it's long if you don't have the connections to get a job through your network and need to sort of spray and pray to even get to a recruiter screen

Something you don't want to learn post-graduation: if you don't have the connections to get a job, you simply don't have a prayer.

i've been hired through online applications. current gig, actually.

but of all of my jobs, to include bartending and FedGov, that's the only one. the rest came through personal contacts.

i guess the military applies, but that's not really the same thing.