[lugg]

Looks like you're not working with a recruiter. (Not a bad thing)

Going off my sample size of three, yes, that looks like the average experience.

It's just a numbers game/funnel like anything in sales.

The 50 applications thing is one of the reasons I get really annoyed at people who claim software Devs have it so easy (we do) but when asked how many jobs they applied for last week it's like, oh I applied for 5 jobs over the last 6 months.

Here I am writing and sending 10 unique, researched cover letters every day. No wonder I get hired in under two weeks.