I graduated in May and had over 10 interviews. The only ghost i ever got was from recruiters who say blah blah is hiring and you are a good fit lemme set something up. Other than that, the ones who actually rejected me were for good reasons, I know I did bad on the interviews. Ended up with 3 job offers at around the same time.
Trust me referrals from friends mean nothing. I had 3 friends refer me and got rejected before I even interviewed to any of them. The offers I landed were all from me and my determination. The advices still stand.
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Oh and 20 applications a week is nothing. That should be 20 a day.