out and a family member referred me to a company they had just started at. This was around 2022-2023 though, things may have changed significantly since then.

Remote is dead, except for the lucky, so it’s best not to waste time and effort on those roles was my experience. I had a much higher callback rate for jobs that were on-site. Even my current job started hybrid, before it was snuffed out.

The general vibe appears to be this is the direction society is moving towards in general. Condolences to those who aren’t schmoozers and don’t have a network to crutch on.